Labor Day Sides and Desserts

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Special Fork’s summer vacation comes to an end next Tuesday. After Labor Day, all bloggers will be back with more delicious recipes and food ideas to fit the 30-minute prep limit that we’ve set for ourselves, to ensure that no recipe is too time-consuming for busy home cooks.

Meanwhile, I wanted to leave you with a last look back at recipes from previous blog posts. This week, I’m showcasing side dishes for your Labor Day get-together. You’ll find recipes for salads, salsas and desserts for your end-of-summer enjoyment on a special Pinterest board.

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A Summer Project

Special Fork is on summer hiatus from August 5 through Labor Day. Each Monday, while we’re on vacation, I’ll present another facet of Special Fork and highlight some features you might have missed.

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Like going on vacation, the start of summer seems to stretch on languorously, with the bright promise of many leisurely days ahead. But about the midpoint of a vacation – and of summer – the days begin to quicken, flying by so briskly that the second half seems shorter than the first.

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Our Best Cooking Tips and Tricks

Special Fork is on summer hiatus from August 5 through Labor Day. Each Monday, while we’re on vacation, I’ll present another facet of Special Fork and highlight some features you might have missed.

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

A sensible way to learn to cook is to just do it, one simple recipe at a time. By following instructions in a recipe, you’re rewarded with something good to eat, and you’ll begin to learn cooking techniques along the way.

After more than three years of blogging, Monday through Friday, Special Fork bloggers have produced a rich collection of recipes, all taking no more than 30 minutes of prep time. And, embedded in many of the blog posts, are useful cooking tips and tricks that I am highlighting for you today.

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What to Cook Tomorrow?

Special Fork is on summer hiatus from August 5 through Labor Day. Each Monday, while we’re on vacation, I’ll present another facet of Special Fork and highlight some features you might have missed.

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Special Fork is on summer hiatus from August 5 through Labor Day. Each Monday, while we’re on vacation, I’ll present another facet of Special Fork and highlight some features you might have missed.

If you know our story, you know that our site, whether you visit via smartphone or computer, is meant to be used at the end of day, when you’re faced with deciding what to cook for dinner, and don’t have a clue. All our recipes take 30 minutes of prep or less; cooking time may be extra. The place to search for recipes is in our database.

For this week’s post, I’d like to introduce you to Special Fork’s Pinterest page. We have all kinds of fun and useful food-related boards including Food Humor, one of my favorites.

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How to Make Crème Fraîche

By David Hu
A new video for Video Friday

Today’s Special Fork Video Friday features our easiest video yet. You just mix two ingredients and leave it alone for 10 hours. Period!

Crème fraîche, like sour cream, is used to dollop on soups, as a dessert topping, and for many sweet and savory recipes when a thick, tangy creaminess is desired. It’s fairly expensive to buy but the ingredients used to make it, heavy cream and buttermilk, are more budget-friendly. When you mix the two ingredients together and let it stand at room temperature, the mixture thickens and turns tangy. Once it thickens, store the mixture in the fridge up to 10 days, where it will continue to get thicker and tangier.

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