Today is the first day of spring! To celebrate this day and the amazing weather Philly has been experiencing the past few days, we’re releasing part one of our Flower + Flour podcast. The first part of this episode will be dedicated to all things flower related. I will discuss using edible flowers in cooking and we have a special guest, Christine’s friend Jason Finau, to dish out what a traditional luau is all about.
Next week, stayed tune to part two of our Flower + Flour podcast. We’ll have more special guests and Christine will give you a 101 lesson on how to use different flours in your baking.
WE ARE BACK! Did you miss us? Because we sure missed making you hungry with our stories, recipes, reviews, and everything that’s deliciously happening in Philly. Thank you to all our listeners for your support. If you’re a first time listener, welcome to Cleaning Plates! We are looking forward to sharing a lot of wonderful stories and interviews with you this season.
What better way to kick off this brand new season of Cleaning Plates than with an interview with Margaret McGuire, the editor of the new and absolutely puffalicious book Marshmallow Madness. The cookbook is written and features recipes by Shauna Sever, who runs the popular blog Piece of Cake and operates a dessert catering business in San Francisco called Bake Sale Bakery. We met up with Margaret at the Quirk Books office to discuss all things marshmallow, her favorite recipes from the book, and why everyone should make marshmallows at home.
SHOW NOTES: Serious Eats Marshmallow Madness West Coast Recap
Can’t get enough of marshmallows? Make sure to check out Serious Eats Marshmallow Madness competition! On February 20th, Serious Eats and Quirk Books kicked off the Marshmallow Madness Bracket. This month long challenge had bloggers from all over the country competing with each other to see who can cook up the most creative marshmallows. The first and second week of the competition, featuring all west coast (first week) and southwest (second week) bloggers are done. Here is a recap on all the marshmallow madness that occurred.
Week One: West Coast Blog:Kitchen Konfidence Marshmallow:Maple Bacon S’mores Why We Love It: The campfire classic gets updated with BACON! How could any sweet tooth carnivores say no to that.
Blog:Love Veggies and Yoga Marshmallow:S’mores Inspired Bars Why We Love It: This recipe has it all. Graham crackers, both white and dark chocolate, peanut butter, Cocoa Krispies, mini marshmallows, and even a vegan and gluten-free version of the recipe. Sounds like a crowd pleaser for sure!
Blogs:Kitchen Parade Marshmallow:Orange-Kissed Marshmallows Why We Love It: If only every kiss was as sweet as these. Not only do we love the name of these marshmallow but we also adore the use of orange zest in the recipe.
Week Two: Southwest Blogs:Baked Bree Marshmallow:Chai Latte Marshmallows Why We Love It: They sound like the perfect companion with afternoon tea. Who needs tea cookies and dainty sandwiches when we have these marshmallows.
Blogs:Barbara Bakes Marshmallow:Lucky Charm Marshmallows Why We Love It: Shaped in clovers, stars, and hearts, I rather find a bucket of these marshmallow at the end of the rainbow than gold.
Blogs:Foodie Bride Marshmallow:Baileys Marshmallows Why We Love It: Who could resist boozy marshmallows. Spike up your regular hot chocolate into something special with a few of these marshmallows in your drink.
SHOW NOTES
It’s that time of the year to loosen the belt and wear your most comfortable clothes. Thanksgiving is here and it’s time to eat! The holiday menu might vary from family to family, but one thing for sure there will be a lot of eating involve. In this episode Christine and I talk turkey and share tips on how to prepare a stress free holiday meal.
SHOW NOTES
Since I was out in the west coast enjoying some California sunshine, for this week’s episode we have two very special guests. Gino and Kishwer, from the award winning Talkadelphia podcast, joins Christine to discuss some of their favorite places to eat in Philadelphia (Good Dog, Zento, Mumbai Bistro) and how to host a great house party (don’t forget about your vegetarian friends, the more food the better, have a fun theme).
WHERE WE ATE
Gino & Kishwer: Talula’s Garden, Chifa (favorite dishes includes pork belly bun, roasted chicken, and fried rice), and Wah-Gi-Wah (a must order for Kishwer is their chicken charga)
SHOW NOTES
Nice and slow is the motto for today’s show, and perfectly describes one of the essential equipments all home cooks should have around the kitchen, the slow cooker. As the fall weather gets cooler, that’s when the slow cooker starts to emerge in the kitchen. Perfect for stews, soups, and braising, it seems like there’s nothing a slower cooker can’t cook – but you’ll be wrong. In today’s episode we talk about how to pick the perfect slow cooker, what should never be cooked in it, and share some of our favorite crock pot recipes.
WHERE WE ATE Together:Tampopo, 21st Street between Sansom & Chestnut. Bibimbap and Fresh Tuna Bibimbap. Rotisseur, 21st Street between Sansom & Chestnut. Quarter leg and thigh meals with roasted cauliflower and seasonal pickled vegetables, chicken bánh mì with a side of mac and cheese, and apple cobbler.
