RescueMom

There was some gorgeous underwater photography this episode - wow!! Nice work, camera-persons!! I will admit I would never have guessed Tasha would be the challenge monster that she is - kudos to her! She is smart, has got a killer social game, and is rocking the challenges. I really want to see her win at this point. And wow, I agree that Kass really showed her ass this episode. What an unpleasant person. Another tribal down, and what do you know - Spencer, Tasha, and Kass are all still in it. I really think they are going to be the final 3, based on Spencer's "final three right here, we just have to go through two whole tribes to get there" comment way back when. Tony sure looks set at this point, but he has not done very well in most of the challenges, so if he makes it to F4 I think he's in trouble at that point. And more kudos, this time to Tony and Spencer and Tasha for holding fast at the auction. That had to be terribly difficult to not break down, especially given how good some of that food must have smelled. I know Tasha ended up not voting on anything, but she was right that sometimes there are both an advantage and a clue to an idol at the auction. She and Spencer both got screwed, but they both played it right.

Well it is snowing/sleeting/raining here again, so I haven't been getting much running in this week!!

I liked Ricky Martin as a guest judge - he was enthusiastic and positive and well-spoken. And gorgeous. My favorite guest judge of this season by far. I was not wild about most of the music (really, all but the Ricky Martin songs), which surprised me - usually I like the music on Latin night. Since Peta's costume has been discussed to death already, I'll just skip that and go with my second comment on their segment: "We're trying to keep things as platonic as possible." Really, James? As platonic as possible? I mean, I hate it when I go to work and I'm trying to keep things as platonic as possible with my colleagues and we end up macking in the supply closet, so I guess I can understand where he's coming from... I am kind of retroactively glad that Nene is gone. I wanted her to leave because she was the weakest dancer remaining, but wouldn't have been that upset if she stayed - until she completely ignored Tony in her thank you speech. Bitch. And he's so remarkably diplomatic that he waxed eloquent about how wonderful she was right after she dissed him to his face. If I never see her in anything again, I'll be happy. I don't watch the housewives shows, and I can't imagine she'll be invited back for an all-stars season here, so unless she shows up on Survivor I should be OK and Nene-free. Loved Meryl and Maks, even with the backup dancers. I wanted so badly for Charlie to knock that paso out of the park, but it wasn't quite there. I like Mark so much this season that the spats didn't even bother me! Like many, I found Amy's rehearsal package uncomfortable. I hope she and Danica are both OK and heal quickly. I wish so much they wouldn't force them to do so many dances and push them so hard - I really would be just fine with watching them learn and perform the regular old dances, one per show. Watching people getting injured and having exhaustion-induced emotional breakdowns is not fun for me.

It's all fun and games until you end up in a onesie - at least Pip never worries his "owies" so he never needs a cone. He got a bad abscess so has to wear a onesie to keep it clean while allowing it to get air while it heals. He's doing really well, and at this point the infection is gone and now he just needs a little more time to heal. But he looks so darn cute in his onesie that I might make him wear them as PJs going forward...

I find encouraging each other with fitness is really helpful. My sisters and I have started this silly tradition of texting each other pictures of ourselves post-run, in all of our red-faced, sweaty glory. But getting one of those texts has more than once motivated me to get out there even if I had decided I was too busy (or whatever excuse had come along...)

My dogs rush to lie down on the mat anytime there is an open spot. So if I'm trying to do yoga or crunches, there is usually a dog underneath my head :) I have fought bad insomnia my whole life, and exercise has helped tremendously. Another thing that has really helped is to banish anything with a lit screen - Nook, phone, laptop, TV, etc - just before bed and when/if I wake up in the middle of the night. (Apparently something about the backlit screens triggers the brain to want to stay awake, according to my therapist.) So now I read a good old-fashioned made-from-paper book if I wake up, or do a crossword puzzle, or something like that. I've been meaning to add weight training in, just need to do it instead of thinking about doing it! Edited to add: I'm also sorry to hear about your struggles, ramble. I hope things are working out.

I love roasted beets; I eat tons of them when they are in season up here. I don't peel mine before roasting. I cut them into smaller chunks, put them in a foil-lined cake pan, and then also cover it with foil, and they get done in about an hour. I have found they are easy to peel after they cool. My favorite way to eat them is in a beet/pear/arugula salad - layer the roasted beets, arugula, peeled and sliced fresh pear, and then top with toasted walnuts. Drizzle with a dressing made out of whisking together some orange juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and coarse ground pepper. Non-vegans can add a little goat cheese, but it is really delicious without it, and a really healthy and satisfying salad. I eat this for dinner a lot in the summer.

