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akr

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Posts posted by akr

  1. I'll watch Weekend Update, but otherwise I'll wait and see whether people here & elsewhere liked the episode before I decide whether to watch. I don't care for Elon Musk, but I like a lot of the cast, so I won't hold it against them.   

    • Love 4
  2. I resolve this problem by reasoning that we're hearing the story of the improbably lucky one because the improbably lucky one is the one who lived to tell the tale. 

    • Useful 1
    • Love 8
  3. 3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

    Rule #1 for the pattern challenge: READ THE DIRECTIONS! This is the sewing bee equivalent of TAR's "always read the clue." Yet somehow, most of the contestants did the cuff of the shorts incorrectly

    I think this is pretty clear evidence that the instructions were very hard to follow. You'd probably need a diagram (or a lot more time to work it out, probably including making multiple attempts at drawing one yourself).  Sometimes the assignment is badly drafted; when everyone fails, I blame whoever it is who designed the challenge.

  4. 10 hours ago, dleighg said:

    The uproxx link above was more my style.

    Thanks for the tip! I didn't check it out when it was first mentioned, because I thought it was just going to be a list.  The ranking is particularly helpful since I still can't remember half of these people's names.

    • Love 2
  5. Did Kandy Muse mean to do something else with her outfit for the second lip synch? I was expecting yet another reveal (beyond the flag), because the white jumpsuit just wasn't that flattering. The rest of her outfits tonight were really good, though. Maybe there was a reference I didn't get.

    Congrats to Symone, and La La Ri! Two of my favorites from the get-go. 

    • Love 1
  6. I agree that Tayce was better in the lip sync, but both were good & it would have been a good time for a double shantay, especially as I think Ellie should have been in the bottom instead based on what we saw. I thought Tayce did well! It's hard to know how A'Whora did with all the bleep-outs, but I found Ellie's kind of forced & uncomfortable (not because it was racy but because it was all a little awkward). I don't know why she won the mini challenge either, although I don't have any strong feelings about who should have. It seemed more a case of she's due for a win and let's see what she does with it. Then again, results often seem a bit arbitrary.

    • Love 1
  7. On 12/5/2020 at 5:48 AM, TVbitch said:

    I can't believe we are at finals week already. : (

    Not quite! Next week is semifinals, then finals the next week. 

    I don't think I've ever seen salsify (I'm in the US), but celery root is around and I'll sometimes buy it (to roast or mash (try with cream cheese & everything bagel seasoning! I think I got that from Blue Apron), although you can also do a celery root salad). I didn't encounter it until I was at least 30, though, and probably only started using it semi-regularly in the last 10 years. Still, it feels like it's always been there, and I just didn't know how to use it and avoided it because I don't much like celery. Anyone who's willing to put a parsnip on a plate should give it a go - it deserves to be right up there with carrots (actually, higher) as something starchy that's not a potato or sweet potato. 

    It shows up a lot on Masterchef Australia, too. Do chefs just get bored with potatoes sometimes, or think they're not special enough for competition? 

    • Love 1
  8. I found it telling that neither Dave nor Laura had made sable before (or knew what it was, even?), or marshmallows, so I was not surprised that Peter came through in the end. I can't recall which of his elements in the showstopper weren't perfect & think they oversold that in the discussion at the end a bit, although if they said it was the closest it's ever been, I'll assume it really must have been pretty close. While I didn't like the idea of using the rice krispie thing for Peter's presentation, in the end it wasn't really a tasting element & his showstopper looked much more attractive to me than Dave's (his base was great, but then, like Laura, he just sort of piled stuff on top of it.) Then again, I often haven't particularly liked his aesthetic, so maybe it's just me. 

    Congrats to all three. If I'm asking for recipes, I'll ask for Laura's. I don't really care that much about presentation, & my best bakes are, shall we say rustic, because the pastry is best when I handle it as little as possible.

    • Love 7
  9. Very odd!

    Usually if someone gets sick partway through, they say so rather than edit them out, right? Perhaps a quarantine violation (wouldn't want anyone participating who'd put others & the production at risk), ineligibility, or some sort of off show misbehavior would be other possibilities.

