Kitchen Life

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The indispensable new cookbook for today's busy families from the New York Times bestselling author of Back to the Table .

From James Beard Awardwinning chef Art Smith comes a book that gives readers more than 150 simple and delicious ways to feed--and enrich--their families.

in Back to the Table , Art Smith, the New York Times bestselling author and personal chef to Oprah Winfrey, showed readers how to gather at the table to celebrate special occasions with food. In his new book, Kitchen Life , Smith shows today's busy families an altogether new approach to everyday dining by staying ahead of the mealtime jam while learning to prepare simpler, more satisfying meals. This is a Practical, indispensable book that America's busy families can turn to every day of the year.

Kitchen Life's unique organization and tools teach readers to identify what type of cook they are, based on how they eat, shop, and manage their hectic schedules. Divided into helpful sections, it demonstrates how to:

Create more efficient and comprehensive kitchen pantries Simplify and organize for cooking efficiently Create weekly menus It also offers solutions to "real-life" family case studies based on actual examples drawn from people in everyday situations--from working, stay-at-home, and single parents to families with teenagers or a new baby in the house.

Interactive questionnaires will help readers evaluate their own individual cooking style and then tailor recipes and meal plans to make their kitchen life easier than ever.

At the heart of Kitchen Life are more than 150 of Smith's delicious and easy-to-prepare recipes from snacks, soups, and salads to casseroles and desserts, including: Art's Macaroni and Cheese Soup, Taverna Pasta Salad with Roast Lamb, Curry-Crusted Cornish Hens with Red Peppers, Chili Shepherd's Pie, and Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Smith is Oprah Winfrey's personal chef and the author of the best-selling Back to the Table. His new book offers 150 recipes and lots of tips and strategies for making "real food" a real possibility for today's busy home cooks. The first part emphasizes organizationAboth in the kitchen and at the supermarket. It also includes letters and emails from Smith's fans and offers solutions to their problems. The recipes are easy and usually quick, with cooking questions and answers scattered throughout. Some of the dishes, such as Roast Pork Tenderloin with Asian Glaze, are "Kitchen Workhorses" that make enough for one main course and a "spin-off" recipe or two as well. A final section provides a quick reference to recipes that are "For the Meat-and-Potato Guys," "Company Fare," "Vegetarian Favorites," and the like. Sure to be in demand. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

As you'd expect from Oprah's personal chef, this is self-help in a cookbook package. Reacting to input from readers of his first book, Back to the Table, and Oprah.com, Smith instructs those who are responsible for the care and feeding of children on how to organize, save time and simplify their lives by getting it together in the kitchen. He begins with a quiz meant to direct home cooks to the recipes that'll be most helpful. The book's first part is devoted to solving the problems of overtaxed parents with young children and beginners on a budget who are overly reliant on take-out, with tips for shopping in a supermarket with a list, planning ahead, freezing, and using leftovers. In the book's second portion, familiar, easy recipes are accompanied by simplistic sidebars (e.g., "What does it mean when a recipe calls for shredded cheese?"). With more than 150 recipes, including kid-friendly suggestions such as Macaroni and Cheese Soup, the book also instructs readers on how to make meal-worthy salads (such as Roast Chicken Waldorf Salad with Pecans and Rosemary) and inventive main dishes, like Skirt Steak with Red Wine Butter Sauce. Finally, this supremely basic book divides recipes into useful categories: "main courses with fewer than seven ingredients," "company fare" and "simple chicken suppers." Photos. Agents, Jan Miller and Michael Broussard. (Oct. 6) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

If the name Art Smith isn't instantly recognizable, then chances are the Oprah Winfrey Show isn't at the top of your TV viewing list. As Oprah's personal chef, and a celebrity in his own right, Smith ( Back to the Table, 2001) has almost single-handedly refined the notion of home-style cooking to reflect today's busy lifestyles and nutritional concerns. His 150 streamlined-ingredient recipes are geared to four different kinds of cooks, determined through an up-front short questionnaire asking for such information as time challenges, taste preferences, and cooking skills. The result is a selection of appetizers, entrees, side dishes, and desserts that transform a perceived drudgery into Smith's so-called joyous kitchen life. Although no nutritional information is available, the author does feature frequent Ask Art sidebars (for instance, the difference between canned broth and bouillon cubes, and best storage for eggs), as well as shopping and organizational tips. At the beginning and end, by highlighting real people's concerns (via quotes from letters) and suggesting a series of meals to satisfy different food situations, he underscores his commitment to John and Jane Q. Public. --Barbara Jacobs Copyright 2004 Booklist