Dinner Sisters

Egg Poacher Unitaskers, those kitchen gadgets that do only one thing, can be the bane of kitchen storage. Strawberry hullers, avocado slicers, and garlic peelers take up space and could be replaced by a good sharp knife. But sometimes a unitasker can make life easier. Kate talks about her favorite gadget, the egg poacher. Maybe you'll find a way to make breakfast easier. 

We are in love with tacos- easy, just plain tasty, handheld meals. Truth be told, we grew up on a crunchy taco with ground beef, and they still hold a special place in our hearts. But today there’s all sorts of tacos to explore. Fish tacos, vegan tacos, or korean beef are all on this episode. Whatever you do, make sure to share one with someone you love. You always make friends with tacos.

Freezer Jam The strawberries are ripe and blueberries too. Time to make a quick and easy jam to have those flavors year 'round. No boiling, just some quick mashing and mixing and you have something delicious hidden away in your freezer. 

Strawberry Chicken with Avocado, Scrambled Egg and Roasted Asparagus Toasts, and Creamy One Pot Pasta with Peas and Mint. From the Smorgasbord: Kate made her springtime favorite, rhubarb sauce. Listener Corner: Corisa's tip, Lila’s Deconstructed Lasagna Recipe: Pasta con la Ricotta (Memoria di Angelina)

Charcoal Chef Citrin is well known for his restaurants that celebrate produce and the grill. He has a new book, Charcoal, with some delicious recipes that bring his restaurant to the home cook. We interviewed him to learn a bit more about the book and learned a few stellar techniques for better grilling. Who knew mayonnaise would be so versatile

Dumplings Dumplings are a nearly universally loved food. Whether stuffed with soup, or meat, veggies, or tofu, we’re big fans over here at the Dinner Sisters. We sampled three of the many, many, many, types of dumplings, traveling from Poland to Canton, China, to Nepal. Each delicious, each our favorite.

Pot in Pot Cooking Follow Meeta's advice and cook more flexibly and easily using your Instant Pot. Make rice at the same time as your main dish, and more. We love this idea for an all-in-the-Instant-Pot dinners or for smaller crowds. Thanks Meeta! You can find Meeta and her delicious recipes for the modern home cook at www.pipingpotcurry.com

Baking a cake for your family and loved ones can be an act of love -or frustration if you don’t have a good recipe. Odette Williams gives us great recipes to make cakes that aren’t necessarily fancy but are delicious and packed with love. This episode we not only made some fantastic cake (Those madeleines! The lemon yogurt cake!) but had a chance to get some tips and techniques from Odette herself. Happy baking!

Start a Cookbook Club Gathering your friends, old and new, together for a cookbook club seems fun. Quickly, though, the details can feel overwhelming. How do you even get people to pick a date?  Linda, one of our fabulous listeners, has been there. She offers us some practical advice for getting that club going once and for all!

Six o’clock in the evening. You have been out all day but dinner has yet to come together. To the rescue- a rotisserie chicken! Sure, you can serve it up with some bagged lettuce and call it a day. No judgement here. You could also try one of our three recipes this week and shake things up a bit. We’ve got an elevated dinner salad with a creamy-tangy dressing, a quick soup with the depth of red curry paste, and a family favorite BBQ chicken pizza. Rotisserie chicken is more talented than we thought.

Book Club We’re sharing another Protip from Monique, a listener and avid cookbook club member. If you’re someone who loves a good cookbook, join a group online! Monique shares why she loves an online club and some hashtags to get you connected. Monique recommends Get Cooking (#getcookingcookbookclub) or Rainy Day Bites (#rainydaybitescookbookclub). Food52 (#f52cookbookclub ) and Saveur (#saveurcookbookclub) She also offers the ckbk Club (#ckbkclub) as a way to connect with her and her company ckbk.

Green Machine Salad, Salt Baked Fish, and La Viña Cheesecake Spring is officially here, even if the weather isn’t exactly cooperating for all of us. Along with the change in season we are celebrating another ten episodes with a spring dinner party. Make a crunchy green salad with the first asparagus of the year. Follow up with an impressive salt baked fish that comes out moist and lightly seasoned by salt and herbs. Finish up with a showstopper of a cheesecake that manages to be all made in one bowl.

We are happy to have a ProTip from a listener and fellow podcaster, Marie. She’s all about making life in the kitchen easier for those of us with busy lives and families to feed. This week she talks about her strategy for meal planning. Thinking aheads saves the day. Thanks, Marie!

Zaitoun, our latest cookbook review, lies at a sweet spot for the Dinner Sisters. It's where you can make dinner and travel at the same time. Yasmin Khan introduces us to Palestinian flavors like tart sumac and warming allspice and new staples like thick labneh and tangy pomegranate molasses. All the while she weaves in stories about the families, cities, and politics of Palestine. This is a book to read while sipping a cup of tea, marking up the pages, only to get up and start marinating a chicken.

Kate and Betsy talk about one of their favorite past times, thrifting! Go green and save a little cash with unusual finds like handmade pottery, vintage glassware, and baking dishes. We love saving money, keeping items out of the waste stream, and fun items for our kitchen all comes together in one place. Have a tip, trick, or advice? Email us at: dinnersisterspodcast@gmail.com or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram.