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Well, it’s been a blast, but Marsh Madness has finally come to an end. We saw sixteen food blogs join in the fun, competing for the honor of best marshmallow. Their recipes were incredibly creative, and everyone at the Quirk HQ was thrilled to see them rolling in week after week.

Other highlights included our Facebook exclusive recipe cards, a special podcast featuring Marshmallow Madness’ editor Margaret McGuire, and a number of other blogs (Eat The Love, Sweets by Sillianah) creating their own wild recipes just because. All in all, a great time. Thank you!

Last week we saw some amazing recipes from Ice Cream Before Dinner, The Kitchenarian, Nibble Me This, and Love & Olive Oil in the Southeast Bracket. Links to their respective (and delicious!) recipes are below.

Ice Cream Before Dinner: Raspberry Cheesecake Marshmallows

The Kitchenarian: Cinnamon Toast Marshmallows

Nibble Me This: Fakin’ Bacon & Eggs

Love & Olive Oil: Cookie Dough Marshmallows

You can head over to Serious Eats for the full recap from Caroline Russock.

As for the winner of Marsh Madness, Shauna Sever selected Kitchen Konfidence’s Maple Bacon S’mores. One of the earliest recipes in the bracket, Brandon’s recipe combines bacon, chocolate, marshmallows, and homemade graham crackers. You can read her thoughts on the bracket and the winner on Serious Eats. Brandon wins a Quirk cookbook library and a $100 gift card to Williams-Sonoma. Congrats, Brandon!

To scope out the other entries, visit Serious Eats.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated and to our partners-in-mallows, Serious Eats and Caroline Russock. This was a lot of fun.

So apparently March 20th is National Proposal Day. It’s also the first day of Spring. And while I’m unsure if anyone actually goes out of their way to propose on that date, it is a fun excuse to write a little something about proposals. Specifically, the bookish sort.

From webcomics to comic books, hollowed-out library books to self-published picture books, these six wonderfully unique and clever marriage proposals are guaranteed to make you a little misty.

Grab a box of tissues and check them out.

The Comic Book Marriage Proposal: When David Salomon’s girlfriend said she was in love with comics, that’s when he first realized he was in love with her. So when it was time to propose to his girlfriend, Jen, he enlisted the help of his talented friends, had them create a comic book about their relationship. The cover is a tribute to her favorite comic, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane.

I love how terribly nervous David looks at the 2:25 mark, while Jen is flipping through the book. He explains each of the (nine) pages to their group of friends, telling stories from their relationship… and it is incredibly sweet. Try not to cry when she fills in “yes” at the end. Try.

The Children’s Book Proposal: R.M. Massimo created A Prince is a Prince No Matter How Odd, a childrens’ picture book, to propose to his wife in Barnes & Noble. He acted as though the book had been published, convinced the booksellers to put it on their shelves, and had her read it.

Massimo went ahead and self published the book afterward, and you can pick it up via Xlibris.

Harry Potter Marriage Proposal: Reddit user Trehlo hollowed out a copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and placed his future-wife’s engagement ring inside. Excellent chapter choice.

Et tu, Brute?

The Ides of March. That notorious date when Julius Caesar was killed, stabbed 23 times in the Roman Senate by Roman senators. Amongst the traitors was one of his closest friends, Marcus Junius Brutus.

Today, we honor some of our favorite literary backstabbers, those who, much like Brutus, betrayed characters near and dear to them. While Brutus’ actions changed the world and course of history, the actions of these literary characters alter and ultimately drive their respective stories.

But we’ve barely even scratched the surface. Have some picks you’d like to include? Leave them in the comments.

WARNING: Lots of spoilers to follow for Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the Hunger Games, etc.

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Tover Je Eigen Ster, a Dutch bookshop in Spakenburg, Holland, recently put up a wonderful window display to promote Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Roughly translated, the bookshop's name means Perform Magic to Get Your Own Star.

You'll note the title on the Dutch bookcover, De Bijzondere Kinderen Van Mevrouw Peregrine. This roughly translates to The Special Children of Miss Peregrine.

We'd like to thank the bookshop's owner, Alice van Tamelen, for creating such a beautiful display. Check out the rest of the photos of her shop below.

Today is National Potato Chip Day. Hey! Stop rolling your eyes and muttering there’s a holiday for everything. Potato chips are awesome. According to Punchbowl, 1.2 billion pounds of potato chips are devoured each year in the United States alone, proving that this food demands your respect. So honor potato chips properly. Put them on a sandwich.

In honor of the holiday (and my favorite snack), I’ve posted a recipe from Susan Russo’s Encyclopedia of Sandwiches, the Potato Chip Sandwich. Read on, enjoy, and make sure you say hi to Susan on Twitter and visit her fantastic blog.

Raspberry Lemonade Marshmallows by Culinary Cory

The competition is heating up! The East Coast brought their A game in this past week’s around of #MarshMadness. Scope out this week’s participants below.

Small Kitchen College: Honeyed Grapefruit Marshmallows

Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice: Banana Split Marshmallows

Culinary Cory: Raspberry Lemonade Marshmallows With Coconut

The Queen’s Notebook: Mango Banana & Purple Yam Bunny Marshmallows

And if you tuned in to Cleaning Plates this week, they hosted a special guest podcast with Marshmallow Madness’ editor, Margaret McGuire. Give it a listen. They chat about marshmallows, cooking, books, and more in the short and sweet episode.

Caroline over on Serious Eats has the full recap. Remember to keep up with the campaign via #MarshMadness on Twitter.