Goodbyes Are Bittersweet

By Katie Barreira
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

To all the Newbie readers, whether you’ve tuned in for one blog or all 121 (thanks, Mom!) I hope you’ve enjoyed reading, and hopefully cooking along, as much as I have enjoyed sharing.

Today will be my last post, but continue to follow Special Fork’s blog – I promise you won’t be disappointed by the the next act! I must say, I’m sad to go, so like any good cook, I’ll balance out the bitter by leaving you with a little something sweet to remember me by.

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SPAMMED – the Food Kind!

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

If you grew up in Hawaii and you claim Spam has never touched your lips, you are: 1) a hermit 2) a protected child of food snobs or 3) telling a lie.

As everyone knows, Hawaii boasts the highest per capita consumption of Spam in the U.S. Spam meals and snacks are sold at local drive-ins, McDonald’s and even the 7-Eleven.

So tonight, when I attend the annual ancestral potluck of the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, an august gathering of food influencers, guess what I’m taking to represent my heritage? Spam musubi!

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Nutty for Nut Milk

By Katie Barreira
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Happy 2013! As I think back over the past year of eating, there are a few culinary encounters that stand out because they revolutionized the way I eat.

As a foodie and a food professional, I’m always getting hyped-up about some hip trend (home brewing, from beer to kombucha) or novel restaurant item (toast oil), but few of these marvels actually stick, become part of my routine eating habits and working themselves into my everyday way of being.

Here’s one that did.

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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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What to do with Broccolini

By Katie Barreira
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

While picking up a bunch of broccolini at the farmers’ market, a fellow shopper asked me how to go about preparing the bright green veg. She had seen a recipe that called for par-cooking the slender stalks in a pot of boiling, salted water before plunging them into an ice bath – a culinary technique known as blanching and shocking. It seemed like a big production for a little vegetable. Was it really necessary? My answer: not necessarily.

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