potatoradio

Robert looked like he had some plastics done. His face looked...kind of taut? I would really like to think that if my stomach was in such a condition that I might need a krap strap to haul along with me that I would refrain from going on a hike. I can see it being useful, maybe, for hardcore campers who go to remote areas for days or weeks and will need to attend to their business, but then, I don't think those types of hikers would have any problem squatting. Mini Materials really missed out by not understanding their demographic, so good on Daymond for spotting that business blind spot, though I wondered why it was deal breaking. Couldn't you make a deal with the understanding that there was work to be done on the marketing to a freshly defined demographic? SuperMix already reads dated to me. Can't you do the same thing on Zazzle? There's a reason I don't watch this show for consistent business decisions....

His role was to work two jobs in order to cough up more and more money to wash down the failing restaurant sink. *small voice*: if i saw "balls in a bowl" on a menu and discovered it was meatballs served in a breadbowl, I would order that in a hot minute. I love breadbowls and love meatballs even more (have ordered a "bucket of balls" without a lick of shame or irony). But that did look....disappointing. When and how, when it features one of the most dynamic and dramatic celebrity chefs on the planet, did this show get to be freaking boring? I miss seeing the idiots have to scrub the overflowing grease traps and the discussion of how to update a menu. now it's just "it's slimy!" [puke]. Then, "my crew worked all night and cleaned up the place and here's your new menu." Plot, people. Even reality shows need plots.

For those who mute or run screaming from the room at the Kars song...you probably missed that now you can donate real estate, too. Private real estate, business real estate....ANY real estate! Anything at all! Whether desperate or greedy, I don't know, but if you happen to have real estate, any at all, ANYTHING....donate to kars! Sorry, but those kids are kreepy AF. Chuck E Cheese animatronics have more life force.

Did the pie wine people actually say that wine with pizza was pretty unheard of or novel or did I make that up (because this was kind of a snoozer for a premiere)? If they actually said that? My dudes....wine and pizza is not exactly the mind-blowing pairing you think it is. Not that far a stretch from wine and pasta, ya know? Now, if you were talking WHITE wine and pizza...that might have sent Mr. Wonderful into convulsions of wine snobbery, but psssst, it's pretty decent. Or was their point that instead of buying a whole bottle, you could get single serve wine to go with a pizza? Anyway, the packaging looked really busy to me so for once I agreed with Lori's "I don't understand what this is" critique. If I see a busy, busy package in a store, I walk by. And shut up, Gatsby people. If I were worried about sugar and calories in chocolate, I wouldn't eat it. But I'm not and I do. Also, super thrilled to hear of yet another artificial sweetener being introduced. Loved the dodge on the question "Are there artificial sweeteners in here?" "We use alluose." So.....answer is yes. Go away. Soap woman seemed awesome and I think Candace is a good partner for her who can blow up her brand, but I would not want to try to stand out in the handmade, natural, hypoallergenic, blah blah blah soap market that is more crowded than a pre-pandemic New York rush hour subway.

Did the judges watch a Game Show network marathon or something before the finale? Because why else was every other word "jeopardy?" The "jeopardy" in that dish....the "jeopardy" with that protein.....you can really tell so and so overcame the "jeopardy" with that spice....GAH! There was no jeopardy involved here, folks, except the poor lobster not killed humanely and maybe we should be a titch concerned about Kennedy talking excitedly about how her plate would like you just splatted a freshly killed bunny on it! (And it did...which....no....artfully constructed recreated slaughter will still gross me out and make me too guilty to eat). What WAS the blue smear on her app plate? At least, it looked blue on my teevee. Also, can we have an option to watch the show with an "active voice, word-salad condensed" subtitle crawl? "The idea of the texture of Jennifer's venison is a real jeopardy." "The spice by way of the braised fennel really exacerbates that memory lots of people have when eating cactus on Tuesdays." Aaron...come ON...did you agree to babbling idiot being your persona in your contract? Oh, and Joe? I looked up "acidulous" because I just never know with you guys whether you're inventing words or using them correctly. It means "somewhat acidic or harsh." So....were you saying the acidity of ingredient X balanced the jeopardy of ingredient Y or were you saying that the dish needed more acid or were you saying that the dish had too much acid or....I'll never know. This finale of MasterChef brought to you by the words acidulous, jeopardy and the phrase "spice by the way of...." Oh, right...I didn't really have a horse in this finale, so fine, yay Grant. Though I will never willingly eat medium or medium rare pork, beer braised fennel sounds interesting. Pssssst.....beer and food have been a thing for a while now? I was hoping I wouldn't have to see the giant picture of Whitney of "sshhhhhhank you" skank whisper, non-deserving winner. Whew. Did not.

