​This week's "Forking" column depicts the romantic potential of meatballs. Want to cook up your own protein spheres of romance? Follow Colin M. Redding's ball recipe.

Meatballs are the perfect opportunity for your date to get dirty with you. I always have everything prepared ahead of time. Each ingredient will be in its own bowl, and the meat will be in a shapely mound in a large dish. You shouldn't have to coerce your date to help; most times they'll offer to do something to help ease the nervousness anyway (I usually self-medicate with a few cocktails, but hey, we all have our methods). Once you're both poised above the meat, all you have to do is get your hands on it. But first you'll need to add the following:

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​In this week's Forking column, C.M. Redding described the virtues and pitfalls of making and consuming that illustrious of narcotic desserts: the pot brownie. Follow the recipe below to make your own...you know...if you're permitted to have it for medical reasons.

Ingredients:
- One package of any store brand or name brand brownie mix.
- 2/3 cup oil (substitute ½ pound pot butter)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 eggs - 4 eggs
- 1 cup chocolate chips (optional for more chocolaty brownies)
- ½ cup walnuts (optional)
- 13 X 9 inch pan

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​In this week's Forking column, Colin Redding expresses his shock at being able to "erect lasagna with a stiff noodle." Now you can try your hand at this no cook method with the following recipe.

No Cook Noodle Lasagna
You can basically use any Lasagna recipe and just add more sauce. You will need the extra sauce to help cook the noodles. It's a good idea to cover the lasagna with Aluminum Foil to help keep the moisture in to cook the noodles as well.

I season the ricotta cheese beforehand with fresh garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. I will also take a jar sauce and then cook that and add fresh vegetables, browned sausage, meat or just about anything you want. I usually add fresh basil on top of the layers and use a locally made sausage.

Like most Italian food, I think its better the next day as leftovers.

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​Facebook may be the saddest place on Earth (at least according to this week's Forking column) but a little white bean chili goes a long way toward making you forget about those hook-ups initiated by a friend request.

White Bean Chili

Ingredients:
1 lb White beans ; small, dried
6 cup Chicken broth ; (6 to 8 cups)
1 Onion ; diced fine
4 cloves Garlic ; minced
1 freezer tub Green Chiles ; hot, diced
1 lb Turkey breast ; ground
1 tbsp Cumin ; ground
1 tbsp Oregano
1/2 lb Jack Cheese ; grated
1 tomatoes Fresh, diced
1 cup Sour cream
1 cup Cilantro ; fresh, chopped

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​This week's Forking column gets down to the dirty truth about what your surroundings say about you. For the sake of making a good impression on your would-be significant other, make damn sure to clean your bathroom. As for your kitchen, have a pot of this German bread dumpling soup bubbling away on your stove and call it good. 

The recipe is after the jump. 

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This week's Forking column focuses on the perils of getting attached to the live animal you plan to serve for dinner. Now you can bring the fun and awkwardness of serving something with a face home for your next date with this recipe for crab legs.

Steaming crab legs:
Add crab legs to rapid boiling water (fill pot with about 2inches with water.) I usually add a 1/4 cup of white wine for more flavor, this is optional. Cover tightly and steam thawed crab legs 5-7 minutes until heated through and through. Most frozen crab legs you buy at the grocery store are pre-cooked, make sure and ask the attendant at the counter. Pre-cooked crab legs can be eaten cold without cooking otherwise they just need heating without further cooking.

Be careful, seafood has a low fat and high water content they can easily be overcooked. Too much steaming will toughen the flesh as it dries out and too much cooking when submerged in water will make the flesh soggy. You just want to steam them enough to warm the flesh up! I then drain and serve them immediately with lots of butter and fresh sliced lemon wedges. I also offer clarified butter and non-clarified butter. Some people like the more greasy/salty flavor of non-clarified butter.

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​We're unsure whether Colin Redding's "Mango Salsa Pants" is a recipe for a delicious salsa or a recipe for saying hell to the kitchen and heading to the bedroom instead.

Possible ulterior motives aside, this sounds like a tasty salsa.

Mango Salsa Pants
1 mango, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/2 cup tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons jalapeno, seeded and minced

Mix thoroughly and season with salt and can add cayenne pepper to suit your level of heat. Can be made hours ahead of time. You can also buy peeled and seeded mango at the grocer, it's not as fresh but a hell of a lot easier!

Get ready to dance.

Read this week's Forking column.

In this week's Forking column, Colin Redding extols the benefits of being romantically involved with a "healthy, freaky chick." The relationship eventually fizzled out, but the sautéed spinach recipe he picked up before he was sent packing continues to sizzle in Redding's kitchen.

Simple Sautéed Spinach

• One bag baby spinach
• Olive Oil
• Sesame seed Oil *Optional
• Garlic *Optional
• Red pepper flakes *Optional

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You can find a kitchen towel just about everywhere nowadays. The cheap and obvious place to purchase is your local supermarket or Target store. Keep in mind, the local places are going to have cheap weave towels that usually have a tacky floral print or lame color scheme.

You can also find expensive high quality towels at Crate and Barrel or Williams Sonoma. These trendy places are great for decorative towels that hang from the stove but they aren't great to cook with.

If you are a serious chef then why not stock your kitchen like one. Most restaurants use plain white towels so I suggest getting some for use in your kitchen. White towels are cheaper and it's easy to tell when they get dirty. I shop for my Kitchen towels at Sam's Club or Costco where you can find 10ct bags of them on the cheap. It's great to have a drawer full so you can change them often during cooking on an as need basis. The warehouse clubs sell to most restaurants so you are getting the same towels the chefs are!

For more on towels and how they may help you cook up some romance in your kitchen, don't miss this week's Forking.

Forking columnist Colin Redding doesn't play around when it comes to his sausage. Quite the contrary in fact as even a failed relationship hasn't kept him from cooking a few of his ex's sausage recipes. Explore this and the mystical combination of sausage and grape jelly in this week's Forking...full story.