Katie offers Cooking Newbie Help every Tuesday

By Katie Barreira

Happy New Year! All this week, we will be re-introducing our bloggers by re-posting their very first post for Special Fork. Next week we’ll be back blogging with more cooking insights, helpful tips and delicious recipes that take no more than 30 minutes of prep time, all to solve your daily dinnertime dilemma: what to cook now!

Today we feature Katie Barreira’s introductory blog. Katie posts every Tuesday especially for cooking newbies.

Katie is a freelance food writer and chef living in Manhattan’s West Village. Currently, she is the Senior Test Kitchen Associate at Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine, where she develops recipes and writes the “Get Fresh” column, a monthly spotlight on seasonal produce.

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Welcome Back

Happy New Year! All this week, we will be re-introducing our bloggers by re-posting their very first post for Special Fork. Next week we’ll be back blogging with more cooking insights, helpful tips and delicious recipes that take no more than 30 minutes of prep time, all to solve your daily dinnertime dilemma: what to cook now!

Today we feature my introductory blog post. For more of my food stories please follow this link to Inside Special Fork.

Sandy
Co-Founder, Special Fork

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Happy Holidays from Special Fork

By Sandy Hu

Special Fork bloggers will be on vacation beginning next week, to enable each of us to spend time with family and friends through the holidays. We’ll return January 2 with a look back at the best of Special Fork from 2011; all bloggers will return beginning January 9 with new recipes and fresh insights.

While there are no new blog postings, remember to check our database of recipes for your everyday cooking and holiday needs.

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“No Thank You” Bite

By Andrew Hunter

Several months ago I was at a dinner party at a loud restaurant with business associates when amongst the chatter, laughter and clamor of raucous conversation, I heard a husband quietly taking care of family business with his wife, “The boys did a good job with dinner tonight,” he said quietly, “except for Timmy who took a ‘no thank you’ bite and passed.”

I wondered what a “no thank you” bite could possibly be. So thanks to the Cronan family from Folsom, the Hunter boys now take no thank you bites whenever they turn up their noses at something. A no thank you bite is a simple but brilliant way to get your kids to at least try everything they’re served. If they take a bite and still don’t like it, then they don’t have to eat it. But our experience is that at least half the time our boys change their mind from no to yes after the no thank bite rule is enforced.

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Clams are Great for One or Two Bites

By Lori Powell

I have a fantastic fishmonger in my town that has the freshest littleneck clams that are truly littleneck (less than 2 inches in diameter and 10 to13 clams per pound) and not middleneck (3 to 4 inches in diameter and about 7 to 9 clams per pound). Yes there is such as thing.

Since the clams are super fresh, they’ll keep in the fridge for up to three days after purchasing. Also they cook up super-quick for a healthy weeknight dinner and you can buy a small quantity of clams. It’s definitely a win-win for cooks needing One or Two Bites.

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