Amy Ho Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City.
Today's episode kicks off a brand-new miniseries we're bringing to you in partnership with Destination Canada. Over the next few weeks, we'll be spotlighting some of our favorite Canadians. We've got Instagram superstars, folks from “Top Chef Canada,” star restaurateurs, chefs, even one of my favorite fashion designers. We're starting things off with the delightful Amy Ho, the baker, blogger and author behind Constellation Inspiration. Amy's been a guest on her baking pod, She's My Cherry Pie, a few times to talk about her Instagram-famous mooncakes and gingerbread holiday creations, but this is the first time we're interviewing Amy about her life, her family, her hometown of Vancouver, and what inspires her. I learned so much, like the fact that she does social media for Vancouver restaurants, her fierce love of her local Chinatown, her competitive approach to Friendsgiving potlucks, and that her dog, Waffles, is a minor celebrity. Of course, we chat about the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and how Amy and her family will be celebrating. Stay tuned for my chat with Amy Ho.
Today's episode of Radio Cherry Bombe is presented by Destination Canada. I first discovered Canada when I was 18 years old and going to college in Upstate New York, just an hour outside of Montréal. I couldn't believe this beautiful, exciting city was so close by. I visited every chance I got. My favorite thing to do was dance at the best new wave club in town and end the night with poutine at an after-hours diner. My tastes have changed a bit since then, although I still love new wave music and poutine. And luckily, Canada has grown with me. I've returned to Montréal several times and visited Vancouver and Toronto, too. Today, Canada is a place where I can find everything I want, especially when it comes to culture, connection, and authenticity, and its landscapes and people: from indigenous ceremonies to Québécois winter carnivals and Caribbean parades to Lunar New Year celebrations. Culture in Canada is as rich and diverse as its people. Each region reflects a unique blend of traditions, languages, and stories rooted in the land. One great example of this is Christa Guenther of Feast Cafe and Bistro in Winnipeg. She's an indigenous chef bringing ancestral recipes to the table in delicious modern ways. Canada invites you to experience its incredible culture through nature, storytelling, and community. Start planning your visit today at canadanaturally.com.
A big thank you to everyone who joined us at Jubilee L.A. What a weekend. Be sure to check out @cherrybombe and @kerrybombe, that's me, on Instagram for all the highlights. I also want to thank all the Jubilee talent. You are incredible. And of course, our sponsors: Square, S. Pellegrino, California Prunes, Enterprise Mobility, Ghirardelli, and Zacapa. Now it's onto Jubilee New York 2026, which I cannot believe. Jubilee NYC tickets just went on sale at cherrybombe.com. Jubilee NYC is happening on Saturday, April 25th, at the Glass House on the West Side, and it's going to be an amazing day. I can't wait to tell you more as we book all the talent, plan the menus, and organize everything. Mark your calendars and don't miss out on early bird pricing.
Now let's check in with today's guest. Amy Ho, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Amy Ho:
Thanks for having me.
Kerry Diamond:
I am so thrilled. This has been a long time coming. You've been on our baking podcast, She's My Cherry Pie, twice. There aren't that many people who have been on that show twice, but you have so many things that you are good at that we had to have you on to talk about mooncakes, which we'll talk about of course. And you've become one of the queens of the gingerbread house over the past few years.
Amy Ho:
Oh my God. I'm not worthy of that title, but thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
The ones you do are so interesting and special, which is why I think we gravitate toward them at Cherry Bombe. Have you already started thinking about this year's holiday?
Amy Ho:
Because I feel the need to outdo all of my previous gingerbread houses every single year, I'm nervous to start thinking about it, but I might do something Snoopy or Peanuts-themed because I love Snoopy, Snoopy girl through and through, and apparently, it's their 75th anniversary this year, so I might do something fun with that and then still do a gingerbread house, but TBD on what it's going to look like.
Kerry Diamond:
Where are you calling in from today?
Amy Ho:
I'm calling in from Vancouver, B.C.
Kerry Diamond:
You are in Vancouver.
Amy Ho:
West Coast, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
How is life in Vancouver?
Amy Ho:
It's great. The weather has been really nice. I know starting with weather, it might be lame, but the weather has been so nice. It was 26 degrees Celsius, which is really warm for us yesterday, so I haven't really truly let go of summer yet. I know fall is coming, but it's been really, really nice. Vancouver summertime is my favorite because it's so neutral, not too hot, not too cold, and we get so much sun, which is rare.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you live in the city?
Amy Ho:
Mm-hmm, yeah. I live in Vancouver. I live in downtown Vancouver. I grew up in Richmond, which is just a little bit outside of Vancouver, probably like a 30, 40-minute drive from downtown Vancouver, but I live in Vancouver right now.
Kerry Diamond:
You have an amazing food scene.
Amy Ho:
Oh my God, it's so good.
Kerry Diamond:
We used to print the magazine in Vancouver. I remember I would drive through where all the restaurants were and I just couldn't believe how many restaurants you have in Vancouver.
Amy Ho:
Yeah, it's so great, because in addition to my baking, I also do photography and social media for restaurants in Vancouver. So I'm like-
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, wait, hold on. I didn't know that.
Amy Ho:
Wait, wait. Wait.
Kerry Diamond:
I wanted to ask you how you made a living because I was like you're one of those amazing culinary creatives and I know sometimes it's hard to make a living just from that, so I was curious what your other gigs were. Okay, so we've got a lot to unpack, so you really know the restaurant community.
