It’s Time to Make Caramel Apples

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Last year, I never got around to carving pumpkins. This year, I’ve done one already, to delight my two-year-old grandchild who sang, “Happy birthday, pumpkin,” when we lit the candle.

I also made a first round of caramel apples. It’s easy if you start with caramel candies and melt them in the microwave.

The recipe below is a general one because the amount of candy you need will depend on the size of your apples, and the time to melt the caramels will depend on the type of caramels you buy and the power of your microwave oven.

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What to Cook after a Vacation

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

What to eat upon returning from vacation poses a real dilemma. There’s never anything fresh in the fridge and you’re too tired to cook, anyway. Yet, having eaten out for 18 days in a row, you don’t want a restaurant meal or takeout, either.

So on Wednesday, our first full day back from Hawaii, I was rummaging through my pantry and freezer, trying to decide what to have for dinner. In the fridge, I had a package of tofu that hadn’t expired and some eggs. In the pantry, some Wild Planet tuna and panko bread crumbs. The parsley on my deck was thriving, thanks to my house-sitter son.

So, Tuna Tofu Patties!

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Lunch on a Farm in Upcountry Maui

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

I was food editor of the Honolulu Advertiser before Hawaii Regional Cuisine came into fruition. In those days, the best restaurants in the Islands boasted European chefs cooking with imported ingredients.

Never mind that every backyard was burgeoning with papayas, mangoes, passion fruit, avocados, lychee and other tropical treasures. Never mind that Hawaii was a melting pot of culinary influences—in addition to native Hawaiian: Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Filipino, Korean, Puerto Rican and many other immigrants called Hawaii home.

All of these assets were ignored in the old days of Hawaii’s haute cuisine.

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It’s (Homemade) Pizza Night!

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Most families have pizza night, a night when everybody can kick back and relax, with pizza delivery doing all the work.

Having been a busy mom myself, in those years when we had two growing boys to feed, I get it. So I hate to bring up another level of work for pizza night.

But here’s the thing: it’s really easy to make your own pizza dough and if you do, you can add just the toppings you want. It’s likely to be more economical and more nutritious since you can control the sodium and fat. And when it comes to taste, there’s nothing more mouthwatering than homemade pizza, fresh and fragrant from the oven.

I use pizza making, like making soup, as a way to utilize the odd bits of onion, carrots, and whatever else is left over in the vegetable bin that isn’t enough to make a dish on its own.

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Hilo, Hawaii: Going Home

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

It always sounds so glamorous to be going on vacation to Hawaii. But if that’s where you’re from, it’s simply going home—no different from returning to any hometown in the Midwest, the South, New England, or elsewhere.

Going home touches on the requisite things we all do: bring flowers to the cemetery, visit with elderly aunts, and catch up with cousins. We visit old haunts. We remember family stories. And even my sons, who grew up on the Mainland, respect those customs when they go “home” on their own.

Going home also means reconnecting with the Island food we missed. We’ll visit the popular Hilo Farmers’ Market for local provisions to cook in our vacation rental kitchen. And when we need additional recipes, we’ll turn to our favorites in the Special Fork’s recipe database —our portable cookbook away from home.

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