The Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook

The Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/005342.php

I happened across this Cool Tool at the local library, and the subtitle ("Everything you need to know about setting up and cooking in the most ridiculously small kitchen in the world: Your own") caught me instantly. The cute cover suggests charm over content, but the book itself doesn't waste a paragraph. It's pithy, insightful, inspiring, and entertaining.

Justin Spring grew up on a boat, with a kitchen even smaller than mine -- essentially a camp stove, an ice chest, and a bucket. He has huge insight into the problems of small kitchens, including the 'shut-off point' where clutter stops most food preparation and the local takeout place gets a lot of business.

He is not hesitant to make solid, practical suggestions, and includes websites for sourcing. He weighs in on everything from the best tool cabinet to repurpose for a kitchen, to the best sources for cheap, lead-free, by-the-stem crystal.

This is a truly holistic guide to getting the most possible use and enjoyment from a tiny kitchen. It includes 100 recipes tailored for the small kitchen ("one-pot, toaster oven brownies").

I have only had this book for a week, but it has inspired one full day of kitchen cleaning (!) and doubled the number of meals I eat at home. It is not comparable to anything else I've seen, either on the web or in print: no glossy photos of gleaming granite countertops, no vague, sentimental, market-friendly prose. The closest thing I've seen was Mark Bittman's guide to stocking a minimalist kitchen, but that was four pages and this is over two hundred.

If you are struggling with a tiny kitchen and have almost given up on eating at home, this book is a lifesaver. If you want to eat well, eat healthily, entertain occasionally, and generally live like a normal person despite your itty bitty kitchen, I can't recommend it enough.