Presentation-Worthy Dishes with Cascade Platinum Pacs

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade Platinum Pacs. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

It’s kind of amazing how we get accustom to certain pieces of technology and then take them for granted.  Smartphones are everywhere now yet 20 years ago cell phones in general barely existed (try explaining to your tween that when you were a kid you had to actually go looking for the people you wanted to talk to).  Today if you want coffee you don’t have to brew an entire pot, you can simply pop in a single-serve portion of coffee or tea and have a cup in less than 30 seconds.

Another piece of technology that is fairly common in most households is a dishwasher.  While it may be commonplace it’s definitely not something I take for granted.  At one point when I was growing up our dishwasher broke and my parents never bothered to replace it.  I asked why once and my father responded that they had three of them – myself and my two brothers (ha ha, Dad).  Now that we’ve all moved out, they’ve of course had a new one installed.

My first apartment didn’t have a dishwasher, either.  Since then, however, my apartments and now our house have had them.  I don’t want to ever have to be without one again, to be honest.  But the machine itself is only one part of the equation when it comes to getting dishes guest-worthy clean.  You also need a great detergent but finding one that gets dishes clean and streak-free can sometimes be a bit hit-or-miss.

Recently I had the opportunity replace my current detergent with the new Cascade Platinum Pacs.  First let me just say that the pac method of detergent that’s been available for the last couple of years is pretty much genius.  No fuss, no mess, which is how I prefer any household chore.  And Cascade has taken the pacs past convenient cleaning.  They’ve turned them into little powerhouses.

The original Cascade Pacs were great cleaners.  They had the grease-fighting power of Dawn and gave dishes a brilliant shine that was virtually spot-free.  With the new Cascade Platinum Pacs, however, they stepped up the game.  The pacs have increased enzyme power that delivers better food cleaning, capable of powering away 24-hour stuck-on food.  And the specially designed chelant and polymer system helps prevent not only hard-water film build-up on dishes and glasses, but even the interior walls of your dishwasher.

So, you know, they’re magic.

Okay, maybe they’re not officially magic.  But I feel like they performed magic on our dishes.  While we’re good about rinsing plates and bowls as soon as we’re done with them, there still is the occasional fleck of food clinging to them at the end of the wash cycle.  This is especially true with my spatulas as they’ve often done the work of stirring mac & cheese or spaghetti sauce.  The Cascade Platinum Pacs got the entire load squeaky clean, the kind of clean where when you hold a glass up to the window the shine nearly blinds you.

As a blogger, I take a lot of photos of food.  When I share a recipe with you and show the final results, not only is it important that the food look tasty, but the dishes need to be clean, too.  I mean, even the most amazing, decadent chocolate cheesecake (can you tell my sweet tooth is in overdrive?) would be a turn-off if I served it up on a dirty, streaky plate.  With Cascade Platinum Pacs I’m confident that re-washing dishes before taking photos won’t be an issue.  They’ve earned a permanent place on my shopping list.

Gail Simmons (one of my favorite food personalities) agrees.  She has recently partnered with Cascade to discuss the importance of presentation along with preparation.  In the below video she shares some tips for plating.  There are also additional videos in the series on YouTube and the Cascade Facebook page, including one for her panna cotta recipe.

Cascade would like to see how their pacs have made your dishes presentation-worthy.  So they’re holding a fun Instagram contest with some amazing prizes.  Each week two winners will be chosen to receive a new KitchenAid dishwasher, and at the contest close one grand prize winner will have their kitchen made over with up to $10,000 worth of appliances.  Entering is really easy: follow this link to register (you’ll need an Instagram account) and then share a photo on Instagram that includes the #MyPlatinum hashtag and that fits the week’s theme.  Be sure to register before sharing a photo or you’ll be disqualified from winning.  The weekly themes include:

• Week 1: My Platinum Plate (Entry Period 6/3-6/9) – Show your best dish styled from the sparkling plate up.
• Week 2: My Platinum Bite (Entry Period 6/10-6/16) – Show your best bite & creative use of sparkling silverware.
• Week 3: My Platinum Clink (Entry Period 6/17-6/23) – Show how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses.
• Week 4: My Platinum Table (Entry Period 6/24-6/30) – Show your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations.

Will you be entering the #MyPlatinum Instagram contest? If you do, I’d love to see your photos!  Feel free to leave a link to your Instagram in the comments below.