In the tiny kitchen author Denise Medved has taken a refreshing and unique approach to an entertaining and cookbook and has pulled together a collection of nearly one hundred recipes that can be made in a tiny kitchen.
"For years I lived in apartments in Manhattan and Old Town, Alexandria where I had unbelievably small kitchens and minimal kitchen equipment and supplies. I loved to cook and entertain so I had to figure out how to do it successfully with such limitations. I had some great cookbooks but couldn't use most of the recipes because I didn't have the appropriate equipment, utensils, preparation room or storage. There were no books on the market addressing stylish entertaining and cooking in a small space. So I decided to write one sharing great recipes, menus and easy tips and hints."
The book is organized by easy to read chapters from appetizers to desserts and everything in between with the final chapter, The Tiny Kitchen Entertains, offering hints on entertaining and eight great menus from a romantic dinner for two to a cocktail party for fifty. Recipes range from hearty down home cooking such as chili to coconut curry chicken for the more sophisticated palate.
The book's appearance is crisp, clean and easy to follow with one recipe per page. Eight beautifully styled color photographs adorn the book eliciting a sudden urge to test the recipes. They range from a very elegant dessert of chocolate mousse in a meringue nest styled with Chinese export Armorial and Meissen china, Tiffany's Audobon flatware, accompanied by a Val St. Lambert crystal saucer champagne and Godiva chocolates to chili and bourbon hot dogs in earthenware accompanied by Fritos(r) and hot sauces all stylishly laid out on a coffee table in front of a roaring fire. The book is the highest of quality with a cheerful watercolor by local Old Town, Alexandria artist, Todd Healy, depicting the author's tiny kitchen in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia.
In addition to the recipes the book is laced with humorous anecdotes as Medved tells it like it is. Witness the fish chapter and the ladies' luncheon menu editorial.
Governor Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (whose famous bourbon hot dogs are among the recipes) says it all in his testimonial, "Tiny though the kitchen might be, the recipes, like the author, are hugely beyond belief."
the tiny kitchen has fabulous time tested recipes, menus and entertaining ideas presented with finesse and style. Medved doesn't take herself too seriously, rather it is evident she loves good food, cooking and entertaining and above all else, has fun doing it.
the tiny kitchen was released in the Washington, DC marketplace on December 13, 2001 available through he author only and has sold nearly 2,000 copies, many people coming back for more copies. It is beginning to make it into the major retailers.