Amy Ho:
Yeah, yeah. I get the privilege of going to some friends and family events, some soft launches before restaurants open. So I like to think that I'm in-the-know with the Vancouver restaurant scene, and it's a really, really lovely community here.
Kerry Diamond:
You have to tell us about some of your clients. Where do I need to go when I come visit?
Amy Ho:
Oh, of course. Yeah, of course. I work with a bunch of restaurants in Vancouver, small and large, mostly independent restaurants. One of the ones that I love working with and I've been working with year is Beaucoup Bakery, a really cute bakery that started in Kitsilano area and now they have a downtown location. They just opened a Squamish location, like an hour away from downtown. I love working with them.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. You have very high baked goods standards, so what do I need to get when I go to Beaucoup?
Amy Ho:
I'm such a croissant purist that I always get a plain butter croissant everywhere I go because it's a good way to judge whether a place is doing it well or not. I love a classic all-butter croissant. Also, they have a-
Kerry Diamond:
So you're not distracted by the rose pistachio croissant or the almond croissant or all the variations we have now?
Amy Ho:
I'm very, very committed to an all-butter croissant, but occasionally, when I fully accept the fact that it's fall season, I will get an apple pie croissant from Beaucoup Bakery. I know-
Kerry Diamond:
I've never even heard of an apple pie croissant.
Amy Ho:
It's like I think a double-baked almond croissant, but in addition to the almond frangipane, there's slow-roasted apples in the middle. It's so good.
Kerry Diamond:
I feel like I need that right now. That sounds amazing. Beaucoup Bakery. Okay, it's on the list. Who else?
Amy Ho:
I also love working with Chinatown Barbecue. As the name suggests, in Chinatown, they're really traditional in terms of cooking style. They do Cantonese-style roasted meats and barbecue. I love them with all my heart. They're so great because they're not just a restaurant, but as a larger purpose, they want to revive Vancouver Chinatown. They're all about preserving the history of Chinatown and continuing the story as well. So they don't do just food, but they contribute so much to the community in terms of preventing gentrification and really making sure everyone knows Chinatown, its story gets told continuously, and yeah, I really, really love them.
Kerry Diamond:
What should I order at Chinatown Barbecue?
Amy Ho:
If it's your first time there, I would recommend the Four Treasures Rice Plate, where you get a bit of everything. So you get the three most popular cuts of meat there, along with a half-salted duck egg, and it's on a bed of white rice. And it's a good sampler of everything they offer there, but you really can't go wrong. Even though they call it Chinatown Barbecue, they do a lot of meats, all their vegetable dishes are also spectacular because they use the wok in the kitchen, and everything has such a nice char, and everything is cooked with such high heat. It's wonderful.
Kerry Diamond:
Sounds incredible. Okay, give us one more restaurant.
Amy Ho:
One more restaurant that I love, client or non-client?
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, client. Client. Brag on your clients right now.
Amy Ho:
Okay, okay, okay, okay, sounds good.
Kerry Diamond:
The mic is yours.
Amy Ho:
The mic is mine.
Kerry Diamond:
And apologies to all of Amy's clients for making her choose only three of you.
Amy Ho:
I know, I know. If I'm craving ice cream, I love Mr. Ice Cream. They do nitrogen ice cream, so you choose your flavor and then they have their ice cream base and they spin it for you right away, so it's super smooth. They have lots of fun flavors. My personal favorite is their shortbread ice cream, which is what inspired me to create my own recipe for shortbread ice cream that I always make during the holidays. It's super creamy, super rich. And the fact that I do use nitrogen and they do it right away makes it really, really smooth. So I really like them.
Kerry Diamond:
I love nitrogen ice creams. It's so much fun to see it made right in front of you, and it is literally the freshest ice cream you could possibly get unless you make it yourself. Funny that you said your favorite flavor is shortbread, because when you said that you are a croissant purist and you do the all-butter croissant, I was curious if that extended to things like ice cream-
Amy Ho:
Oh, for sure.
Kerry Diamond:
... like you go and have a vanilla first.
Amy Ho:
I love getting vanilla ice cream along with a fun flavor, but I need almost a palate cleanser flavor along with it, and yeah, I think it's a nice contrast to have.
Kerry Diamond:
So interesting. I will always go for what is weird or different. If there is a strange ice cream on the menu, I will get it. If there is a cookie croissant, I will be the person to order it. You know where I don't apply that to, though? Coffee drinks. I'm a coffee purist.
Amy Ho:
Yeah, same. I am a coffee purist as well. I like the idea of a fun coffee drink, but whenever I get it, I miss a pour-over. That's what I want.
Kerry Diamond:
How's the coffee scene in Vancouver?
Amy Ho:
I think it's really great. We have our staples. We have a bunch of local roasters here, but we also have a lot of cafes that carry beans from around the world. My personal favorite coffee shop here in Vancouver is Revolver, and the name suggests, all the beans revolve. They carry usually like 10 to 15 different roasters from around the world and they have a big list for you to choose from when you get there. It's sometimes a bit overwhelming, but whatever I choose, it turns out it's a super good cup of coffee.
Kerry Diamond:
I know you haven't been to New York in a long time, but you know when people come to New York, everybody wants to find the perfect pizza place, they want to have the perfect bagel, they go line up for it. What's the equivalent in Vancouver? Is there such a thing?
