Kitchen of the Week: Simple Style Fuels Creativity
A food blogger proves you don't need fancy kitchen appliances or even a lot of space to create an amazing meal
Small spaces tend to make people feel either liberated or limited. From the amazing dishes Shanna Mallon of Food Loves Writing whips up, you wouldn't think she was working out of a simple 100-square-foot kitchen in her Nashville, Tennessee, apartment.
Shanna and her husband, Tim, love to cook together, and they knew a simple kitchen would work best for their shared passion. Clean counters and minimal accessories make cooking — and cleaning — much easier for this culinary couple.
Shanna and her husband, Tim, love to cook together, and they knew a simple kitchen would work best for their shared passion. Clean counters and minimal accessories make cooking — and cleaning — much easier for this culinary couple.
Dry goods and small appliances are tucked away in cabinets or on top of the fridge. Accessories are kept to a minimum, with the exception of beloved photos on the refrigerator. The clean palette is soothing and encourages organization.
Q. What's one storage or space-saving tip you've learned to make cooking in a small kitchen easier?
A. Be flexible. Store flours somewhere else and look at shared cooking as a way to build intimacy. A lot of times, just establishing a different mind-set is half the battle. Think outside the kitchen, or at least outside the typical cabinets and countertops. We keep mason jars in a cabinet in the dining room and extra dry goods on top of the fridge in order to free up valuable workspace.
Q. What's one storage or space-saving tip you've learned to make cooking in a small kitchen easier?
A. Be flexible. Store flours somewhere else and look at shared cooking as a way to build intimacy. A lot of times, just establishing a different mind-set is half the battle. Think outside the kitchen, or at least outside the typical cabinets and countertops. We keep mason jars in a cabinet in the dining room and extra dry goods on top of the fridge in order to free up valuable workspace.
Shanna's crunchy and creamy avocado fries and yogurt sauce have been a huge hit among her online readers. Using fresh ingredients in unique, easy applications is part of what makes her blog so appealing.
The artichoke artwork on the far wall is one of the few pieces of decor in the kitchen. Shanna took the photograph herself and had it printed on a 16- by 20-inch canvas.
Q. What do you love about your kitchen?
A. Having a window over the sink! I can't say enough about natural light, in the kitchen and everywhere.
Q. What do you love about your kitchen?
A. Having a window over the sink! I can't say enough about natural light, in the kitchen and everywhere.
After a few rounds of experimenting, Shanna created the recipe for this succulent-looking pot roast. She likes to use grass-fed beef and button mushrooms on cold winter nights.
Q. What's your go-to dish for a dinner party at home?
A. When we want to do something special for friends, our go-to is always our fork-tender grass-fed pot roast. I've been making it since the days of long-distance dating, when I was in Chicago and Tim in Nashville, and he was the one coming into town and over for dinner. Now when we make it together, it's like a part of our story.
Q. What's your go-to dish for a dinner party at home?
A. When we want to do something special for friends, our go-to is always our fork-tender grass-fed pot roast. I've been making it since the days of long-distance dating, when I was in Chicago and Tim in Nashville, and he was the one coming into town and over for dinner. Now when we make it together, it's like a part of our story.
Sometimes a rental kitchen is best when stripped down to the basics. Shanna and Tim's simple space encourages their culinary creativity.
Q. What do you hope to change in your kitchen in the near future?
A. I'd love to get a couple small succulents for the window. Right now we have a little aloe plant that brightens my days when I see it thriving in the sun, and it's amazing how low maintenance and easy it is to care for. I think adding a couple more greens to our space will fill it with even more life.
More food blogger's kitchens:
Small, Creatively Used Kitchen
A Cooking Maven's Small Kitchen
Food Photographer Warms Up a Rental Kitchen
Q. What do you hope to change in your kitchen in the near future?
A. I'd love to get a couple small succulents for the window. Right now we have a little aloe plant that brightens my days when I see it thriving in the sun, and it's amazing how low maintenance and easy it is to care for. I think adding a couple more greens to our space will fill it with even more life.
More food blogger's kitchens:
Small, Creatively Used Kitchen
A Cooking Maven's Small Kitchen
Food Photographer Warms Up a Rental Kitchen
Q. What's the hardest part about cooking in a small kitchen?
A. Feeling limited — when you have no pantry or island, you can start to feel like there are things you can't do, like store extra flours or have friends over to cook.