Special Fork’s Holiday Gift Guide

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

As a family of food lovers, specialty food and kitchen tools often make their way into our Christmas stockings or under the tree.

Steve and I already have a well-equipped kitchen but Steve is a serious amateur cook. So the boys and I give him cookbooks or high-end kitchen tools for Christmas.

Dave and his wife Lynn are fairly recently married and are still building their “batterie de cuisine.” Last year one of the presents we gave Dave was a Le Creuset Dutch oven – the larger ones are so expensive, it’s nice to get one for a gift.

Chris lives in a tiny apartment in Queens in New York. He’d rather figure work-arounds than stock the appropriate tools, so even the pop-up colander was returned after Christmas. He’d as soon drain his pasta using a pot cover. Still, Chris is the most likely one to slip foodstuffs into our stockings. Traveling for work or vacation, he brings back treasures, such as canned French foie gras or Hungarian paprika for us.

Click to read more ...

A Party in your Pantry

Special Fork celebrates Entertaining Week. Stay tuned for party tips and recipes from our Special Fork bloggers all week long. This week also kicks off our annual holiday kitchen tools sweepstakes. Please check our Facebook page to learn about the tools we've selected for the sweepstakes and how you can enter to win our prize package (estimated retail value: $122).

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

Over the years I’ve learned a lesson: you don’t always have to make everything from scratch. Yes, that would be nice in a perfect world where we are all kings and queens of our domain and life is a bit less hectic. Let’s face it …it’s a rare moment these days.

Click to read more ...

DIY Colored Decorating Sugar

Special Fork celebrates Entertaining Week. Stay tuned for party tips and recipes from our Special Fork bloggers all week long. This week also kicks off our annual holiday kitchen tools sweepstakes. Please check our Facebook page to learn about the tools we've selected for the sweepstakes and how you can enter to win our prize package (estimated retail value: $122).

By Katie Barreira
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Want to add some sparkle to your holiday entertaining without breaking the bank? Make your own shimmering sugars in a rainbow of customized colors! All you need is sugar, food coloring and a few resealable plastic bags.

Click to read more ...

Party Tips from a New York Caterer

Chef Ro Howe

Special Fork celebrates Entertaining Week beginning today. Stay tuned for party tips and recipes from our Special Fork bloggers all week long. This week also kicks off our annual holiday kitchen tools sweepstakes. Please check our Facebook page to learn about the tools we’ve selected for the giveaway and how you can enter to win our prize package (retail value: $122).

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Chef Ro Howe is a talented caterer in New York City who is in demand for weddings, fundraising galas and private parties. I had occasion to use her company, Barraud Caterers, this spring for a magazine food editor event for Kerrygold, my PR client. Impressed by the quality of the food, presentation and service, I made a date to check back with her for holiday entertaining tips to share with you. We reconnected last week and as expected, Ro was a fount of excellent advice.

Click to read more ...

Quick Fix Dinner

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

Tomorrow, 11 people will be showing up on my doorstep to stay for four days and many meals. One of the meals is the big turkey day; the rest involves several breakfasts and lunches. So tonight, I am a cookin’ fool.

Right now I have a stock simmering away, cornbread cooling and am in dire need to get my pie dough made, as it is 6:30 p.m. and I have to get some early shuteye. The house is relatively clean, at least for now. Dishwasher is full with a sink full of dishes yet to load. I could use a kitchen fairy about right now to cook me up some rocket fuel to make it through the night.

Click to read more ...