mlp

I'm not a fan of shows with kids but I do like the baking ones. I think it's because I like Duff and Valerie separately and together and I like that they don't baby the kids and talk down to them. So many of these kids reminded me of kids from previous baking shows that I had to go to the FN site and Look at their "bios" to be sure they weren't the same ones only older. The girl who was eliminated reminded me of very annoying Jane who was just on the Christmas show. Audra reminded me enough of Hollis who won a previous season to be her little sister. The blond girl with glasses said her last name is d'Arabian. I know Melissa has 4 girls because she says so every chance she gets but I wouldn't think FN would allow an employee's child to compete. OTOH, that's a very uncommon last name.

This show gets more ridiculous every season. I swear they get at least half of these people from central casting. I find it hard to believe that normal people, even normal morons, can come on TV for the first time and be so slap-sticky and unrestrained. All the "comedy" effects are just too OTT. No one in their right mind would give a fledgling cook shrimp and lobster to prepare for a very first lesson. Anne Burrell, whatever else anyone might think of her, is a good cook and a good teacher. If she were starting someone in cooking class 101, I'm sure she'd start with knife skills and so on, not lobsters. In fact, the first couple seasons of this show did start out that way. Nevertheless, I keep watching it.

My PBS channel in Central Illinois started airing the master classes on Sunday afternoons at 3 PM a couple weeks ago. They are scheduled through January too. Hurray!

I wondered the same thing. I thought it was really creepy and it was clear that Chris Santos was weirded out too. I doubt they'll have him back any time soon. At the beginning of the show, I thought I heard Ted refer to the guy as a Chopped champion but I didn't recognize him. He probably had his hair pulled back and maybe even looked totally different if and when he was on the show. I didn't catch his name.

Yes. The problem was that she made chocolate chip cookies which are great but nobody's idea of decadent. She didn't understand that the cookies were good but didn't meet the challenge and she got defensive about it. In a very unpleasant way. The contrast between her reaction and her usual OTT perkiness was, um, interesting.

I was hoping Ali would get star baker but I have to say that Mary-Anne's showstopper looked marvelous. That's the first time I ever saw a naked cake that I thought looked good enough to eat. I love Norman but I was rather confident that he'd find some way to goof up. :)

I wonder if the BBC has thought of making a DVD set with all the seasons of the show on it. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

Aw. That actually brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for posting it.

I thought they all had the same "stadium" but in different colors. Was Jason's different in some other way? If so, I didn't notice. I was very happy with the results. I didn't like Maeve at all on her season and didn't like her any better on this show. Jane was annoying on her first show and seemed less so but she still didn't appeal to me. Erin is just too much all the time and I haven't forgiven her for taking the win from Bill. OTOH I love Jason and I like Jackson a lot. He's a very good-looking boy plus bright and charming too. They clearly had the best presentation. I've become rather fond of Bobby Deen since he started hosting the holiday shows. I can't think of anything else he does during the year and I can't get the Cooking Channel so I do wish FN would use him more often.

You've got my vote. LOL

I take Food&Wine. So far, I've liked the small changes the new editor has made. I also like her editorial comments at the beginning of each issue. She comes across well in print and I had no objection to her when I saw her on the show.

Jeremiah has been my favorite since the beginning partly because I just flat out like him and partly because he reminds me a bit of Ian from Nadiya's season, my all-time favorite baker. Neither of those are reasons for someone to win but I was sad to see him go. He definitely has talent. So now I'm rooting for Amanda, partly because she's done good work and has real skills and partly because I love her curly hair. :) I guess I got used to Ian and Nia because they aren't annoying me like they did at first. They always sound like they've rehearsed their lines but they do seem like nice people.

That was fun. I liked BJ a lot better in LCK than I did on the show proper. Actually, I like Tom better in LCK too. He's more relaxed and shows a sense of humor we don't see much of in the regular episodes.

The only thing worse than kids on BBF is having one of those kids be Hunter. Ugh. I had hoped to never see that pretentious kid again. I did get a kick out of watching Scott Conant and his daughter. The last time I saw her, she was a toddler and it was obvious then that Scott was dotty about her. He's not my favorite Chopped judge but I warm up to him being a doting daddy. I recognized Lee the minute I saw him but it took me the whole episode to remember where I'd seen him before. He was a finalist on The Taste. Apparently, he's done well for himself since.

