Fork You

Maybe it’s the trickle-down effects of the Food Network, but it seems like every cooking vlog has to have a hook. Average Betty (funny), Cooking with Rockstars (celebrity), Starvin’ with Louis (thrifty), Fearless Cooking (bravery), and Freshtopia (eco-friendly) all have their gimmicks and special interests. And now there’s Fork You (Philly).

Part of the Blankbaby Media Empire (which is otherwise comprised of two blogs and a book project), Fork You is a Philadelphia-based instructional cooking vlog with a Philadelphia-oriented sensibility. There’s no cheesesteak recipes, but there is a lot about kosher ham, Easter dinner, St. Patrick’s Day dinner, gravy, chicken soup, sushi, latkes–meats and potatoes, all things hearty and Philly. Unlike some sites, there’s no five-minute video clip on how to make a salad here. (Wait. Nevermind. They’ve got that too.)

Marisa and Scott host the site, which headlines with two shows: Fork You and Quick Fork. The co-hosts are affable and laidback (which are two important components in all of my favorite vlogs

), dishing out simple, manageable recipes.

What’s really cool about the show is that they’ve recently transferred both shows to a Viddler player, which allows content creators to tag their videos with labels at different points in the stream. For example: in my favorite episode, “Booze in your Tort,” you can jump to when they put in the 1.5 cups of sugar, when they put in the Frangelica, when they suggest additional toppings, or when Chris says, “It’s tasty!” Even though recipes are all available for printing and easy reading, that makes the video process a whole lot easier.

Check out the shows on Fork You and make a quick flourless chocolate tort with Marisa and Scott in the video below: