BlackberryJam

Books I’ve read lately: What Happened to Nina? By Dervia McTiernan. I have some feelings about this, but I’m not sure I enjoyed it. A bit of a condemnation of wealth, the use of social media, and true crime obsessions laid over a boring murder. Amina Akhtar books. Kismet. Not a cozy. Very weird. Multiple POVs, including the POV of a flock of ravens. So…weird. But in a good way. Enjoyed it and recommend. There is another, Almost Surely Dead, not a sequel, which really leans into the obsession with true crime, but I didn’t feel like the ending resolved that. Family Reservations by Liz Palmer. An interesting book about family dynamics and horrible parenting. Three daughters of a super successful chef who have always been pitted against each other. There are a couple characters in the beginning that I wanted more of, and they just got dropped. This is one of those books where I can’t recall any male characters, which is kind of nice. A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather. I love this author. I guess this book is queer, feminist, historical, science fiction. Maybe? Main character is a midwife in training. Many women are giving birth to children with tails and other “deformities.”

@blackwing We read a lot of the same books. I just finished the latest Jane Wunderly, love the Gethsemane Brown books, and have made the Anthony Slayton books a purchase and not just wait from the library. I enjoyed the second Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, more than the first. Still not great, but enjoyable. The Launch Party by Lauren Forry had a lot of enormous plot holes. I mean, if you’re going to put a mystery on the moon, research the science. I am enjoying the Door County mysteries by Annelise Ryan. The sleuth is a cryptid hunter, which is interesting. Really good use of the Wisconsin setting. I am recommending Mark De Castrique series, starting with Secret Lives. The protagonist is Ethel Crestwater, a septuagenarian retired FBI agent who runs a boarding house. It’s a bit of a spy series crossed over with mystery. I enjoyed The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan which is thinly disguised Hillary Clinton solves a murder fanfic.

I get that the challenge was confusing, but neither of them made good food, and that's the real sin. There were a couple of dishes that the judges called too safe, but those people weren't up for elimination. I think grace for not understanding the challenge was definitely given. Michelle was up for a food that didn't taste good and pork that was poorly cooked. Rasika was up because her food was flavorless with a gross texture. Neither of them was up for elimination because their food didn't fit the challenge.

It looked like a slab of blubber on top of whipped cream. Really unappetizing.

I haven't really been wowed by the food except really Michelle's and...Soo's. His LCK food looked amazing. I know Rasika was doing well, but I felt no mouth-watering hunger looking at the things she made. That makes it hard for me to care that she's gone. I don't know if it's the chefs or a change in production, but the food just doesn't sound incredible and amazing when they describe it. I used to watch TC episodes and just crave the food. That's not happening in the same way this season. The LCK food has looked so much better to me.

Doesn't Soo have a Michelin star? It may be rigged for him to get in, but damn if he isn't a ringer. At this point, Michelle and Soo are my favorites. I like the Power Bottoms, but their cooking hasn't risen to the level of their cuteness. I also think Rasika is making good food, but I'm not excited about what she makes.

I support this and stand with you.

If the first contestant eliminated made it all the way through LCK and got back into the show, then they would have only competed in one quick fire and one elimination challenge prior to coming back in. So he's not missing 5 weeks of competition, he's only missing one. I understand feeling like he's a ringer which he might be. However, the person coming in isn't going to have participated in 5 elminations and 5 quick fires, unless the person that comes back in is the one most recently eliminated.

I don't care about David or why he's not there. I'm just thrilled he's the fuck off my TV. I'm pretty excited about Soo. Valentine was totally out of his league on the show. He seems like a good chef, and a nice guy even though he has this perpetually confused/shocked look on his face, but the time/ingredient constraints are not a format where he was going to shine. Kenny's egg pizza looked revolting, and I really like Limburger. I thought Soo's eggplant looked so amazing that I ordered eggplant parm for dinner last night. Too bad it didn't have that sharpness Limburger would have given it. I think Soo's real advantage is that he isn't coming off an exhausting QF and EC challenge and being thrown into something else, but that's always an advantage for the incumbent on LCK.

I finished the season and loved it. I liked Arthur’s personality so much, but he was clearly cannon fodder. His had no where near the skill of the other artists. I also enjoyed him staying over, “I’m going to just ignore the brief and do my think and I should stay because I am the best” guy who made the smoke/skid mark. I loved both final installations, but one was clearly more modern and moving the medium forward.

Loved seeing JP!

Oh, I get what he is supposed to be. I just find the character poorly done and harmless. The actor brings no fun to the role. He's dreary.

Too much jazz/bone breaking/contemporary/ballroom/swing/belly dance fusion. They get 30 seconds to dance and 4 minutes to talk.

I’d like to see more dancers and less talk. I can’t wait for the choreography round.

Dom is like overcooked spaghetti to me. He can go at any time.