Amy Ho:
I don't think there's one specific food item, but Vancouver also does love a good lineup. There's always a lineup for a brunch place. What makes Vancouver so special to me is that there's so many different types of cuisine, but right now, there's this one Korean noodle place that has an hour, two-hour lineup before opening every day. I haven't been yet because I'm afraid of the two-hour lineup right now, but yeah, I feel like there's a lot of Asian foods that get that type of attention in Vancouver, which is why I love Vancouver.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest. In case you didn't know, Cherry Bombe is on Substack. If you are a Substack lover, I know I am, Substack is one of my favorite media platforms these days, be sure to check it out and subscribe. You can subscribe for free or become a monthly or annual paid subscriber. We have recipes, recaps of our baking pod, She's My Cherry Pie, our Missy Robbins cover story, and we'll be adding more content each week, including Radio Cherry Bombe recaps and lots of insider stuff. If you're new to Substack, think about it as the home of modern blogs. If you love reading and writing, it's the place for you. Visit cherrybombe.substack.com and be sure to listen for Amy's favorite Substacks later in the show. We have a few faves in common.
What did you eat growing up?
Amy Ho:
I grew up in Richmond, which was a really, I wouldn't say predominantly Chinese, but it was a large Chinese community in Richmond, B.C. I think it was in the recent years where The New York Times wrote about how Richmond, B.C. has the best Chinese food outside of China, but we have a very vibrant Chinese food scene there. And it's not like a homogenous bracket "Chinese food," but we have super regional Chinese food and cuisines there. So I love growing up there because I got to experience so many types of food and cuisine growing up. But yeah, I grew up in Richmond, B.C. My family immigrated over right before I was born. I was in Richmond, B.C. probably for 18, 20 years of my life before I moved into Vancouver. I lived at home for most of university before I moved out.
Kerry Diamond:
Who cooked at home, Amy?
Amy Ho:
Both my parents did. So we had a very, I wouldn't say stereotypical. When my dad came over, he opened a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown with one of his friends and my dad was the main cooking person in the family, but then my mom also did a lot of cooking. Their cooking styles were very different. My dad did a lot more restaurant-oriented cooking because he owned the restaurant, and my mom did more of the homey style, lots of braised soups and simple stir fries. My parents always let me be part of it. I always watched from the kitchen island when they were cooking. So I feel like that also added to my obsession of food now because I was so involved with it growing up.
Kerry Diamond:
When did the baking start?
Amy Ho:
The baking didn't start until much later, when I was in university. My parents didn't bake much. If we did do any sweets, it was more of a steamed, sweet steamed cakes and lots of dessert soups, so the baking that I do now was not something I was familiar with back then and it's something I fell in love with later in my life, but I always have a soft spot for more traditional Chinese baked goods or sweets because that's what I grew up eating.
Kerry Diamond:
How long did your dad have a restaurant for?
Amy Ho:
Not too, too long. They don't mention it that much, so I actually don't know too much about it. The reason why I first found out about the restaurant is because our home in Richmond has so much cutlery and so many plates and dishes and mugs from the restaurant. So we are never short on utensils. Whenever we have a family potluck or gathering, we will provide the utensils because we have like 57 forks.
Kerry Diamond:
That is so funny. I forgot about that when I owned restaurants. I think I had a lot of cutlery too. You know what I had more of than anything? Umbrellas.
Amy Ho:
Umbrellas.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my God, everybody leaves their umbrellas in restaurants and they don't come back to get them. And we literally had so many umbrellas. The whole staff had multiple umbrellas at some point. It's very funny. So you'll have to ask your dad about that. You go to university, what did you study, and what did you think you might do one day?
Amy Ho:
I went into university not too sure of what I was going to major in. I was choosing between psychology and human geography, and in my brain, I'm like, "Oh, psychology is more useful than human geography," because I wasn't sure. I enjoy my human geography classes, but I wasn't sure what I was going to do afterwards with it.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, I don't even know what human geography is.
Amy Ho:
Oh, it's like immigration-migration patterns.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's fascinating.
Amy Ho:
Yeah, the human aspect of how we disperse and place ourselves around the world. It was very interesting. It was like a mix of sociology and history. I loved it because you get to learn a bit about everything.
Kerry Diamond:
That's a beautiful term when you stop and think about it, human geography.
Amy Ho:
Yeah. Yeah, it was great. I loved it. I got an honors degree in undergrad for psychology and then I continued and got my master's in psychology and I focused in health psychology. So before all the baking really started, I did a lot of research at the hospital on helping older adults that have had falls and injuries, how to get them back on their feet and develop a healthy exercise routine for them. So that's what I did for a good number of years before switching into what I do now, which is a lot of baking, a lot of food photography. I still love what I did in university. I still have a deep appreciation for it, but at some point, I just knew that that wasn't my calling and what I want to do for the rest of my life because why wouldn't I want to photograph a croissant or a plate of beautiful barbecue meats instead?
Kerry Diamond:
That is the question. Yeah. I'm so curious, though. The things you learned as a psychology major, do you think there's anything that you learned that you apply to your job today?
Amy Ho:
I feel like there's no direct connection, but I feel like university in its entirety prepared me in terms of, I guess, my work ethic. I would like to say that. I would like to think I have a good work ethic and that developed through my university studies, but it's a lot of people skills, communication skills, which is really important for what I do now.
