Welcome Back

Happy New Year! All this week, we will be re-introducing our bloggers by re-posting their very first post for Special Fork. Next week we’ll be back blogging with more cooking insights, helpful tips and delicious recipes that take no more than 30 minutes of prep time, all to solve your daily dinnertime dilemma: what to cook now!

Today we feature my introductory blog post. For more of my food stories please follow this link to Inside Special Fork.

Sandy
Co-Founder, Special Fork

I fell into a career in food quite by accident. I fumed about an article on radish roses (dumb idea) at the publishing house where I worked and I found myself, at 25, the new food editor of a teen magazine in New York City.

I learned to cook from cookbooks, one recipe at a time. I abandoned dreams of becoming a fashion writer and never looked back.

As a self-taught cook, I know the value of recipes. I’ve honed my skills and my tastes so I can read a recipe and pretty much predict the outcome.

My husband and I raised two boys in a dual career household in San Francisco. Somehow, we managed home-cooked dinners and we all sat down to eat together most nights.

This is how Special Fork – the real Special Fork – came about. Chris, our youngest (who now calls himself Calvin and lives in New York City), wasn’t much of a talker, but he had a great palate. If he liked the night’s dinner, he would go quietly into the kitchen and swap his dinner fork for the one oddball fork in the utensil drawer.

In time, we began to call it Special Fork – not the Special Fork. Just Special Fork. And if you were the cook when Special Fork appeared – well, you knew you achieved the highest accolade a seven-year-old could bestow. Chris continued this ritual until college. And Special Fork is still somewhere in his old room, preserved with his childhood treasures.

Now the boys are grown and Nana has taken up residence with us. And it’s David, Chris’ older brother, who has accepted the Special Fork challenge to produce this mobile site. Our goal is clear: to help everyone make Special Fork meals every night.

If you have kids, you’ll want to follow Marilyn and Andrew, with two adorable little boys, who will blog at Special Fork about The Family Table. If you are a single or couple, Lori will share cooking tips, blogging about One or Two Bites. New to cooking? Katie will guide Cooking Newbies at Special Fork.

And I? I’ll share whatever’s newsy from a Special Fork POV. For example, recent research shows people are looking for variety in sandwiches. David says that dad’s tuna sandwiches are okay, but with mom’s you can feel the love. Here’s how I add the love: use olive-oil packed tuna, drained. Add minced garlic, parsley, capers, onion, anchovy paste, chopped pitted olives, salt and pepper, and mayo to bind. It’s great in a baguette for lunch.

Special Fork is a recipe website for your smartphone and PC that solves the daily dinnertime dilemma: what to cook now! Our bloggers blog Monday through Friday to give you cooking inspiration. Check out our recipe database for quick ideas that take no more than 30 minutes of prep time. Join the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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5. The Last Big Holiday Party, Ever