I will gladly have a seat at your table. Cheers! :) And thanks - the YipYips were my favorite Sesame Street characters -- never got the limelight that Grover or Cookie Monster did, but the skits they had are forever in my head. Brrrrrrrrrrrrring!

Hey, Burger King? Eating when you're hungry is not a hunger "hack." It's eating. You know, a normal thing people do? Sit down and shut up. The freaking Safelite commercial with the oh-so-precious couple who cannot drive around at all hours of the night to get their bay-bee to stop crying is back. Well, WE need our windshield fixed CORRECTLY because we have a BAY-BEE. And the most cringe part is the way the tagline is whispered at the end to avoid waking the bay-bee. I make it a point to yell, "SAFELITE REPAIRS! SAFELITE REPLACE, BITCH! NOT ALL OF US AUTOMATICALLY THINK YOUR BAY-BEE IS THE BE ALL END ALL OF LIFE!!"

I was curious, so I poked around a bit on the interwebs and what I see is: oily fish doesn't work for stock and is very strong. Which, OK, I don't want to sip an oil slick either, but I also saw that mackerel broth is not necessarily the dish from hell - if made with enough aromatics and maybe other fish to curb the extreme fishiness just a tad. And not to simmer the broth for more than 30-45 minutes. Somebody with a lot of mackerel experience might have known this, but Grant, not knowing his mackerel from his sea bass, being, of course, from the Midwest where our jaws drop at the very idea of this protein called seafood or fish....didn't have much of a chance to make it work, but he went for it, I guess.

And then, Sav cooks scallops under or over and it's NOT Grant's fault for sending them out anyway. I figured the contestant I started to like for being level-headed and not OTT was going to go. Boo. She didn't deserve that and looked so miserable. I will give Jennifer the pasta challenge because wow, that was a gorgeous plate. But she bugs me to no end because she's clearly a producer pick/favorite and advanced, like Reagan, way farther than she should have. Grant (or, as Gordon says, GRAHHHHHNT) is meh, but tolerable. Kennedy is irksome and who thought those uber thick eyelashes were a good idea? She ain't glam, wardrobe. It's OK that some women aren't. Want to try saffron pasta. No words for the idiocy on display with regards to landlocked states being totally bereft of seafood. Grant can break out a walleye or bluegill dish in the finale.

...over broken glass. And we didn't complain once. We LIKED it.

Exactly what my wife says every time this commercial airs - with fist around the remote shaking it in the air for good measure! 10 surface layers....wow, so science-y and fancy! I'm sure there's a woman somewhere worrying whether her Pond's goes only to layer six while leaving the seventh-tenth layers of h*ll to dry up and sprout cacti on her face because she's too cheap to spend $30 on a tiny jar of the industrial strength stuff. I wish they'd make Mayhem funny again. I so hate seeing Dean Winters wasted in unfunny, lame commercials. Though I did look up whether his brother is in the basketball commercial with him and it is! It's like Ryan and Cyril have finally been released from Oz and are now general suburban bros. Unless someone tells me that the actual emu is not treated well in the filming of the Liberty Liberty Liiiiiiiiiiberty commercials, I will sit at my table of one, embarrassed at liking these spots. I freaking love Limu and little Limu. Doug's just a bland doofus and not too obnoxious. Little Doug isn't horrid for a kid on teevee. Wish I had something specific to point out as to why I want to punch the dancing Jardiance woman. One of those irrational, instant dislikes.

I actually had to look up "unctuous," so many thanks to this board for the pro tip. One of those words I *thought* I knew the definition of, but clearly not. I'll just be glad that nobody has started saying things like, "well, it is a pleasing bolus on the back of the tongue and the swallow is satisfactory." I'm starting to kind of like Sav. Usually the producers like their Southern cooks to be waaaaaaay over the yee-haw top and she seems level headed and down to earth. Would have been a more interesting contest if someone had taken two minutes to give MD an overview of the grill. I do like to see contestants learn to adapt rather than see them somewhat obviously get set up to fail.