Kerry Diamond:
So I'm thinking of the work you put out into the world, which skews very optimistic. How much do you have the end user in mind? You're making a baked good to be consumed visually, not to be consumed literally, and what do you think about your fanbase and the people who are looking at the content that you're creating?
Amy Ho:
Yeah, it's always a good mix between what I want to make and also what I think people would want to see and creating a recipe and the instructions with the user or the reader in mind to make sure they can replicate it in their own kitchen and that's a really important thing for me, because when I'm baking from somebody else's recipe, that's what I value as well. So when I'm developing recipe, I'm decorating a cookie, I want to make sure it's easy for someone to replicate on their end.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about Chinatown. You probably know this, but we've had Grace Young on the show, and Grace is such a fierce defender of Chinatowns across the country, especially historic Chinatowns. They really suffered during the pandemic and it has taken a long time for them to come back. Some of them, like our famous Chinatown here in New York City has not fully come back. Tell us how it is in Vancouver.
Amy Ho:
I love Chinatown. I feel like I started to say that because I truly feel it with every bone in my body. I love Chinatown so much. My dad's restaurant was in Chinatown and I grew up going to Chinatown quite a bit and now I get to work with a lot of businesses and a lot of organizations in Chinatown, which I'm really, really grateful for. Chinatown Vancouver is quite a vibrant Chinatown I would say. You get a good mix of traditional Chinese restaurants and a mix of more newer, more modern, more hip restaurants that are coming up as well. It's very food-focused. Most of the businesses there are food.
I love the vibe of our Chinatown, and there's lots of efforts here to make sure that Chinatown stays vibrant and it continues to be a place where people can come and enjoy. Like I mentioned previously, I do a lot of photography outside of my baking, and every year for the Chinatown Foundation, they put up an event called Light Up Chinatown and so celebrate the community. And I photograph that event every single year and it's my favorite thing to do every single year, is to photograph that weekend called Light Up Chinatown where they bring performances to that area.
A lot of the restaurants there do collaborations and you really feel a sense of community, and to make sure Chinatown is as lively as can be.
Kerry Diamond:
Amy, that's so beautiful. When does it take place?
Amy Ho:
Usually, it takes place at the end of summer. It just happened in August this year. It usually falls between the end of summer around Mid-Autumn Festival because Mid-Autumn is about reunion, togetherness and family. So it's a really good tie in for that. We lucked out with the weather this year. Vancouver could be really rainy. It's a full outdoor event, but we lucked out with the weather this year and we got a sunny weekend. It rained until the last hour right before the festival started. It's a little damp at first, but then it became super sunny and super beautiful and it was great.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love it. The ancestors smiled upon you, right?
Amy Ho:
Yeah, right.
Kerry Diamond:
What is the best time of year to go to Vancouver? I need to plan a visit.
Amy Ho:
It depends on what you want to do. My personal favorite is summer because the city is so beautiful. You get a lot of city, you get a lot of mountain, you get a lot of water. Summer is my favorite because it's so walkable. If you're into-
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love a walkable city.
Amy Ho:
I might be 34, but I don't have my driver's license and I don't think I'm going to get one anytime soon because the city is so walkable. My personal favorite is summertime, but a lot of people like coming for the wintertime because they like the snowboarding and the skiing, which is not something I am personally into, but all my friends, every single year, they rent a cabin or a lodge in Whistler and they do a snowboarding weekend. Sometimes, I go as well and I just bake or I am the one prepping the meals there, but they partake in the sports, and my sport is the baking.
Kerry Diamond:
Amy, I love that. You're our kind of gal. I'm a fall/autumn person. A walkable city in the autumn, that is my idea of heaven. Let's talk about a few holidays because there's a lot coming up that touches on the things that you are known for. We've got the Mid-Autumn Festival happening in just a few days. Everybody loves your mooncake content. Have you ever done a mooncake pop-up?
Amy Ho:
I haven't. Because I'm so busy making mooncakes, I haven't done a pop-up or a demo. From time to time, I do get asked to do a mooncake workshop in the Chinese gardens or at the Chinese Canadian Museum. I might consider that in the upcoming years, but I'm also a bit nervous to do it because I feel like it's something I do so much at home, I'm scared to do it publicly. But I know I should because I get ... Few are very interested in learning more about mooncakes, the history of mooncakes and how to make it. So maybe in the future, I will do a pop-up for that.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, I would line up for your mooncake pop-up, just FYI. For folks who are new to mooncakes, tell us what mooncakes are all about and then let's talk about how you make them.
Amy Ho:
So mooncakes is I would say the official treat or pastry of Mid-Autumn Festival. So Mid-Autumn Festival is a pretty important celebration or holiday for a lot of Asian countries. I grew up celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival. The date of it changes every single year. It follows the lunar calendar. Last year, it was in mid-to-end September. This year, it's early October, which gives me more time to make more mooncakes. When I checked the date, I was like, "Oh, yes, it's early October, not end of September." But yeah, it's the main pastry that all families eat during Mid-Autumn Festival. It's a soft pastry that's filled with traditionally white lotus seed paste. It's very nutty, it's very earthy, and in the center, there's a whole salted duck egg yolk, which is supposed to represent the full moon that happens during Mid-Autumn Festival.