Just running for me! And I use the term "running" loosely - at my best I'm still really slow, and I have to build my endurance back up after our long winter. Right now I do intervals, and I'm hoping to build up to running a 10K without stopping by the end of September. I was a couch potato for years, then about a year ago I made some pretty significant lifestyle changes because I was sick of being tired, overweight, and unhealthy. I'm living proof that you don't have to be good at exercise to reap its benefits :)

I kept reading there and have only posted a few times since coming here. I was never a prolific poster over there but have been trying to post more here!

I don't think it was manipulated either. I suspect the actual area they are playing in is much smaller than it appears from the filming, and Jeff Probst has said many times that they want the idols to be found. They hide them so you hopefully don't just trip over them, but in such a way that if you are looking you would be able to find them. The days of them being buried in such a way that you need a map to know where to dig are but a distant memory, I think. Back when Russel Hantz (ugh) started finding them, he said he started looking by the landmarks because that's where they always were. Hayden was looking hard by the same tree where Tyson found his idol, because it stood out. I do hate the special powers idol, but I don't think that Tony finding it was rigged. I also don't hate Tony. He's hustling and (IMO) he's playing too hard, and his paranoia is ratcheting up his manic level like crazy, but I don't hate him. He's not Russeling his way around boasting nonstop to the cameras how he is the smartest smartie that ever smarted. He doesn't seem to be making moves just to make moves. He expressed relief (in his own way, which of course included hamming it up like crazy) when he found the idol this episode, he didn't gloat about how of course he found it because he is so great.

I was really impressed that Tasha and Spencer were the last two at the immunity challenge again, and by quite a margin. Who would have expected two of the brain tribe to be dominating in the challenges? I also looked at the seven sitting there at tribal after Jeremiah left, and Spencer's "final three" comment to Kass and Tasha went through my mind. They aren't that far from making it, although Tony finding the Super Special Idol could throw a wrench in that scenario.

Trish, looking up at the papayas: "Those are as big as Morgan's boobs!" Glad Woo wasn't hurt when he fell.

For anyone else who read her DWTS recaps and was terribly sad when Annie Barrett was let go from EW, she has landed at the Hollywood Reporter. She did a recap there last week as well, and here's a link to this week's recap: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dancing-stars-recap-dont-you-698095

I wasn't wild about Redfoo but I guess he fit the theme well. And he was upbeat and positive and as someone above noted, didn't seem to feel the need to be bitchy to get press, Julianne. I did like the little segment when he performed. I agree with others on the MSoD performance - it was really hard to see on the TV. I suspect that it was an incredible performance for the audience in the ballroom, but it was too dark and difficult to see to really appreciate it at home. Most of the things that caught my eye last night were little things. Loved Candace's shoes. Val singing to Danica ("with somebody who loves me"). Erin had a great comment that sounded really spontaneous when Val was braiding Danica's hair - something like "What do you do when you're happy? Give her a perm?" I laughed out loud at that one. Drew's happiness to see Witney, which made me feel badly for both him and Cheryl; it was obviously just not a good partnership for them. Shirtless Tony for the second time this season. I thought Peta looked stunning last night. And Derek, lose the stupid little hat!! I loved Meryl & Maks' tango. That is the third of their dances that I've immediately watched over a couple of times the next morning (also the samba and the foxtrot). She deserved those 10s.

I made this for lunch today and it is delicious! I used a huge jalapeno plus I used hot enchilada sauce, so mine got a little too spicy (I don't know what I was thinking), but the flavor is wonderful. I used just one big red pepper and I threw in a bag of my fresh-frozen corn instead of using all peppers. I made a huge batch despite myself, so I'll be eating it all week - not a big hardship since it is really good!

I have not done the re-watch yet, but I had to post anyway to say that the scene where Jeremy talks about hunting at the end is one of my favorite scenes ever, not just a favorite from this show. I have watched it so many times I don't even need to watch it again, as I pretty much have it memorized, but I will (probably more than once) because it is so good. "...and it sure as hell wasn't sports."

April 17th (we had no snow day before yesterday). My pom loves it; Duke, not so much...

We got less than a foot, but there were places in MN that got 19" yesterday!

