A Quick Dinner for One

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

Frozen ravioli is a great shortcut to putting dinner on the table. The key is to find the brand that you like.

Fresh Market in my neighborhood makes some exceptional flavors such as pumpkin, roasted vegetable and a cheese one that is not all about the fillers or preservatives. The dough is thin and tender, and cooks up in no time.

So I have dinner on the table in minutes without any guilt that I’m eating something that’s not healthful. The other great thing is that frozen ravioli are easy to portion out since they are individual pouches of deliciousness.

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Cockles – Perfect for One...or Two

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

Just call them the other littleneck clam – New Zealand littlenecks (cockles), that is. They’re a bit sweeter and more tender than the larger, better-known littlenecks, but only if you are careful how you cook them.

I am big on buying local but I make occasional exceptions when it’s an ingredient that can’t be sourced locally, no matter what the season. These little (1/2- to 1-inch in diameter) briny jewels are flown in live from New Zealand where they play a critical role in filtering the water. Amazing!

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Movie Day – into Night

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

I’ve gotten into the craze of Downton Abbey to the point that I had to revisit Seasons 1 and 2 before seeing the first episode of Season 3 (aired on PBS this past Sunday night).

Sitting through one series is quite enough, but two is a bit crazy. Well, not that crazy, since it wasn’t like I had to keep my eyes glued to the television since I had already seen it.

So I made it my background noise while I was doing a bit of reorganization at home. It just makes it all the sweeter if you can put reorganization and fun in the same sentence. All the while, I was accomplishing at least one task on my New Year’s resolutions, which was to move more and to de-clutter. Wait, that’s two down….love it when multitasking works out!

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Souped up Canned Chicken Noodle

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

It never fails that whenever you add the word, “holiday,” on top of your usual activities, a cold or worse seems to be lurking around the corner. I've heard that the flu season is well under way and that this is a very virulent strain…oh great, just what we need!

Some of us think we are super human and can juggle everything without any reckoning. But when your body starts to talk to you, listen. It’s saying, slow down. And if that doesn't work, your body will just take control and put on the brakes… possibly rendering you bedridden with an ailment.

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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.

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