It's a holiday that celebrates reunion, togetherness and family. So it's very important for families to gather and have large family dinners. My family does a big dinner the day before Mid-Autumn. So it's equivalent to Thanksgiving, but you get a lot of Chinese food instead of a traditional roasted turkey, which I prefer over a turkey any day.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us some of the dishes that your family might serve.
Amy Ho:
It's a lot of dishes that have a lot of symbolism. So we will do a whole fish. Obviously, the mooncakes are dessert, but for the savories, we'll do a whole fish. We'll do a lot of braised vegetables where the name sounds like something auspicious or wishes someone like longevity and happiness, things like that. My family always does a full roasted duck or a soy chicken. Because everything is about fullness and wholeness, so you want everything in its entirety, so whole fish, a whole chicken. Even the color is important because you want lots of greens because it represents money and fortune and things like that, so everything has its purpose on the Mid-Autumn dinner table.
Kerry Diamond:
You know this, every baked good, like we talked about with the croissants, people are messing with the formulas and breaking tradition. Is the same thing happening with mooncakes? Are people doing lots of variations on mooncakes or has it remained very traditional?
Amy Ho:
There are a lot of cool new mooncake flavors and techniques these days. It's definitely not hard to still find traditional mooncakes because there's always a fan base of that, me included, but there are a lot of ones where now you can get that are made out of mochi or made out of matcha. Oh, matcha is going to be so popular in mooncake season this year with all the matcha craze right now, but a lot more like fruit-forward, lighter flavors have come up in recent years. I myself started delving into that type of mooncake making as well. Last year, I made an ice cream mooncake, which was really popular, so it was a mochi wrapper, but inside was homemade ice cream and a lot of people liked recreating that at home because it was a new take on mooncakes.
A lot of grocery stores here carry mooncakes. You can get mooncakes at more boutique Asian bakeries, but mooncakes are everywhere. It's not a struggle at all to find mooncakes in Vancouver.
Kerry Diamond:
And for someone who wants to make their own mooncakes, what is your advice to the beginners?
Amy Ho:
If it's your first time making mooncakes and you just want to master the process, there are steps of it without having to worry about making every component yourself, if you go to Asian grocery store during Mid-Autumn Festival, there are lots of ingredients you can buy that are like premade mooncake fillings or premade mooncake doughs. I would start there because making mooncakes is a multistep process and doing it all at once could be overwhelming for someone who has never made it before. So even when, if I'm short on time, I love the Asian grocery stores to get a premade mooncake filling mix.
Kerry Diamond:
And you did a whole episode on She's My Cherry Pie about mooncakes, so folks can go listen to that if they want some of your tips. We're recording this a little early. Do you know what you're doing, what your mooncakes will be this season?
Amy Ho:
So one of the most popular summer recipes on my blog is a Chinese dessert soup called pomelo mango sago and I want to transform that into a mooncake form. I haven't decided how I'm going to do it yet, which is something I'm working on right now as we speak, but I'm hoping that recipe will be up before Mid-Autumn Festival and people can make that at home.
Kerry Diamond:
You always wow us, Amy, so I have no doubt you will nail this. The next holiday is Canadian Thanksgiving. Does your family celebrate that?
Amy Ho:
My family doesn't celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, but my friends do. We always do a Friendsgiving every year. It's just a potluck style. Because my family focuses on Mid-Autumn and it's usually really close to Thanksgiving, Mid-Autumn is our Thanksgiving for my family. It's popular here in Vancouver. I'm pretty sure in the rest of Canada as well, a lot of restaurants do their version of Thanksgiving.
Kerry Diamond:
I love that you have Friendsgiving. What do you bring for Friendsgiving?
Amy Ho:
Oh, let me tell you what I bring for Friendsgiving. It's not a competition at all, but I make it a competition with myself to bring a dish. Well, last year, I brought three dishes because I wanted to win so badly. Last year, I brought a super green pasta salad recipe from New York Times. I wanted to make sure I get a good appetizer, a good main and a good dessert, even though I was only tasked to bring dessert.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, I was going to say, "What kind of potluck do you have to bring?" "Three things."
Amy Ho:
I brought a super green pasta salad. I think the recipe is Andy Baraghani. I love that recipe so much. And then for the main, I brought a root vegetable squash tart, all arranged really pretty with what looks like flower petals. And for dessert, I brought my ice cream maker to the potluck. I know, I know, excessive. And I made a peach and basil ice cream to serve with the apple tart that I also made for the potluck.
Kerry Diamond:
It's almost like your own nitrogen ice cream stand, right? You're going to make ice cream right on the spot. That is hilarious. Your friends must've been pretty wowed.
Amy Ho:
Yeah, everyone was really wowed with the ice cream machine that was doing just churning and you just bring your slice of apple tart and I just scoop the ice cream onto the tart for you.
Kerry Diamond:
Amy, you are so funny and you are so next level. All right, let's talk about the holidays. You said you're not sure yet what you're going to do for your gingerbread moment, but we are all waiting. It's one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. It's always like, "What is Amy going to do?" so we'll just wait on that. But any tips for folks who are new to gingerbread?
Amy Ho:
Start on a smaller scale. Don't roll out your dough too thin because then your pieces might break, but just have a lot of patience. It's something that takes a lot of time. Put on a good podcast, put on a Cherry Bombe podcast, if you will. Put on a good podcast or your favorite Hallmark movie and time will fly, but I think patience is the most important.
