Fork in the Road Kitchen: From Home

Fork in the Road Kitchen: From Home Waterloo. Population 156. No grocery store. Pull up a chair for recipes, tips, and kitchen tricks. Welcome to my table.

Also no red light. 😏

American classics and global flavors share the same table here - there's no telling what you'll see next.

Dinner started with borracho-style pork and beans.Then SOMEBODY 🙋🏻‍♀️ looked at the kitchen and said:"You know what this...
06/11/2026

Dinner started with borracho-style pork and beans.

Then SOMEBODY 🙋🏻‍♀️ looked at the kitchen and said:

"You know what this meal needs?"

Absolutely nobody answered that question, but Crunchwraps happened anyway.

No regrets.

Well...

Until that second helping. 😅🚫👖

(Button and zipper negotiations are ongoing.)

Team Beans or Team Crunchwrap?

06/10/2026

I started cooking in rebellion against boring food.

My grandmothers didn't teach me to cook. I was too busy running around the neighborhood with my dog to pay attention to what was happening in the kitchen. Besides, it was the 70s. Most moms were making the same things anyway.

Then I married a man who happily ate beef destroyed in water in a crock pot and something I can only describe as airborne sausage cylinders. (I dare you to ask.)

Later I had three children who, between them, consumed approximately two vegetables. One of them hated corn so much that he could eat an entire meal, then somehow locate and "return" only the corn. One of them became a vegetarian. Go figure.

So no, I didn't grow up learning authentic family recipes or dreaming of culinary greatness.

I got curious. I discovered different flavor profiles... and taste buds.

One recipe led to another. Then another. Then suddenly I was making foods I couldn't pronounce ten years earlier.

Now I'm cooking everything from American comfort food to dishes from around the world, doing my best to keep them authentic while still making them achievable for real people.

Pick a food topic. Ask a question.

I promise I have a story about it.

I'll start with the time I accidentally made chewy meat water... 👀👇

Tonight I cooked Indian food for 0.64% of the town.Waterloo, South Carolina has 156 people. Which means feeding one pers...
06/10/2026

Tonight I cooked Indian food for 0.64% of the town.

Waterloo, South Carolina has 156 people. Which means feeding one person technically qualifies as a community outreach program.

Since authentic Indian ingredients aren't exactly stacked up between the post office and Dollar General, I took a chance on a butter chicken seasoning kit, added a few tricks of my own, and somehow ended up with butter chicken, raita, naan, spiced basmati, and a South Carolina version of Mirchi Ka Salan on the dinner table.

Not bad for those of us who sometimes feel like finding garam masala is its own scavenger hunt. Also not bad for those of us who want sumac...but not the itchy, poison variety 😭

One year ago today we took a trip to Jamaica without leaving the dining room. 🇯🇲Jerk chicken, mango chutney, rice and pe...
06/05/2026

One year ago today we took a trip to Jamaica without leaving the dining room. 🇯🇲

Jerk chicken, mango chutney, rice and peas, beef patties, jerk corn, and hibiscus tea.

Looking back at these pictures... I might need to make those beef patties again.

06/04/2026

I bought a bag of agar powder and immediately became unreasonable.

This started as one tomato.

A few hours later I was making tomato caviar for salmon pinwheels like I had any business doing such a thing.

Think tiny tomato-flavored boba pearls that pop when you bite them.

Was it necessary?

Absolutely not.

Would I do it again?

Also yes. 😂🍅

There are easier ways to make dinner.Today I ignored every single one of them.Salmon pinwheels, smoked boudin, asparagus...
06/03/2026

There are easier ways to make dinner.

Today I ignored every single one of them.

Salmon pinwheels, smoked boudin, asparagus, and tomato caviar.

I've been cooking, driving, photographing, editing, and generally making life harder on myself all day.

Worth it.

More tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to sit down.

One of my "co-workers" got written up yesterday...I was home, minding my own business, and teaching myself how to clean ...
06/03/2026

One of my "co-workers" got written up yesterday...

I was home, minding my own business, and teaching myself how to clean an MAF sensor on my car. I saw a flash of something tiny and black and what looked to be a streamer trailing behind it.

