Bella

I think the producers care about getting sufficient ratings to be renewed, because that equals money. Past that, they may be at least marginally interested in the show, maybe moreso. But if the show doesn't make money, they don't care if Jamie spends the rest of her life reciting Shakespearean sonnets to a teddy bear, and they don't care if Dr. C tries to match up elephants with black widow spiders. YMMV.

The same stupid egg yolk pasta in the pressure test? Yuck.

Finally catching up on this show after a week away. These judges are just as mean and snotty as those on the US show, just not as loud.

On a whim, I just bought some black bean pasta. The labeling suggests that this is primarily for use in Asian cooking, but I'd like to play with it a bit. I make chili mac in the winter, which might work, but does anyone have other ideas?

Breakfast-for-dinner strikes me as a very wintery meal, and I will frequently go in that direction when there's snow on the ground.

The reason the NASA challenge didn't bug me is that I do some work for NASA and know the mindset there. Yes, it was kind of a stupid challenge from the standpoint that freeze-dried food is always going to be food-as-fuel rather than the food-as-art that TC normally shoots for. But "never" is not a word that's acknowledged at NASA. "Highly unlikely" gets thrown around, but not "never." And so the hope for food that is both palatable and freeze-dried remains alive.

Since a lot of these shows are written by people who are living in California, I'll note that bugs aren't much of an issue along the coast. I did not have screens when I lived there, and I would open my second-story windows all the time. A bug in the house was an event. So even though most of the rest of the country lives with screens on their windows and I doubt the writers live in such isolation that they're unaware of this, I'll give them a pass on this one. Solve the intelligent-and-gorgeous-woman-married-to-clueless-shlub problem first, and then we'll talk about screen windows.

This sounds like fun! I'm so glad this show has stopped with the unrelenting parade of monsters, despite the preference of some contestants to head in that direction.

Chopped: Sob Story All-Stars! Unvetted, Boring, and/or Offensive Food Network Star! Cupcakes, Junk Food, and Chain Restaurant Menu Pointless Recreation Contests! Antonia is an occasional judge on Cut Throat Kitchen, but is anyone else a crossover from Top Chef to FN? Or is Blais going for supremacy here?

Is Dr. C married or otherwise in a partnership? If not, I'd like to see him apply these tools to himself and any of the so-called "experts" who might be unattached. That could be entertaining. "The tools work! They're perfect! But my spouse lied and therefore made them invalid." Yeah, sure.

So Blais is joining the ranks of "chefs who maybe once upon a time used to cook and/or run restaurants but barely do so anymore because they're too busy being TV personalities and are turning into the culinary equivalent of the Kardashians." Got it.

We just got back from a week away. Thursday night, DH went to a baseball game; I heated frozen chicken enchiladas. Last night, we went out for Italian food - he had scallops over linguine, I had linguine with clam sauce, and we had a marvelously dense dark chocolate mousse for dessert. Tonight is pizza night.

I did the knee, the elbow, or the look, and DH always announced it to whomever we were with, which was embarrassing. But he thinks he talks too much (sometimes he does) and wants me to signal to him when to stop. So now I interrupt with "short version, dear!" or "I'm going to jump in and tell this faster" and it works better. ::sigh::

I gained 3 pounds on vacation, so I'm 8 over goal weight and 11 over goal weight + insurance pounds. Granted, that's not a lot, and I'm tall so it's not super-obvious, but I'm dealing with clothing fit issues at this point. Blecch!

Let me put it this way: if someone were choking, yeah, my brother would perform the Heimlich maneuver. If someone stepped on a jellyfish, he'd carry them to the car (he's big) and drive them to the ER, but otherwise not do anything other than swear at traffic. If someone were attempting suicidal or other self-destructive behavior, he'd be the hero who talked them down, because he knows how to calm and redirect a person who's about to go over the edge. And of those three scenarios, he'd probably feel the least competent in dealing with the jellyfish sting. Is it right? Is it logical? Is it what Jamie was thinking? Does anyone know other than Jamie? I don't. I'm just tossing this out to see if it makes her actions and POV a bit more understandable.

My brother is a psychiatric nurse, and yes, he learned care across the spectrum. He has said, however, that many medical professionals of all stripes become reluctant to step out of their specialties, and that reluctance grows over time. So it's possible - and I don't know, I'm just speculating - that Jamie sees herself very specifically as a labor and delivery nurse. If she were in her work environment, a hospital, there would be other people to care for a jellyfish sting as well. In other words, this might be a form of brain freeze or a sense of limitations. That's not to say it's right, it's just a possible explanation. It could also be that she's inept, spacey, or a jerk. I don't know the woman beyond an edited version I've seen on TV, so I don't know.

That sounds so good, TabbyClaw. We are eating down leftovers and miscellaneous munchies like hummus, fruit, etc., in preparation for a well-deserved vacation! Woo-hoo! And we will eat well while we are away.

Not to absolve Lenny of his responsibility for this fiasco, but the FN has to address their own failings here. Their vetting process is evidently worse than useless, for example. And this was a pretty weak cast. They ought to shake up their judging trio while they're at it - kick out LBH or Alton and bring in a past winner, for example. Just not Guy Fieri, because I refuse to watch him.

I think the save has a place in competition shows, because it can be applied to someone who has an off week despite having a superior body of work. In fact, I was positively thrilled when Project Runway introduced the Tim Gunn Save. But I don't feel like Sasha lived up to the confidence the judges placed in her. If anything, it made her more nervous because she seemed to feel that expectations were now higher, which they probably were. When she's eliminated, it will be because her indecisiveness and fear trip her up, not for lack of talent.

I love snakes (at a distance) and felt like most of the artists didn't do them justice. How can you not dp a great creature based on the albino reticulated python?

Celebrity MasterChef! Or better yet, Modeling Industry MasterChef! Maybe even America's Next Top MasterChef/Model. Hell's Model? Hell's MasterModel? I'll leave.

I've been nibbling all day, some fruit, some cinnamon cream cheese on graham crackers, so I reheated some rice pilaf and poured a bit of Trader Joe's gyoza dipping sauce over it. That was really all I felt like.

I do have a sweet tooth, and I also want Nutella to be more chocolatey. I don't feel it has a purpose, if that makes any sense. Now, chocolate peanut butter? Sold!

But who, having seen the original SNL and watching that OTT cast, would have picked her to have such an enduring career? The woman has staying power in a competitive field, a 40-year marriage, and an apparently normal life away from work. Very impressive!

The little Babes went to an animal sanctuary and were never eaten. The only even remotely plausible Insta-lesbian portrayed on TV was Samantha on Sex & the City. I viewed Sam as omnisexual, and her lesbian relationship ended up being only a detour. But would Sam ever not try something? Ever? I was mostly surprised that it took her so long.