SHOW NOTES
Fall is here! A change in the season means a change in what we eat and cook. On this double topic episode Christine and I will explore fall and fusion food as we sip on tea infuse rum cocktails. We will be discussing some of our favorite fall foods (braise meats, pumpkin beer, apples), what we will not miss about summer (mosquito bites, crappy bbqs) and our love (Bindi, Chifa, Maru Global) and hate (misname ramen dishes) towards fusion food.
WHERE WE ATE Together: Garces Trading Company, 1111 Locust Street. Summer Bean and Ricotta Tartine and Cranberry Pain Perdu.
Silk City, 435 Spring Garden Street. Spicy Buffalo Wings, Asian Spiced Tuna Burger, Fried Fish BLT, and Fresh Cut Cheese Fries.
SHAO: Sycamore, 14 S. Lansdowne Avenue. Charcuterie Plate, Wild Mushrooms on Toast, Rigatoni with Braised Lamb Ragu, Sautéed NJ Sea Scallops, Roasted Duck Breast with Parsley-Creamed Potatoes, and Banoffee Tart.
Our Cookiepedia Giveaway has been extended to September 29th.
Photo from QueensNotebook.com
SHOW NOTES
On this very special episode of Cleaning Plates, it’s all about Filipino food. We interview food blogger Elizabeth Besa Quirino (Betty Ann), who grew up in the Tarlac region of the Philippines, on what Filipino food is all about and what sets it apart from other Asian cuisine. Betty Ann also shares some of her favorite Filipino recipes, what she keeps in her pantry, and what to cook for beginners who want to explore Filipino food.
Elizabeth has worked as an advertising copywriter and written multimedia campaigns for Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Wendy’s, A & W, Disney Licensing. Previously, she taught Spanish at the Berlitz Learning Center. Elizabeth dabbles in watercolor and Chinese painting, having learned the art from the esteemed artist and philosopher, the late Professor Chen Bing Sun.
Ms. Besa Quirino hails from Manila and Tarlac, Philippines. She now lives in the east coast part of the USA with her family.
Welcome to the first official Noodle Party hosted by Cleaning Plates! We are so excited you are joining us in this endeavor. This time we chose SPAGHETTI! Usually, we would let you do whatever you choose with the pasta, but since spaghetti is popular, Shao and I decided to use a recipe with Spaghetti as a guideline. If you’re not feeling very creative but still want to participate, feel free Read More ...
“Trendy cupcakes may come and go, but C is for Cookie—and that’s good enough for us! If you miss the days when snacks were simple and handmade, you’ll love this homespun encyclopedia of cookies. Full of hand-drawn illustrations and gorgeous photographs, The Cookiepedia features recipes for everything from Amaretti and Almond Crescents to Gingersnaps, Rugelach, Snickerdoodles, and dozens of other favorites—more than 50 recipes in all.”
Spiral bound and filled with beautiful hand drawn illustrations and photographs from Tara Striano, this book is perfect for beginner cookie makers and bakers who are feeling nostalgic for classic cookies such as Chocolate Chip and Thumbprint. My (Shao) favorite recipes from the book are the Salt & Pepper and Green Tea cookies.
RULES TO ENTER
Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter (make sure you add @CleaningPlates and #cpcookiegiveaway in the tweet.)
Like us on our Facebook fan page and comment on The Cookiepedia link.
Leave a comment on this post about what your favorite cookie is.
You may enter one time with each method. The winner will be announce on our next podcast on September 15th. We’re extending the entry date to September 29th.
SHOW NOTES
We were named Geeks of the Week by Geekadelphia, so check out that interview here. Also, stay tuned for more information on our Cookiepedia give away which will go live on Friday, September 2nd.
Christine and Shao: On our third episode of Cleaning Plates, we discuss what we love about noodles, our favorite Asian and European noodle dishes, and try to ponder on what “Italian fusion” would be.
WHERE WE ATE:
Sang Kee, 238 North 9th Street.
Xochitl (pronounced So-Chee), 408 South 2nd Street
Pho Saigon, 1100 South Christopher Columbus Blvd #22
WHAT WE COOKED:
Shao: Cantonese Pear & Pork Soup — blog to come soon.
Christine: Roasted Tofu & Vegetables on Pan Fred Poletna cakes and frittatas in individual Cast Iron Pans.
SHOW TOPIC: NOODLES!
We’ll be posting more details on the Noodle Party on 9/5! I hope you join us.
NEXT EPISODE:
We are so excited to have a guest, Betty Ann Quirino of Queen’s Notebook and Asian in American as well as fellow contributor to Quirk Homemade come and talk to us about Filipino food!
Braised Beef Brisket with Beets
Photo from QueensNotebook.com
