In 1991, Kimberley Snow moved with her husband to a Tibetan Buddhist community in northern California where she took a job as the cook in the retreat center. Before that she worked as an executive chef of a private club at a center where racehorses were trained. Snow admits to being furious much of the time on that tense job.

In this entertaining and edifying book, the author charts some of the transformations that took place within her once she began cooking at the retreat center. Lama Tashi shows her that much of the suffering in her life has been caused by the need to control. Bothered by a difficult woman in the kitchen, Snow tries to get rid of her. Lama Tashi suggests that she thank the woman for showing her the limits of her patience.

The author practices meditation, takes vows of silence, and attends morning and evening devotions, but the heart of her spiritual practice takes place in the kitchen where she learns compassion and mindfulness. Lama P. calls it training as a bodhissatva. Snow realizes that this is the perfect milieu for developing the six perfections — generosity, patience, diligence, moral discipline, concentration, and wisdom. Raised as a Presbyterian, the author is grateful for the chance to get her mind under control. In Buddha's Kitchen is another excellent primer on the importance of spiritual practice in a familiar setting.