Settling Down to a New Season

By Sandy Hu

Labor Day always seems a little sad to me, marking the unofficial end of summer. In San Francisco, our farmers’ markets are still bursting with heirloom tomatoes, peaches, nectarines and fresh herbs, but we know that soon all of nature’s largesse will gradually slip away.

We officially turn the page from a summer lifestyle that’s casual and informal, to settling back down to work and school. When my kids were growing up, I always tried to introduce a few new brown bag ideas to mark the start of the school year and to help all of us get back into the daily routine.

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A Look at Special Fork’s New Office

By Sandy Hu

We’ve been laboring hard, getting Special Fork off the ground. And this summer, we renovated our old kitchen to make a real office for Special Fork.

Until then, we had two kitchens: our remodeled one where you see us doing food demos for Special Fork’s Video Fridays and our old kitchen, which was still functional. We removed the appliances, chipped out the wall tile and refinished the floor. It was an exciting process.

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Why not Kalua Pig for Labor Day?

By Sandy Hu

As we were walking on the grounds of the Royal Kona hotel in Kailua-Kona on vacation last week, we came across two workers preparing kalua pig for the evening’s luau. It brought back memories for Steve, whose grandfather used to host luaus for family and friends in his backyard in Aina Haina (on the Island of Oahu). These were grand affairs with a party tent, professional musicians and many guests.

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A Labor Day Ballpark Picnic

By Marilyn Hunter

Labor Day is the last official summer celebration, signaling that the dog days are nearing an end. While the weather will remain warm for weeks to come, afternoons playing baseball in the park will soon give way to more indoor-centric activities. So follows cooking.

But the Hunters aren’t battening down the hatches just yet. Instead we want to tell you about a fun and easy picnic for Labor Day that the whole family will enjoy—a gourmet ballpark picnic.

No all-American celebration is complete without hot dogs, coleslaw and potato salad, and if your kids are like ours, they’ll be pleased as punch with the menu.

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Laboring on Labor Day

By Lori Powell

It’s the Labor Day weekend. Well to some….

I will be in San Francisco shopping for a cookbook shoot but if I were resting my laurels on this lovely long weekend, I would be having a BBQ or better yet, attending one. There is a lot of labor in Labor Day, if you know what I mean. Especially for those of you who are hosting that BBQ.

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