I think the author was impressed with his/her own writing style and totally missed the point. It was a holiday baking show, not a show to represent all the kinds of foods baked in the US. The contestants had plenty of leeway within the themes.

I was hoping MIT would win but Wisconsin did really well too so both teams should be proud. In fact, all the kids who competed should be proud of their accomplishments. Training and doing well in classes at the same time is admirable. I enjoyed the whole series and I'm looking forward to the next team competition with the regular ninjas.

Guy does like him. He was Robert's best man when he (Robert) married a female wrestler a few years ago. Back in the old Dinner Impossible days, Robert was more tolerable. I never liked him but I watched because it was a new concept then and I did like David and George who acted as sous chefs. I've always wondered why two serious chefs put themselves in the position of being subordinate to Robert. I don't remember any details at this remove but both of them had bona fide credentials. Unlike Robert. The job must have paid well.

I thought it was just me. I'd never heard of that dish either until 4 or 5 years ago. I didn't get it. Since then, a local restaurant has opened that serves chicken and waffles and I tried it. The fried chicken was good; the waffle was nice. Why that combination is a thing still escapes me.

I'm not a fan of Guy Fieri but I do think he does a good job with GGG and I usually enjoy the show. I am, however, barely enduring the episodes with Robert Irvine who is loathsome IMO. I'm not sure why I'm even watching. I've noticed two things that seem a bit curious. For all of Robert's constant bragging about being such a "he-man" who spends hours daily at the gym, he seems quite out of breath after running the shopping spree. Also, I've seen people on various shows comment on how huge and imposing he is just like the female contestant last night did but, at the end, when everyone gathers around, he doesn't look like he's much taller than Guy who is, I'd guess, only 5'9" or 5'10". Giving Robert the win for his "deconstructed" casserole was a crock. A dish has to meet certain criteria to be considered a casserole and various stuff on a plate does not.

The food was all good but it was a tasting menu so it was a succession of small bites of things artistically arranged with tweezers. Honestly, I'd rather have a rib-eye and baked potato. At about 20% the price. :) At that time, Marcel said he and Spike were working on a TV show that would involve them traveling around the country cooking for people. I watched for a show like that for a couple years afterwards but I guess it must have fallen through because I don't think it ever panned out.

I just loved Jason and I'm thrilled that he won. I liked Shawn (sp?) a lot also but his cake was boring with all the white. I didn't care for Cheryl all along so I was afraid she'd get the win for her flavors. Glad she didn't. I don't know what the prize is for next week's special episode but I'm sure it's less than 50K. I'll be interested to see how Jason does without so much pressure on him. I'd like to think he'll be more relaxed but Erin may drive him up the wall.

I love Marcel too, sourpickles. I was lucky enough to meet him a few years ago. He has friends who own a local restaurant and he was here for a few days cooking the dishes for a tasting menu. My adult daughter and I made reservations and went early on a week night when they weren't very busy. Marcel came out and chatted with us for 15 or 20 minutes. He was very nice and very cute. He has beautiful eyes.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. I don't find Lorraine stuck up at all. She was anything but on the Worst Bakers show with Duff. I think possibly her British accent may come across as haughty to an American ear. OTOH I can't stand Nancy Fuller. She always seems to me to be competing to be the center of attention. She thinks she's cute and knows everything. I'd much rather have Valerie Bertinelli who is nice and works well with Duff.

Egad. The only thing worse than kids on BBF is kids plus Sonny Anderson screeching and acting like a ninny. I do not understand why Bobby Flay and the serious chefs appearing on these episodes ever agreed to stand there and be critiqued by children. I'd find it insulting if I were a chef.

Doug Adams has topped my list since Top Chef Masters - great chef and owns a dog rescue. Love him. I also have a thing for Susur Lee. From the regular season, I liked little Dougie from Seattle, Stefan and Spike and Marcel. Oh, and Fabio. Sorry.