Holiday Champagne Cocktails

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

Champagne, “Come quickly, I’m drinking stars!” said Dom Perignon, the monk who’s given credit for putting the sparkle in wine. We all owe this gent a debt of gratitude for the hard work in figuring out how to capture joyous bubbles. But his life couldn’t have been all work and no play, drinking his fermented mistakes.

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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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DIY Colored Decorating Sugar

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 Katie Barreira
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Want to add some sparkle to your holiday entertaining without breaking the bank? Make your own shimmering sugars in a rainbow of customized colors! All you need is sugar, food coloring and a few resealable plastic bags.

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Party Tips from a New York Caterer

Chef Ro Howe

Special Fork celebrates Entertaining Week beginning today. 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 giveaway and how you can enter to win our prize package (retail value: $122).

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Chef Ro Howe is a talented caterer in New York City who is in demand for weddings, fundraising galas and private parties. I had occasion to use her company, Barraud Caterers, this spring for a magazine food editor event for Kerrygold, my PR client. Impressed by the quality of the food, presentation and service, I made a date to check back with her for holiday entertaining tips to share with you. We reconnected last week and as expected, Ro was a fount of excellent advice.

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Quick Fix Dinner

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

Tomorrow, 11 people will be showing up on my doorstep to stay for four days and many meals. One of the meals is the big turkey day; the rest involves several breakfasts and lunches. So tonight, I am a cookin’ fool.

Right now I have a stock simmering away, cornbread cooling and am in dire need to get my pie dough made, as it is 6:30 p.m. and I have to get some early shuteye. The house is relatively clean, at least for now. Dishwasher is full with a sink full of dishes yet to load. I could use a kitchen fairy about right now to cook me up some rocket fuel to make it through the night.

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