I stepped out from under the hood of the car and focused a little better and realized it was my Swedish black hen, Mina...carrying a snake.

She's tiny, like a pound and a half, and I really didn't think swallowing 12 inches of forbidden spaghetti was a great idea. Mina disagreed.

I jogged towards her, telling her to put down the snake. Mind you, my outfit was comprised of jean shorts, one of Fred's old shirts, and my chicken rain boots. Stylish.

When I got closer, Mina got faster. And the pursuit was on. I chased her around our tomato garden for four laps. That garden is roughly 12x28, so that's over 300 feet in a high-speed chicken pursuit.

So we're tearing around the tomato garden. She was chattering happily, my chicken boots were going *clomp clomp clomp* I'd get close every now and then, but every time I thought I'd catch her, she'd hit the corner, lean into it like she was qualifying at Daytona, and accelerate.

I was about to give up and let her eat the no-no noodle when she abruptly pulled up short, spit the snake out, and charged down the embankment. Just like that , she was off on her next adventure.

So if you ever consider getting a Svarthöna, just remember...it's like having a 2 pound Usain Bolt with feathers, ADHD, and an independence that has not been seen since those first people got off the Mayflower.

Svarthönas may look like tiny elegant Victorian widows in black dresses.

But they behave like feral goblins with revoked driver's licenses.

You've been warned.

Yesterday I shared the pita recipe. Now let's talk about the tzatziki.Honestly, give me a warm homemade pita and a bowl ...
06/02/2026

Yesterday I shared the pita recipe. Now let's talk about the tzatziki.

Honestly, give me a warm homemade pita and a bowl of this tzatziki, and dinner plans are canceled. I'll be over here doing a little rip-and-dip until they're both gone. 😂

You know where to look. 👀👇

Store-bought pita works. Homemade pita elevates dinner in under an hour.These are soft, fluffy, and sturdy enough to hol...
06/02/2026

Store-bought pita works. Homemade pita elevates dinner in under an hour.

These are soft, fluffy, and sturdy enough to hold grilled chicken kebabs, Greek salad, and homemade tzatziki without falling apart.

I use half whole wheat flour because it makes me feel responsible, and half bread flour because I still want the pita to taste good.😉

I stretch mine with my fingers instead of a rolling pin, brush them with a little olive oil and Greek seasoning, and cook them right in a skillet.

Swipe through for the process and save the recipe for later.👀

This is the hot sauce I used in Michelle's Backyard Barbecue Beans. And these are my thoughts on Littrell's Reeperberry ...
05/29/2026

This is the hot sauce I used in Michelle's Backyard Barbecue Beans. And these are my thoughts on Littrell's Reeperberry Nation sauces. I don't promote products as a general rule, but I will absolutely tell y'all when I find something I genuinely enjoy.

I went into this expecting a straight-up throat punch—because anything with "Reaper" in the name usually comes in swinging.

I was wrong.

Pleasantly wrong.

And that's a good thing, because I was a little afraid I was about to lose a few layers of esophageal tissue before I even opened the bottle.

The heat is there, but it builds instead of attacking. It lets the flavor come through first. There's a sweetness from the berry and cherry that doesn't taste artificial or candy-like. No cough syrup overtones here. It tastes like actual fruit. Strawberry, blueberry, elderberry...I've tasted each one.

Then the Reeperberry heat rolls in and lingers just enough to remind you it means business.

This sauce has body. This isn't some thin, vinegary splash designed to set your tongue on fire for a few seconds and call it a personality trait.

It's layered. Sweet first. Then warmth. Then heat. Every ingredient gets a chance to introduce itself before the Reaper shows up and starts collecting rent.

And for the record, I didn't test it by hiding it in chili or splashing it on whatever food was nearby.

I tasted it straight from a spoon.

Nothing but sauce.

The way it should be tasted.

I wholeheartedly enjoyed this Reeperberry sauce. I truly did.

Thanks to Anthony Littrell at Littrell's Reeperberry Nation. This one earned a spot in my kitchen.

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Laurens, SC

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