A Luncheon First Course

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Wouldn’t you love to spend a week working with a leading winery, caterer or a specialty farmer for hands-on learning and mentoring? Each year, a few professional women who have had a minimum of four years of work experience are selected for this invaluable opportunity as winners of Les Dames d’Escoffier’s (LDEI) Legacy Awards.

The mentors, women who are tops in their fields, are all distinguished members of LDEI who volunteer for this program to give back by sharing their knowledge. The award program is supported by a donation from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, which was created by Julia Child in 1995 to support non-profit organizations sharing her commitment to educate and encourage others.

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Creepy Fingers and “Blood” Dip

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Halloween seems to be getting more and more popular each year. In my San Francisco neighborhood, more houses seem to be strung with orange lights and giant spider webs grace more front doors.

Steve bought us our pumpkins and I plan to carve them next week. Some years, if I don’t get around to it, I just keep the pumpkins until Thanksgiving, when they become part of the table centerpiece.

Since our kids are grown, Halloween isn’t as exciting as when we took them trick-or-treating in the dark of night. And no ghosts or goblins knock on our door because we’re on a busy street, so we no longer buy Halloween candy, which we’d just end up eating ourselves.

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Mildred’s Fried Walnuts are Irresistible

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

The first time I had dinner in New York City with Mildred Ying, who was then Food Director of Good Housekeeping magazine, we began our dinner conversation with small talk about family.

We found both of our husbands are named Steve – what a coincidence. Then I asked about her children and discovered that, like me, she has two sons. Their names (surprise!) are Christopher and David, just like my boys. The only difference is that her Christopher is the older and in my family, he’s the younger.

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Fried Olives

Special Fork Facebook Contest: Check out our Special Fork Facebook page for a chance to win a signed copy of Melissa’s 50 Best Plants on the Planet (suggested retail: $35), courtesy of Melissa’s/World Variety Produce, Inc.

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Recently, Steve and I went to a neighborhood restaurant where we had been just once before, and we were surprised that prices had gone up. Where we were expecting entrees of $18 to $20, they were mostly $25 and higher.

We could have left for a less expensive place but we decided to stay and eat economically. For an appetizer, my eyes rested on the cheapest thing on the menu, fried kalamata olives, and certainly something we could share as a starter with our wine.

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Eating the Best Plants on the Planet

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

After Labor Day, I’m done with casual summer eating and begin to spend more time in the kitchen cooking. This fall, I’m making Melissa’s 50 Best Plants on the Planet, written by Cathy Thomas, my guide to eating better. The colorful produce bible from Melissa’s, the largest supplier of specialty produce in the U.S., features 50 of the most nutrient dense fruits and vegetables. As Cathy explains in her introduction, “’Nutrient dense’ means that the vitamin and mineral content of these foods are high when compared with total calories.”

Even if the subject of nutrition is a yawner to you, do check out this book. It’s bright and colorful and filled with beautiful photos and recipes so appealing that, yes, you WILL want to eat Brussels sprouts, chard and dandelion greens.

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