Kerry Diamond:
Good advice.
Amy Ho:
Second is having a steady hand.
Kerry Diamond:
Second is have a steady hand. Okay, that makes a lot of sense, but that also makes sense like, "Don't be over ambitious. Maybe don't try to build Buckingham Palace on your first go with a gingerbread house."
Amy Ho:
Yeah, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about a few other things regarding you and your work. Where did the name Constellation Inspiration come from?
Amy Ho:
It's one of those things where you make a silly email in grade eight and then it just stuck with you for many years. So my blog actually started as like a DIY blog before it became a baking blog. I did a lot of thrifted clothing DIYs and a lot of ... I don't know specifically there was a moment where I'm like, "Oh, Constellation Inspiration is going to be my name," but a lot of the things I made in DIY had a lot of star themes, a lot of star prints in all the clothing DIYs I did. So I think that just stuck. Because I had it for so many years, it just didn't really make sense to change it. I always think about changing just to have it as my name, but then it also seemed like a hassle to change so many handles in my email.
Especially because I have my cookbook and it says Constellation Inspiration on it, I'm like, "Oh, do I change it because people might not know that it's me anymore?" But yeah, it's one of the things I created in grade 10 and it just stayed.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm trying to imagine grade 10 Amy and what you were wearing and watching.
Amy Ho:
Oh my gosh. Grade 10 Amy was very into pop punk, emo music and I was only wearing all black.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, that's so funny. It was not too dissimilar for me, except I was listening to new wave and wearing all black, and my mother was begging me not to wear black all the time. We've also come to know you as someone who is so precise. Anyone who looks at your Instagram, you are not putting out really rustic, homey cakes or baked goods. Everything is just ... There's so much precision to what you do. Were you always like that? Is that just how your brain is wired?
Amy Ho:
I think so. In addition to whatever I was studying at university, I always took a few art classes as well. I grew up doing a lot of drawing classes in my childhood and then also took a lot of drawing classes in university as well, because that was my creative outlet in addition to all the more academic classes that I was taking. But yeah, precision and very detail-oriented and I like to carry that into my baking. I like the task of sitting down and tweezering on every sprinkle. That brings me so much joy. Tweezers are what I have the most of in terms of a baking utensil. I have four pairs of tweezers in my drawer, all different sizes. And when I'm baking and during the holidays, I'm usually wearing overalls and have one pocket for my tweezers. I love my tweezers so much.
Kerry Diamond:
What inspires you today?
Amy Ho:
TV, I'm afraid to say I just binged “The Summer I Turned Pretty” like the rest of the world.
Kerry Diamond:
You know what? I have not watched it and I just said to a friend the other day, "Do I need to go back and watch this whole thing?" and she was like, "Yeah, you probably do."
Amy Ho:
I'm like, "Do I do something baking-related that's related to that show because everyone's watching it right now? Maybe."
Kerry Diamond:
Did the seasons just get better and better because I feel like, originally, I didn't hear that much about it, but now the buzz is major-
Amy Ho:
It depends on which character you're rooting for. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
What character are you rooting for?
Amy Ho:
Oh, I don't want to give a spoiler.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. No spoilers then. No spoilers.
Amy Ho:
Yes, the character I wanted to, not reveal, but yeah, they got what they want, so I'm happy with that. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, all right, no spoilers. What else are you loving?
Amy Ho:
I feel like my world is just so food-oriented that when you're asking me to think something that's not food-related, it's so hard.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you listen to music or podcasts?
Amy Ho:
I'm a big podcast listener. I always have a food podcast on also because it's closer to Halloween now. You might notice I don't do a lot of Halloween baking on my blog because it's just not really my niche, but I do love a Halloween-themed podcast or show. So I love this one podcast called Dead Meat and then they just do deep dives to horror movies. I'm too afraid to watch a horror movie, but I have no problem listening to it get dissected, so it seems less scary to me. I find it very intriguing.
Kerry Diamond:
I can't do horror movies either. Horror movies, violent, all those things, I just cannot watch them. So you don't do a costume at Halloween?
Amy Ho:
I do a costume just so I can match my dog, but I don't do a costume because I'm really into it. This year, I might do Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” because I saw the cutest Toto's basket costume for my dog at Spirit Halloween, so I might get the basket costume for the dog and I'll wear the blue and white gingham.
Kerry Diamond:
If you do that, please send us a video or a photo because we launched a little thing on Instagram called Puppy Bombe, and I've been trying to cover everybody in our community who's got a dog. What kind of dogs do you have?
Amy Ho:
I have a Havanese. He just made his modeling debut. I always post my dog on Instagram Stories, and then Susan Alexandra, the New York beaded bag, their photographer somehow found my Instagram Story and was like, "Your dog is the perfect dog to launch our new lineup of beaded dog bags," and then now he's a little face of a little white fluffy dog bag.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's so cute. I love Susan.
Amy Ho:
Apparently, it's on posters in New York, so maybe you might see my dog Waffles in New York.
Kerry Diamond:
I will be on the lookout for Waffles' face. So, Waffles inspired a bag, or Waffles actually modeled for this campaign?