I actually kind of liked Laurence's purple "thing" and I would have given her the win based on the cohesiveness of her collection and how artistic her vision is. But when they started talking about what a great tailor she was...nope. You can win based on having a fabulous eye for fabric and style (*cough*Anya*cough*), but tailoring? For peons, I tell you! I was so hoping Laurence would Bring. It., but I wasn't wowed by anything, so was disappointed. I did like the classic, romantic nature of her looks, but she'd really benefit from a mentor who could help her push the envelope from "good" to "holy smokes, where do I get that?" Oh, right. Fashion is for the young and the skinny. And old people definitely can't be mentored. I loved Britney's last two looks and, to quote Billy Porter, I want to go shopping and find her pants. She makes awesome pants. The first part of her collection I didn't like (I'm not a fan of straps, straps, dangly this and that everywhere because FUN!). But the pants she's made? Want. She and Dom Streeter should open a strictly fun pants shop. Bishme's collection had some stand outs, but was kind of a mess. I'm not mad that he won, but I am mad that it was a win that really seemed....Elaine-inspired? She does realize she's not doing him any favors by overlooking his design problems, right? Right? Oh, nevermind. She's a "journalist" and more into the "stories." Oh, Brandon wasn't there? Didn't notice. Didn't care. He and Elaine can go ANY day.

I had forgotten about these charming histrionics, but it does make me suspicious that the magical elves will give the win to she who blubbers the most about how, wow, you remember, she was ELIMINATED on her last season and THIS season she WON [insert challenge here]. OMG, you guys, squeeeeeee! They like me! They really, really like me! Blech. Wouldn't be the first time the win had more to do with a favored story arc than fashion, but won't make it any less irritating if it does happen. Please, whichever automobile company has signed Elaine to be in your commercials (Audi?), pay her enough so she leaves PR.

This makes so much sense I wonder if you're a producer talking shop with us lowly masses. Thanks for dropping in! ;) *small voice* I love crab. I love hush puppies. I hate the idea of trying to wrangle king crab legs in a stadium seat and I didn't necessarily hate the idea of king crab hushpuppies. Stadium food is such a nightmare - by the time you actually get your food, assemble condiments, napkins, etc. and make it back to your seat, it's cold (or lukewarm if you're trying to enjoy a cold sandwich) and then trying to eat while boxed in by drunken fans or kicking children? Yeah, beer and hotdog, please. I'm surprised that Little Miss Perfect Kelsey actually serves her precious food on the regular concourse and not up in the lux suites. She needs a better prosthodontist or makeup artist though. Either her veneers or her lipstick were bugging her because she kept trying to lick her teeth. Hard to maintain the ultra perky chipper persona when you're constantly shoving your tongue over your front two teeth to make sure they're still there or something. Madam? The early aughts called. They want their cereal coated doughnuts back. If only Christina Tosi were there to complain about the actual icing on the entire top of the doughnut - I mean, they looked finished. That. Is. Not. How. It. Is. Done. Mackerel broth? My cats would have been all over that.

Oh, it's definitely not fair. Just ask Hester not-so-sunshiney who had kittens and tears over having to use whatever the red fabric was. But I've never, ever used this before! That shouldn't count against meeeeeeeee..... I think, in any art, you could dig (sometimes not deeply) and find something else that's "referential." See music, writing styles, painting, etc. I don't think anyone intends to blatantly copy another designer - they've seen so much fashion and presumably some of it has made an impression that didn't even register as conscious. So, unless you're accusing somebody of just copying so and so as an easy out for the challenge, shut up. Poor Rami. Such grand plans and a beautiful vision and I was rooting for that vision to come to life. And then it didn't. Boo. I see why he went home, but personality wise, I wanted to see more of him instead of Britney, who just gives off a teacher's pet/preciousness vibe that's off-putting and grating. To me, anyway. But fashion wise, if I could find a piece of hers that wasn't too fussy and didn't involve a crop top, I would be most likely to wear hers out of everyone's. I think Bishme and Laurence at least send looks down the runway that are interesting or invite a closer look. I loved the detailing in Bishme's Catwoman suit, but the circle? Eh..... Then again, avante guard means zip to me as a layperson. I am also curious to see what the three finalists do with "no restrictions." Which makes me wonder about the entire premise of the show. Should I be relieved at the end that I no longer have to watch them try and fail to interpret a moving target challenge and just watch them design what they want? Because that seems like I should just get me to more fashion shows to watch so I didn't have to endure the manufactured drama and game-show antics and sob stories. And yet....Thursdays with Greer are appointment TV still.

