Make Your Dough Stretch

By Katie Barreira

Whether it’s from the freezer section at the supermarket or your local pizzeria, a ball of fresh pizza dough is easy to come by and makes the base of a fun and easy dinner. That is, if the dough behaves itself.

On the subject of dough stretching, our test kitchen director Tracey likes to tell the story of coaching her daughter through a “whose-kid-can-make- the-best-pizza” competition at a friend’s dinner party. With words that will be familiar to every parent, Tracey urged Margot to, “just stop touching it!” This hands-off approach paid off and Margot’s tender, evenly shaped pie took the cake.

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Pumpkin Panna Cotta – a No-Bake, Foolproof Dessert

By Joy Liao

Brisk, fall weather never fails to put me in the holiday spirit. I love the crisp air, colorful foliage, bundling up in heavy sweaters, and of course, Thanksgiving.

Every year, my mom and I host Thanksgiving dinner. A few weeks ago, my mom asked me to put together a menu for our annual feast. Cooking for 20+ people will not be easy, but I’m up for the challenge!

This year, I’ve decided to go with Pumpkin Panna Cotta for dessert instead of traditional pumpkin pie. It’s a delicious fail-proof choice that requires no baking.

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Must-Have Kitchen Tools

By Andrew Hunter

My “must have kitchen gadgets” are centered on citrus, which is my favorite ingredient. I love lemons, limes and oranges, and all their variations like Meyer lemons, key limes and blood oranges. The nuances in both the zest and the juice are delicious. The flavor of the zest is floral, while the juice is acidic. As most of us are trying to watch or reduce our weight, citrus is an ideal way to enhance flavor without added calories, fat or sodium.

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Tooling Around

By Sandy Hu

Just in time for holiday cooking, Special Fork is featuring Tool Week. For the entire week Special Fork Bloggers will be blogging about their favorite kitchen tools.

And we’d like to know which are your go-to tools.  Those of you who are our fans on Facebook will be eligible for a drawing of some cool kitchen tools especially selected by Special Fork (value: $75). And don't forget to let us know what your favorite tools are.

I love kitchen tools and my utensil drawers are chock-full of them But here are my go-to choices.

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Nicky’s Velvet Potatoes

By Andrew Hunter

Nicky was eating mashed potatoes before he cut his first tooth. He loved potatoes so much that we relied on them as a vehicle for his balanced nutrition.

We called him Picky Nicky in those days, which meant we needed to work really hard just to get him to open his mouth at the dinner table. Once we discovered potatoes, we began mixing in other goodies…mashed peas, carrots, broccoli, almost anything we ate got mixed into his. I’m sure he would have been mad if he knew, but what he didn’t know helped him.

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