Amy Ho:
Waffles modeled for the campaign because they were looking for a dog that looked like the design of the bag. It's like a little white dog with a ponytail on its head, and my dog is a little white dog with a ponytail on its head. So that just worked out perfectly.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, after we finish this recording, we've got to figure out how to get Waffles on Puppy Bombe, so-
Amy Ho:
Okay, perfect, perfect.
Kerry Diamond:
... all right, stay tuned, everybody. Let's talk about your cookbook because you and I both love flowers very much. Tell us about the book and how it came about.
Amy Ho:
My cookbook, “Blooms and Baking,” came out, I guess, five years ago now. It celebrates its fifth birthday this year. It came out right at the beginning of COVID.
Kerry Diamond:
I remember, that was so unfair.
Amy Ho:
I know. I know. All my book events got cancelled because my book came out April 2020, which was right at the beginning. I was pretty bummed out about it at first because I had all these scheduled events and workshops to talk about the book and bring the recipes to people in real life. But then it also worked out in a way because everyone was baking at home. So we just did a quick little pivot. I know we hated the word pivot during COVID, but we did a quick little pivot. So I did a lot of Instagram Lives and demos through Instagram Stories, and yeah, I did a few through Snapchat.
So we did a lot of that, and my book focused on adding floral flavors to baking, hence the name “Blooms and Baking,” and that's how I started my blog. I had a lot of floral components to my blog and all my baking when I first started and that's what people really liked, so it made sense for a book to be about flower-based baking. I still do a lot of flower-based baking now, but not as much. Now I focus on a lot more like Asian flavors because that's what I gravitate towards. That's what I grew up eating, but I still have a soft spot for adding rose petals and lavender to cakes and cookies.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you a fan of flowers overall or just baking with them?
Amy Ho:
Oh, I love flowers overall.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, yeah, same.
Amy Ho:
Whenever I'm at the farmers market on a Saturday morning, it's very hard for me to not grab a small bouquet from the last booth. Specifically every time, I start from one end of the market where I get my produce and I end on the other end where the flower stand is. I see how much budget I have left by the end of the market stroll, whether I can get a cute little bouquet for myself.
Kerry Diamond:
I do the same thing. We had Rosie Kellett on the podcast a few weeks ago. She is all about communal living and communal cooking, and she was talking about how she and her roommates, they pool all their money and it's like 35 bucks a week. They have food for the whole week. So I've really been challenging myself to be super mindful about what I spend each week on groceries, and if I can get myself to the Rosie level and do more meal prep and things like that, but then I always get to the end and it's the same. There are those flowers. I remember, a few weeks ago, it was tons of pink dahlias and I was like, "Oh my God, I really want to spend all my farmers market money on those pink dahlias."
Amy Ho:
I know. I have a bouquet of farmers market dahlias in my house right now and they're so beautiful. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that. Vancouver summertime is also great because our farmers market scene is so good. I'm not too familiar with what it's like in New York, but I do a weekly farmers market stroll, usually on Saturdays. All the farmers are really tight-knit and I've almost become a regular at this point where whenever I can greet the farmers by their first names and they'll tell me which heirloom tomato is good right now, and yeah, things like that.
Sometimes, I would buy the produce from the farmers, bake something with it and bring it back to them the following week. It's fun and to get to know your farmers that way. But yeah, whenever you're in Vancouver next, farmers market, you should put that on your list.
Kerry Diamond:
I absolutely will. Amy, you are the nicest human being in the world. I love that you are baking things with the farmers market produce and bringing it back to the farmers. They must absolutely love you. You've named all my favorite things, walkable city, beautiful weather, farmers market, all those things. I definitely need to come visit. What's next for you? Anything big coming up?
Amy Ho:
I'm prepping for mooncake season and for gingerbread season, obviously. Nothing too, too big or out of the ordinary planned right now. I'm doing what I love to do. I feel like fall and holiday baking is when I truly thrive, so I'm getting ready for that time of the year.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you still have your blog or have you moved over to Substack?
Amy Ho:
I'm still a blog person through and through. I've thought about doing Substack because I read a lot of Substacks, baking-related and non-baking-related, but I like how custom I can make my blog and how it looks in terms of the layout, the fonts, the colors, everything. I'm not too, too familiar with Substack, but maybe I would migrate over, but I just love having one spot to keep all my recipes, all my photos.
Kerry Diamond:
Any Substacks you can recommend that you love?
Amy Ho:
I love my friend Erika's Pancake Princess, her Substack. She does crazy bake-offs, comparing the top recipes on the internet. I use her blog and now her Substack quite a bit for reference. If I need a recipe like the best pumpkin cake or the best banana bread, best chocolate chip cookie, I can always rely on her. Sometimes, I'll read her blogpost or her Substack about those recipes and I can just text her to ask her about the details. I love hers. I also love, on Instagram and on TikTok, Baby Tamago. She does a lot of pasta salads. I love fun recipes. Super fun personality and her writing reflects that in her Substack, so I follow hers. Non-baking related, I love Rachel Karten's Substack where she talks about social media trends.
Kerry Diamond:
Link in Bio, so good.
Amy Ho:
Link in Bio, so good. Yeah, I love her. She's the first Substack I subscribed to when Substack became a thing.
Kerry Diamond:
I think half the Cherry Bombe audience subscribes to that, and Baby Tamago, I need to have her on the podcast. I went on the Kerrygold press trip with her.
Amy Ho:
Oh my God.