Dear Elaine - It has not gone unnoticed that each time you critique a designer with a plus-size model, you manage to work in a comment such as the one you uttered in the last ep: "Well, Rami, you did a great job designing for HER proportions." The anti-sizeism committee of the diversity and inclusion department has enrolled you in a workshop designed so that you might have the opportunity to reflect on your not-so-subtle fat phobia. Until you complete the workshop, we ask that you respectfully consider either saying something about EVERY model's proportions, or simply STFU about a model's particular shape or size. We look forward to your participation and honesty and cool factor. Best, Women Who Are Sick and Tired of That Shit I loved Korto's pants. I am a sucker for flared, dramatic pants and thought they were stunning. She would have been safe in my judging, which probably would have pissed her off more than being eliminated. Oh, Bishme. I know you know that design needed some serious editing. Did Christian offer him any helpful advice? I can't remember, but if ever there was a time for a mentor to be helpful, that was it. Brittany's fabric was beautiful but she can take a seat with her "interpretation" of modesty. She missed the brief and the judges decided that this time, missing the brief was A-OK because....well, subjective and producer picks and all. (But yes, I know, Bishme should have gone home....) I didn't think Prajje's colors were that terrible either. They looked a bit typical for him - metallic, blue, streetwear type shades. I couldn't make out all the detail of the top design, though, so there's that. Rooting for at least Bishme and Laurence in the finale.

So green peppers in risotto is sacrilege. Is that because of how they taste or texture or because (Tevye voice) Tradition! Chalk up one more reason why risotto on cooking competitions is just a very bad idea. You never know who will lose their sh*t over something like....a green pepper. Can they please just rename the teams colors instead of "regions?" It would make more sense than the Midwest contestant saying he's making a Jamaican dish because it's one of his favorites or the contestant from Colorado saying there's just so much German influence in Colorado she HAD to make a German dish. I'd like to invite her to the Oktoberfests in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, this "regional" schtick is beyond dumb and contributing zero to the show, so let's just go red, yellow, green and blue and call it good, OK? BTW, that's "Minnesota nice," not "Midwest nice." And it's not always really nice. ;)

Dear show - you are not going to wipe out fat phobia or sizeism by pretending to be "size blind" during a runway. Also, Elaine, you aren't helping by telling Prajje that his model's shape/size need to be part of the design and then immediately telling the model, "You have a beautiful body!!" Shut up. I can hear you saying "damn, my man Prajje got robbed because his model was fat." Oh yes, I can. Prajje cracked me up when he said they should get paid for cleaning up Christian's studio. And Laurence with the ultra dry humor had me snorting wine through my nose. "How many puffer jackets are we going to make this season?" Or, in response to the question about Brittany picking her as the competition, "Well....I guess I'll miss her when she leaves." Um....cone boobs and vagina arrow, but the judges are second guessing the little shoulder spikes? That said, I liked the way the skirt flowed. Loved Rami's top, Brittany's puffer jacket, Korto's outfit and Bishme's outfit. I know Bishme's dress was simple, but it fit well and complimented the jacket. I kind of liked, as another poster mentioned, the topsy-turvy cake look of Anna's dress. I still think the level of venom some of the other contestants unleash on her seems a little much, but if I were Anna, I would prefer straight up Korto-style viciousness to Kara Saun's patronizing. Was kind of hoping Anna would beat Kara Saun just because of that. From what I've seen, it seems like Anna should be easy enough to just kind of ignore - she's irritating AF, but she's a whole lot easier to stomach than a few other dearly departed darlings who were not only annoying but wouldn't ever get out of your face. Rooting for Bishme or Rami at this point. Lovely people and some great designs. And I don't care how old or basic that makes me sound. :)

I am also highly suspicious of producer "help" for the Khana truck. However, that makes the EV win even more satisfying. Even with the "help," Khana lost. Even with Gretchen Wieners Al "turning her personality up to 100" or whatever she said to woo customers...they lost. Even with low rent Regina George lead Khana woman pacing the streets of LA outside "their" coffee shop, wringing her hands and whining about there being no peeeeeeeeoplllllllllle....whah whah this is haaaaaaaard....they lost. Whew. A tiny bit of hope for humanity remains in my heart. Also, really want to try walnut and carrot "meat." Still. You have work to do, show. Fix things. Please.

