The Hot Plate is an innovative resource for budget-friendly cooking. Taking the guess work out of gourmet, The Hot Plate provides delicious, fresh, and cost effective meal ideas. It offers everything, including on-the-go, freezer-friendly and crowd pleasing dishes that won’t break the bank.
CFC has become a sponsor of The Hot Plate because Canadians are voracious users of the “new” web, and social media has become an important new means by which we can connect with our key audiences. The appeal of The Hot Plate is the simplicity of the show, the delicious recipes that Amanda creates and the emphasis on cooking efficiently and within a budget.
The shows are short, informative and always entertaining.
Amanda Garbutt, Host and Co-Producer, and April Engelberg, Creator and Co-Producer, met on their first day at McGill University in 2006 and became great friends. After a few tasty dinners at Amanda’s apartment, April envisioned The Hot Plate as a way to engage fellow McGill students in the kitchen. Amanda accepted the challenge of creating resourceful, yet delightful dishes that inspired students to improve mealtime. It was Amanda's first time being on camera and April’s first time producing a show.
The Hot Plate is streamed online at TheHotPlate.net. Since its debut, the show has gathered a large fan base within the Montreal community as well as media attention across Canada, including: The Globe and Mail, The Montreal Gazette, Toronto Life and CTV Television.
April and Amanda were recently awarded first place in the Dobson Cup, an entrepreneurial competition open to both the undergraduate and graduate students at McGill University. They have since moved to Toronto to pursue The Hot Plate full time, releasing twenty five episodes this year on their website www.thehotplate.net.
Believe it or not, Amanda was a very picky eater as a kid growing up in Ottawa. It wasn’t until one day, at the age of ten, that she tried an oyster and never turned back. She learned to cook with her mum, and as the teen angst years came, their mother-daughter bonding time was spent in the kitchen. Once she moved to McGill University, she taught her roommates the cooking basics. Before long, everyone was calling her for cooking advice, including April, and the rest is history.
Amanda currently hosts cooking classes at Great Cooks, Loblaw’s, Longos and Alumni events. Check www.thehotplate.netfor event details. The Hot Plate will soon be featured on the website She Does the City with new videos and recipes.
April grew up in Toronto and had no previous media experience until a friend brought her along to a TV McGill meeting in second year at McGill. She instantly loved the club and spent all her free time filming, editing and hosting interviews. She spent the next two summers interning at CNN in New York and Al Jazeera English in Washington D.C. Once she experienced Amanda’s passion for cooking, it was just a matter of convincing Amanda to star in a new cooking show.
Some recent episodes of The Hot Plate are:
- Chicken Dinner http://thehotplate.net/newsite/episodes.php?episode=Chicken+Dinner
- Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese http://thehotplate.net/newsite/episodes.php?episode=Chicken+Stuffed+With+Goat+Cheese
- Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches http://thehotplate.net/newsite/episodes.php?episode=Curried+Chicken+Salad+Sandwiches
In the meantime, we look forward to Amanda’s new and different chicken creations and will let you know where you can find them and when they are posted!