    Anyway, no real answers here, but an article about it:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8983729/Mystery-MasterChef-Professionals-edits-one-four-contestants.html

    Perhaps whoever it was came second or third. It felt like they'd had to pretend there was a question between them, asked the original #4 to record a "maybe I'm still in it" bit even though it was obvious he wasn't, & refilmed the part where they announce who's staying.

  10. 6 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

    Episode 6:

      Hide contents

    You could tell they really wanted Jono to go through, even though his bone marrow brûlée was strange, so they are taking three chefs. The dessert sounded yucky to me. I would love to try Santosh’s octopus. I’ve never had well-prepared octopus and they all raved about how tender it was. Ross is a good chef but needs to up his creativity. 

    I don’t think there’s a restaurant critic on this show that I don’t like. It’s interesting to hear what Grace will say when she closes her eyes as she takes a first bite. 

     

    Spoiler

    Jono will probably be a better cook in 10 or 15 years when he gets over the pretensions. He's clearly very skilled, and I don't in principle object to using these odd ingredients, but it just feels like gimmickry for an audience. It's too intellectual and performative, even though it's also clearly driven by an understanding of how these things taste and work together. I find myself wishing things didn't work because he's irritating me!

    I was glad the other two went through - and went through before him - and rescind my comment about episode 5 that perhaps they should have only taken one chef. Santosh's food looking amazing & he seems like one who can settle into the competition and grow even further. The two from ep 5 (Santosh & Ross) did seem a little rougher in round 1 than the episode 4 chefs, though.  I had started off the episode rooting for Alex (general excellence) and Ross (the clear winner of ep 5 and such a wonderful attitude about bringing joy to his clients at the care home through his cooking), but after round 1, I was definitely rooting for Alex & Santosh, as the two whose food I'd most want to eat.

    ,

    • Love 2
  11. Jono actually managed to intrigue me about the ants, but I'm not warming to him so far (too much ego?), & the dessert as a whole just didn't look very good to me. However,

    Spoiler

    either the following night's skills tests were really hard and threw the contestants even into their second round, or it was just a weaker group, and they might been better off taking one from episode 5 and three from episode 4. I've forgotten who came third on Tuesday but I do recall thinking it was close between 2 & 3 and that I was rooting for #3 even though I could tell from the editing that it would probably be Jono who went through. 

     

    • Love 2
  12. I get the feeling, but I think Dev's just a big (tall) kid. Laura's the same age (13), & Carter & Filo are 12, so there's not that much difference (Georgia is 11). They could all be within about 13 months of each other! 

     

    • Love 2
  13. I still haven't watched episode 10, but know how it went - as for episode 11:

    Spoiler

    Congrats to Laura on confirming her early front-runner status! So much thought & skill went into that.  Good job, Filo & Carter (those brownies looked terrific, althpugh a little weird; not so sold on the carrot thing-a-ma-bobs despite the high praise. I like carrot cakes & carrot halva, & carrot juice is surprisingly good, but the soft blobbiness of that dessert didn't look appealing to me. I was really curious about the mousse, though, and I'm sure it was good overall. I think a different shade of orange on the glaze might have worked better for me.).

    Although Tiffany & Vienna lost out, I'd actually be most likely to try those two. That the zucchini didn't really come through of course meant it didn't meet the brief, but it sounded like it was nonetheless a very nice basic cake (although perhaps they were soft pedalling other issues with the dessert, but I wasn't interested in the other elements anyway); and Vienna's sounded like with a bit more time, it would have been right up there with Laura's. Maybe a bit too much extra going on with it, but that's to be expected with Masterchef. It's too bad time limits are such an issue for tarts etc - yes, Georgia, we need a blast oven! (or, you know, some sort of pressure cooker time machine equivalent for baked goods).

     

    • Love 2
  14. 8 hours ago, katisha said:

    That was SO stressful! I don't know if the junior versions of Masterchef always set pressure tests for the kids in the later stages of the competition but it had me gnawing my fingernails to the quick.  And a Darren Purchase one, no less!

    I'll spoiler this for the OS followers...

      Hide contents

    NOOO! Not Ben! 😢  And on a night when he was even more adorable than ever with his ice-cream commentary, too.  At least he took it in good spirits, though.  I'm more OK with Ruby going because though I like her, she's not one of my main favourites.   Speaking of which, so glad to see Filo doing a great job in the challenge and being safe.  Almost made up for losing Ben, but not quite.