Kerry Diamond:
For brand trip. Yeah.
Amy Ho:
Her Kerrygold video popped off, and I was like, "Wow, that trip looks so fun."
Kerry Diamond:
It was so much fun. We had such a great time and I didn't really know her except as somebody who engaged with her content, so it was fun to spend time with her in real life. She's fantastic. Okay, let's do a speed round, and then we'll let you go on your way. What's always in your fridge?
Amy Ho:
What's always in my fridge is both unsalted butter and salted butter. Unsalted butter for baking. Salted butter for eating. We unfortunately don't have Kerrygold here. So every time I go to the States or my friends go to the States, they always bring me back blocks and blocks of Kerrygold, which is great. I'll always have eggs, the usual stuff. I always have a jar of Bonne Maman jam, just strawberry, because I love a jammy piece of toast.
Kerry Diamond:
What beverage do you start your day with?
Amy Ho:
Coffee. Black coffee. I sometimes mess with the idea of a sweet, fun coffee drink during the holidays, but I'll always go back to black coffee, usually a pour-over.
Kerry Diamond:
What is your most used kitchen implement?
Amy Ho:
My KitchenAid mixer I use a lot. My sprinkle tweezers that I mentioned a million times, I use that a lot, but the KitchenAid. Oh, and the kitchen scale. Kitchen scale, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
What are you streaming in addition to “The Summer I Turned Pretty?”
Amy Ho:
I am not as big of a TV person as I am a podcast person, but I do watch a lot of YouTube. So I love the series that Lucas is doing on Bon Appétit, where he travels to Asia and does a good day-in-the-life of a traditional wonton noodlemaker or a pig roaster. So I'm more of a YouTube person and watching food-related shows.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, I'll have to check that out. What's your favorite food film?
Amy Ho:
Actually, there's one event, it hasn't happened recently, but there's one event in Vancouver that takes place called Sensory Cinema where the organizer, Ken, picks a movie. It really ranges the type of movie. And he pairs the movie with one chef in the city and they make a food that's being served on screen and they time it where they serve you, the audience, as that scene is happening. It's a fantastic event. And the last one I went to was “Parasite,” the Korean film. So he got a chef to make all the noodles that were on the screen. There's this one specific scene where one of the characters eats a peach and they have an allergic reaction, and during that scene, the course came up called The Fuzzy Peach, and it was like a peach-filled mochi.
So when the character bites into the fresh peach, you're biting into the peach mochi. It's such a great event. I feel like you would love that event.
Kerry Diamond:
You know what? I'm looking it up as you're talking about it. I don't know if they've announced the next one, but I see here that they did “Parasite,” and they also did “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Amy Ho:
Yes. That was super fun. I love “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” There was one where they made the iconic cream puff choux tower. That was the end of the last dessert round that came out, and they did that in collaboration with a bakery here called Cadeaux Bakery, I love them and it was awesome.
Kerry Diamond:
That must be so much fun. What's your favorite food smell?
Amy Ho:
Originally, I would say brown butter, but because I've made it so many times, I don't like that smell. I still enjoy a brown butter cookie, but I don't want to be the one browning the butter. My favorite food smell is probably coffee cake, like a freshly baked coffee cake. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I love that. You're the first person to say that, I think. Oh, I forgot to ask, what color is your KitchenAid?
Amy Ho:
I have two. My first one was a red one that was a Christmas gift from my parents and then I have a white one as well.
Kerry Diamond:
Is it a backup?
Amy Ho:
Yes, it's a backup. For the holiday baking, you need two.
Kerry Diamond:
I was going to say, I can imagine they're both probably put to very good use in your household. Are you good at trusting your gut?
Amy Ho:
I would like to say so. Trusting my gut in terms of baking, yes. Trusting my gut in terms of everything else in life, I try to do more of that. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you have a motto or a mantra?
Amy Ho:
It will always turn out okay.
Kerry Diamond:
What was your favorite food as a child?
Amy Ho:
Favorite food as a child. A Chinese dessert soup that's coconut milk with taro chunks in it.
Kerry Diamond:
And what's your favorite snack food today?
Amy Ho:
I'm always snacking ... It's really boring. I'm always snacking on salted cashews when I'm baking. My ideal snack food? That's really hard. There's this one Korean food stall here that sells these brown sugar-filled pancakes. Very chewy. I think they're yeast-based.
Kerry Diamond:
We always ask if you could be trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be? But if you could be trapped with one chef from Canada, who would it be? And maybe not a desert island, what's the Canadian equivalent? Would we have you trapped in a log cabin somewhere?
Amy Ho:
There's one restaurant that I love in Vancouver called AnnaLena, Chef Mikey Robbins. I'll get trapped with him because the bread course is my favorite course and I just want to eat that bread continuously, nonstop.
Kerry Diamond:
So you can eat bread until we come and rescue you. Okay, perfect. Well, Amy, you are so delightful. It's been wonderful listening to you on Jessie's podcast, and I'm thrilled to have you as a guest on this podcast. So thank you for your time.
Amy Ho:
Thanks for having me.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you to Amy Ho and Destination Canada. Tune in next Wednesday to hear from Eden Grinshpan. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu. Our talent guru is Londyn Crenshaw. Our editorial assistant is Bridgid Pittman, and our head of partnerships is Rachel Close. Thanks for listening, everybody. You are the Bombe.