Go-To Dinners: Meals in Under 30 Minutes

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Twitter is a terrific way to observe how people are reacting to the dinner hour each day. I check in around 3:30, which is getting on to dinnertime on the East Coast, and then periodically as the West Coast starts cooking.

I offer suggestions from our Special Fork recipe database to people who are bemoaning their dinnertime dilemma: what to cook now!

Some people are musing about whether they should make dinner or get takeout. The answer is, it’s often easier and faster to cook something at home. Not to mention healthier, tastier and cheaper.

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A Visit to the Fancy Food Show

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

As you read this, I’ll be in my comfy shoes, notepad and iPhone in hand, trekking through San Francisco’s Moscone Center, well into my second day at the Winter Fancy Food Show. More than 200,000 square feet of exhibit space have been dedicated to 1,300 exhibitors showcasing 80,000 food, beverage and related products.

Of course, it would be madness to try to see the whole show. Despite my best efforts, I’ll just touch a small sampling over two days.

I’m looking for interesting food products to tweet, Instagram and blog about for Special Fork. I’ll be nibbling on cheeses, paté, and prosciutto. I’ll be tasting sauces from around the world, condiments, meal kits, exotic grains, salad dressings, vinegars, cookies, chocolates, frozen treats, seasoned nuts, fancy snacks…and more.

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Bad Toaster Karma

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

My toast took a flying leap, catapulting out of the toaster, splat onto the kitchen floor. This is not the first time my bread has shot out like a cannonball, soaring past the counter, ending up in the garbage.

In our house, we have bad toaster karma.

This is our third toaster in recent times. The one we had before lowered our toast into the slot electronically. It was fun to watch the bread majestically descend. The only problem was that the machine wouldn’t make toast!

Once the bread disappeared into the slot, instead of the heat being activated automatically, as advertised, we’d have to stand there and hit the “toast” button several times. After months of aggravation and cold bread, we returned that one.

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Important News from Special Fork

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

For most of us, the single biggest decision we make every night is what to eat for dinner. Should we get takeout? Should we cook? And if we cook, what to cook!

That decision is usually made after 4 p.m.

When we founded Special Fork four years ago, we wanted to provide you with solutions: a database of curated recipes that would take no more than 30 minutes of time to prep (cooking may be extra). We created that database with recipes reviewed by Special Fork Food Editors, all experienced food professionals – chefs, magazine editors and recipe developers – who read through each recipe before approving it for our database.

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A Centerpiece for Christmas Dinner

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

One of the best things about making Christmas dinner is coming up with a different centerpiece for the table each year. As kids, I doubt my boys really appreciated the effort, but I enjoy this annual project. I continue to collect all the holiday issues of magazines, looking for design inspiration.

This year, I’m making Christmas trees from sheet moss, something I saw in one of the magazines a few years ago. These trees are easy to make but moss is messy – it will crumble on you – so make these trees in a place where you can clean up easily afterwards. I like the trees in their natural state for a woodland effect, but you can add embellishments if you like your trees fancier.

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