Baked Beans and Fourth of July Fixins’

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Having moved from Hawaii upon graduation from college, my first home on the Mainland was Boston. And for a history buff, celebrating the Fourth of July in the hotbed of the American Revolution was thrilling. It brought textbook tales to life in a way that was unimaginable studying history at Hilo High School.

One of the highlights of that summer was dining at the iconic Durgin-Park, experiencing a traditional New England dinner at communal tables under the bustling service of surly waiters. In addition to a memorable meal, I took away with me the baked beans recipe from the restaurant and I’ve continue to make it for many a Fourth of July cookout since.

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It’s the Berries!

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Raspberries…blackberries…blueberries…strawberries. Summer is berry season. Have you had your fill yet?

Nothing to pit or peel, naturally formed in perfect bite-size pieces, berries are the ultimate convenience fruit. Use berries as a topping for breakfast cereals or pancakes, in salads, and over ice cream or puddings.

For a simple dessert, mix berries with sugar to taste and let set for about half an hour, until they give up their juices to create their own sauce. Serve the sweetened berries with whipped cream, heavy cream, or yogurt.

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A Honey of a Cookbook

Marie Simmons, photo by Luca Trovato

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

As soon as I got off the phone with Marie Simmons, I headed to the kitchen, made a slice of toast, slathered it with butter and drizzled it with honey. The rich and creamy butter melted and merged with the mellow sweetness of the honey…and rekindled a childhood taste memory.

I confess I’m not much of a honey user. There’s no particular reason; I just don’t think of it. We always buy lavender honey when vacationing in Provence and Lehua honey when in Hawaii. And the rest of the time, we always have some kind of honey at home, but it often sits on the shelf until a recipe I’m making actually calls for this natural sweetener.

My interest in honey was triggered when I was invited to an education panel in San Francisco recently, hosted by the National Honey Board, at which Marie, an award-winning food writer and the author of Taste of Honey, c. 2013, (Andrews McMeel Publishing), was speaking. Delighted to be seeing an old friend again, I called Marie for a preview.

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Let the Salad Season Begin!

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

For any food lover, this is the best time of the year, when farmers’ markets and produce counters are burgeoning with seasonal fruits and vegetables. At the Alemany Farmers’ Market in San Francisco yesterday, stalls were bustling as shoppers filled market baskets and grocery carts, eager for a taste of summer.

From now through fall is peak salad time. Quick to fix and healthy (if you don’t overdo the dressing), salads are a boon to people too busy to cook. Toss in some protein – drained canned tuna, leftover shreds of rotisserie chicken, rinsed and drained canned beans, hard-cooked eggs – and you can make it an easy, no-cook, one-dish dinner.

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A Ducky Birthday Party

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Ever since I saw the most adorable rubber ducky cupcakes in What’s New, Cupcake?, a book by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, I’ve been dying for a chance to make them. Starting with a cupcake body, you form the duck using a doughnut hole for the head and a diagonally-cut marshmallow for the tail; then dip the whole thing into yellow frosting that’s been microwaved to whipped cream consistency.

Here’s the authors’ how-to demo; you’ll be inspired to try it yourself. I will caution that it’s not quite as easy for first-timers to control the drips and get a smooth frosting coating, as it is for these experts.

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