     

    I had accidentally spoiled myself about losing 

    Spoiler

    Ben

    and so found myself in the uncomfortable position of rooting for two of the remaining three round two contestants against the third. 

    Spoiler

    So relieved that both Georgia & Filo - probably my two favorite contestants, along with Dev & then Ben, (although I find them all delightful) - made it through! But I felt bad for, as a result, effectively rooting against Ruby just a little bit. I like Ruby just fine, but we all have our favorites for one reason or another. It worried me a bit that she seemed so upbeat in her confessionals, & I felt guilty for that!

    (Georgia reminds me a little of me at her age - (except better!), so I guess I'm a bit of narcissist in wanting someone I identify with a bit to do well (& it's her with the super tiny hands that make limes look like grapefruits (well, ok, oranges, but still), not Ruby, which I find an adorable counterpart to her seriousness) & Filo I just find delightful, plus I've lived in Egypt so I get a kick out of seeing him celebrate his heritage). There's something about his attitude & approach to things that I also find very relatable, like I could imagine having been him at his age more than some of the others). 

    Give Ben his cooking badge!  Continuing being terrific, Ruby!  Sorry to see you both go but I'm glad you're happy with how well you did. You deserve to be! 

    Non-spoilery bits - how delighted so many were at the snow, & how delighted Ben was about the ice cream! What a face. You can only wish to feel such uncomplicated joy again. I guess I hadn't thought about it, but when Ruby said she'd never seen snow before, I wondered if that was true of most Australians, at least ones their age, especially those whose idea of travel is to go wherever it was that Ben first had steamed buns . . . .

    • Love 3
  15. 1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

    Here ya go.  They even mention truffles!

    I was in my 20s in the 80s (well, teens and 20s). Never heard or seen of any of those things! I suppose it's not a serious article, though😉. Just stuff that terrible marketers tried to foist on people.

    Tiramisu, maybe?  Quiche, as someone suggested earlier, would be 70s, I think, but maybe it depends on where you lived. I would guess it'll just be an invitation for a very loud showstopper theme. 

    • Love 3
  16. 30 minutes ago, jpgr said:

    I think part of the problem, and likely why Hermine didn't win Star Baker, is that her cage looked so thick and heavy compared to everyone else's. I would have grabbed it with extra force, too, expecting it to be heavier.

    Agreed. I thought for sure she'd won but when I went back & looked, not only was the cage heavy (but attractive, & probably tastier than many of them), but the pastry base was too thick as well, which may have been the bigger problem (a number of others were also too thick). I think this put her somewhere in the middle for the showstopper, but they glossed over it pretty quickly. 

    Hermine's tart.png

    • Love 1
  17. 9 hours ago, TVbitch said:

    Just catching up with this season. Had no idea there was a huge scandal, and can't google it cuz it will spoil the winner. so I guess I will find out what Sherry did when I finish the season. 

    Had to stop in to give a kiss good-bye to my fave, Heidi. I loved her so much. I know she stumbled here and there, but I still thought she deserved to stay over Jackie and Sherry. I got the feeling Ru is going get her into allstars sooner than later, or maybe help her in some other way. Does anyone know what name she is currently using? I was wondering if she stuck with Heidi Afrodite.

    Sherry's scandal was for behavior predating the show; here's an article from March that'll give you the gist without spoiling the results, if you're interested. 

    I'd say keep the suspense about what Heidi does with her name - it was fun. But if you want to know, 

    Spoiler

    She's still going by Heidi N. Closet. It works as an ongoing joke with hometown fans, I gather.

     

  18. It's so hard to see any of these kids go! 

    Anybody else notice that Ruby seemed to have gigantic limes & passion fruits? I hadn't realized how little her hands were . . . I know she's tiny (so was I) but I don't remember limes ever seeming like fairly large fruit ;). The citrus squeezer was really too big for her hands, too; I hadn't thought about what an extra challenge that might pose for some of the smaller kids. I know Ruby said she felt having small hands was an advantage in working with pasta, and I'm sure she's right, but some of these kids might benefit from having some tools that are better scaled to their size. 

     

    • Love 2
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