Cranberry Sauce, Inspired by Quince

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Every year at Thanksgiving, I’m an unashamed traditionalist. I love the turkey, the giblet gravy and the green bean casserole. And although I love cranberry sauce directly from the can, it’s the one aspect of the Thanksgiving table that I don’t mind breaking from tradition with.

This year, inspired by the plentiful quince trees in my neighborhood, I’m making a spiced cranberry sauce perfumed with the fragrant orchard fruit. Related to apples and pears, quince is my favorite fall and winter fruit, smelling of an intoxicating blend of rose, citrus and sour apple. Unlike apples and pears, however, they cannot be eaten raw; their concrete-like flesh needing heat to yield it soft and tender.

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An Easy Thanksgiving Appetizer

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Certainly my family -- my husband Steve, my boys, Dave and Chris, my daughter-in-law, Lynn, and our new grandchild, baby Tara.

I’m also thankful that I love my work. I have two jobs: blogging for Special Fork and serving as the PR representative for Kerrygold Irish butter and cheeses, made with milk from grass-fed cows raised on Ireland’s small family farms.

Sometimes, my two jobs converge, as when I get to plan and execute events for Kerrygold and in the process, learn new recipes and food ideas that I can share with you.

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How to Roast Cauliflower

By David Hu
A new video for Video Friday

As the weather gets colder, think roasted vegetables. They’re easy to make and give you that warm, wintery feeling. For today's video demo, we're making Spice Roasted Cauliflower, a recipe from Lori Powell, our cooking for one or two blogger.

For this recipe, I like to mix cauliflower colors. Yellow and purple cauliflower are no longer such a novelty; I can find them in my everyday supermarket. The colored heads are great, not only from a presentation standpoint, but for added health benefits.

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Nutella Fondue

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

Fondue was one of the special dinners I had growing up. I don’t remember what kind of an occasion prompted my folks to pull out the fondue pot, but it was fairly often. The first pot I remember actually used little cans of Sterno to heat the broth.

But then a new avocado green electric version showed up, evidently meaning the Hunter family had “made it!” My mom would heat broth, and sometimes oil, in the pot and surround it with meat and vegetables for cooking. But for truly special occasions, she would make rarebit (melted beer cheese with toasted bread) from her well-loved James Beard cookbook.

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Mediterranean Roast Chicken Thighs

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

Who doesn’t love a good roast chicken? The crispy skin…the delicious pan juices…what’s not to like?

During the week, cooking up a whole bird, although not hard to do, might just take a little too long. So I go with my favorite part, the thighs. I love thighs because of the juicy dark meat and ample skin that tops the bone-in version. Plus, it only takes about a fourth of the time to roast thighs, as compared to a whole bird.

Another win is that you can buy just the amount you need. (But who would roast just enough for one, when cooking for one takes just as much time as for three!) Leftovers will yield some killer roast chicken sandwiches or can be used to top a salad for lunch. Or, use it for a quick chicken noodle soup or pasta dish the second night for dinner.

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