Meatloaf – Because it’s Cold Outside!

By Sandy Hu

Some said that meteorologists, by just uttering such an outrageous prediction, would jinx the possibility. Maybe so, because it didn’t snow in my San Francisco neighborhood this Saturday. While we are disappointed that we didn’t witness an historic weather event, we are still feeling cold – for us, that is. And we, too, like the rest of this winter-weary country, are craving comfort foods.

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Stirring the Pot

By Andrew Hunter

Certain foods can be found in every kitchen around the world, especially when they’re comfort foods. Rice is eaten at family tables from Korea to Argentina and places in between because all cultures are drawn to food that is comforting and makes us feel at home. Italians love Arborio, a short grain rice, for risotto, a creamy mixture that’s fit for peasants and kings alike.  It’s Italy’s ultimate comfort food.

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Scotch Eggs – True Comfort Food

By Lori Powell

Since I moved this past weekend I am looking for some true comfort food. A friend once made me Scotch eggs on a dreadful rainy day – the kind where the cold goes straight through your bones. Scotch eggs were the perfect remedy. They were crispy on the outside with delicious, tender sausage cradling the hard-boiled egg. Truly a perfect protein package.

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And the Winner is…

By Katie Barreira

February is National Snack Food Month, a fitting title, given that the hallmark of snack food consumption, the Super Bowl, falls on its first Sunday. Such snack-centric events often become occasions to indulge in highly processed, preservative-laced junk food. But hardcore snacking need not be dispirited by all of that rubbish.

The end of the month brings another snack-worthy occasion (thanks, Oscar) and if you’d like to snack without all the junk, then nosh on these homemade refreshments, inspired by some packaged favorites.

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A Sneak Peek at Special Fork, Our New Mobile Website

By Sandy Hu

About 15 years ago, the public relations agency where I worked conducted some major consumer research for a food client about how women, as the primary family cooks, felt about the dinner hour. In focus groups they drew some disturbing pictures: a bomb with a lit fuse…a jagged lightning bolt and roiling black clouds…one woman drew a stick figure of herself hanging from the hands of a kitchen clock set at 6 o’clock.

This research had a lasting impression on me as a working mother in a demanding job with two teen sons. I identified with their situation, although unlike most of the women, I am blessed with a husband who does his share of the cooking and all the grocery shopping. Through the years, I have been looking for a way to help people with solutions to this daily dinnertime dilemma.

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