Graham: "I can really tell that you cooked this with a smile." Seriously? You're a freaking chef and THIS is your comment? Shut up. How fragile do they think these people are? Don't they deserve even the respect of some honest feedback instead of the magnetic poetry kit of most generic, meaningless bromides the judges must apparently use to script their comments? Tiffany is so wasted here. And for all their Food Network inspired "tell me the stor-eee....it's all about the stor-eeeeee," I can't recall a single story behind any of the recipes except "my [insert relative here] made this" or "we make this every [special occasion]." Blerrrrrggggh. That said, I liked the detail about the coucou stick and how (blanking on the contestant's name) she tried to buy one and her mom told her nobody buys them because they are made in the family. Also liked Salmah's explanation that her recipes usually involve an entire kitchen of women cooking together. I also want to make just about every one of her bread recipes. Also appreciated that somehow they didn't line up so that Brad would have to cook a non-kosher dish and Salmah would have to cook pork. I do appreciate the avoidance of that needless drama. But still. Come on, show.

Well, it does show that you want to take your cooking to the "next level" and you're ready to really be a contender and you really, really want that most amazing, coveted MasterChef trophy. Because apparently you're going to need to be an arse to your cookbook team and threaten to bash them over their heads with that trophy if they don't respect you as a leader. Gordon: "Show me you care!" Also Gordon: *flinging expensive cuts of meat across the set like a monkey flinging poo because viewers will be so excited about the drahmah that they'll completely forget about the food waste*. Stop it, Gordon. Erm, if you don't have a steady heat to boil potatoes properly because of wind....did I not see an oven? Pro tip: potatoes can also be baked. Maybe change your preparation if it's clear your sample mashed potatoes aren't going to cut it? And even if they were good....if I got one of those yin/yang smears of mashed potatoes instead of a nice scoop, I'd hit you with the firehose. I'm rather....insistent...on getting my share of potatoes. LMAO at the hundreds of probes sticking out of the chops. THAT looked reassuring. Aaron was right - who the eff runs a grill and doesn't know to temp one piece and then figure out how the others compare with touch? Still not rooting for or against anybody in particular. Does Ramsay reserve his puking antics for Restaurant Hell only? He only seems to "puke" on that show, so I'm wondering if he gets paid a bonus or has a rider or something.

Yeah, I was cringing into the sofa. I believe there is some study somewhere that lists "panty" as one of the most hated words in English. I know many people who scream and cover their ears at the utterance of it. Big white granny underwear as a symbol of the Tulsa massacre and a winning look. You cannot make this up. Word to everyone suggesting we just get the sob stories over with in one challenge. Make your crappiest design now and then use a sob story to save yourself. Most on trend sobfest with a point of view wins. Hint to Anna: the mom thing is waaaaay past its prime. Needs to be freshened up, though I don't think bleeding drooping boobs is exactly the twist we're looking for. But props for creativity? Greer for the win. She's still taking on the world with her bold, loud Pilot pens and not sobbing at her desk about how the pens make her think of the railroad spikes that killed her second removed cousin in 1880 because 'Murrca. Or something.

Color me confused....so, are the contestants supposed to present dishes as they usually prepare them ("sharing their culture and who I am") or are they supposed to present dishes based on a tradition and that they have spiced up or salted or whatever to bring the recipe to a more "chef level." Is the winner based on what the judges think will make an exciting recipe for people to try? Because if it is, why would somebody present a dish that doesn't have salt or sugar or anything other than water? Because I might try a poi recipe, but if it's just mashed up taro root and nothing is added because grandma says so....well, then, that's not much of a recipe, is it? But if the point is to present a dish and share the way your family makes a traditional meal, then, sure, what grandma says goes and I'll try the poi as grandma intended. Same thing with the three sisters soup. If the squash isn't traditionally roasted, then why point out that the soup would have been better had the squash been roasted first? But, if the challenge is to present a dish as it is traditionally made, then don't point out that the squash should have been roasted. Gah! This show is just all kinds of confused and I'm only tuning in now to pick up some recipe ideas, which I can then Google and find some things to try. For that, this show is a gold mine. And I am ridiculously happy that there is a twin Brad in the world.

Yeah, um, show? You might want to do a little more research so you don't completely mishmash the 80s speak and 90s speak. Also, Walkmans and boomboxes were totally tubular 80s, but OK, Fine! Also, in no decade is "that outfit frames the underboob" going to indicate a hot, hip, editorial look with a point of view. You cannot make "underboob" sexy. Yours, A fairly typical GenX viewer - aka, don't F*CK with the 80s!