I had the same reaction to LJ just standing her up. It's usually a good idea to keep your options open, and had his plan gone right, Tasha would have been on the jury eventually, so it made no sense to just ignore her. I think Tasha has a great chance of winning if she makes it to the end. People (including Sarah and Morgan) really seem to like her, she's good at challenges, she's a good speaker, and has a great story of starting out on the worst team in history and making it to the end. And nobody seems to see her as a threat. I agree that this season has been great so far, and it sure looks like it will continue to be great to the end. I have no idea where things will go from here, which is a fun place to be! I could see just about any of the remaining players winning depending on how they get to the end from here, who they end up with, and how well they handle owning their game at FTC. I also agree that Tony overplayed his hand last night. It's a bummer, because I suspect this will be a jury that could respect big moves and playing hard, and as someone else pointed out upthread, even though voting out LJ wasn't a great move at this point, Tony really made it happen smoothly. But I think his timing is off and I think that is one of the most important and delicate things about Survivor strategy - not just making the moves, but making them at exactly the right time. He was dead right when he said that in Survivor there are times to kick ass and times to kiss ass, and he missed the mark last night. And I think the needless lies (who would ever care if someone is a police officer???) are going to hurt him if he makes it to the end. People can respect lies in gameplay but nobody likes to be played for a fool. I think his explanation to Trish is going to be "I felt this HAD to happen to save Woo - if not at this vote, certainly at the next. You made it clear that you wanted to stay six-strong. I didn't want to push you into doing anything, so did what I felt I had to do to keep our core 3 safe for the next few votes." And honestly, if Trish is that upset about LJ being gone, it maybe was in Tony's best interest to make sure that LJ wasn't around to get Trish to side with him against Tony. I just think he did it too soon. Spencer, Jeremiah, and Tasha are in a far better place at this point - the others no longer can split the vote. If one of them wins the next individual immunity, they can cover another with Spencer's HII that nobody else knows about. And Spencer and Tasha have both been really strong in challenges. Great season!!!

Tom: Eyeful Tower of Chmerkovskiy

I agree completely – the music tonight was perfect! I also love the costumes – count me as a fan of Disney week. What I’m not a fan of? Putting some stars in jeopardy and calling others safe before they dance – that feels so unfair. I think I’d prefer them just calling out the three in jeopardy after everyone has danced and go from there. I get that they want the suspense, but I don’t care for the way they are doing it. Loved that at least three people (Donny, Maks, and Val) got in some great digs about Julianne’s “phoning it in” comment from last week without sounding bitter. My thoughts on the individual stars/dances: Drew: I like Drew, I’m just not feeling him on the show. I don't think he and Cheryl are really clicking together. I don’t remember seeing this other nights, but he had his mouth wide open for so much of the dance last night that it was really distracting. Charlie: I felt the same way about the canes as TooMuchCoffee – I kept thinking “this is an accident waiting to happen” and then it did. I think they should have used them for the first little bit and then ditched them, or just held on to them without tossing them back and forth so much. Loved the dance anyway, and I really loved his little bumper with the penguins. Have any other stars done the bumpers before? For some reason I think maybe Corbin did one, but can’t remember. Danica: One of my two favorite dances of the night. The costumes were absolutely perfect and the dance was lovely. Amy: I thought this was a great dance. I really felt sorry for her in the package, when she was so upset about the stuff she couldn’t do. Until last night, I didn’t think about how doing the show would make her feel her loss so acutely at times. Cody: I just wasn’t feeling this dance. And if Witney took anything from Sharna, I wanted it to be to ban the diaper pants, but there they were. I think Cody was a better dancer than some that were left, but am not surprised that he went. Nene: I also wasn’t feeling this one, and was really surprised at the high scores she got. James: Ugh, contemporary. Since I don’t care for contemporary I’ll talk about what I did like – how cute was he with the girl who asked him to prom? My cold black heart stirred when he brought her and her family to the show and gave her such a special night. Good for you, James! Meryl: My other favorite dance of the night. I really loved this samba, and especially loved the elements from the movie’s dance that they added in. Oh and Mark? Derek? That’s how you do a jungle-themed dance without making people cringe at the cultural inappropriateness. Candace: I want to like her, I really do. But I think CAI is right (ugh, did I just type that?) – she has the ability, but she gets so nervous dancing live that you can see it in her dance.

I think it would be delicious to add a little chopped fresh jalapeno. I don't like just upping the cayenne either - I think it makes things bitter if you add too much. One thing about this recipe - it is really important to use enough salt. I tend to skimp a little on salt most of the time, but don't in this one.

I just printed this one off To make after the next time I hit the grocery store! I know I say I'm going to make all of these recipes and I bet you all think I'm kidding, but as I type this I'm eating the falafel with Tzatziki sauce (I used a vegan yogurt made from coconut milk) that Lisin posted above. YUMMY!!!!! I'm going to print off that pad thai recipe as well. That also looks wonderful!

This looks delicious! Another recipe I'm going to definitely try. I would love to see your food-focused website - if you don't feel it is appropriate to post it in the thread, would you be willing to PM it to me?

I think most of the people posting in this thread eat dairy, since a lot of the recipes posted contain dairy. That tomato tart sounds delicious, but I'm going to wait for tomato season to make it so I have fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes! I have made the avocado mousse before - it was good but it was really hard to get my head to be OK with the idea that I was eating a dessert made from pureed avocado.