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savingsanta

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  1. From the link @cooksdelight posted: Lee might open an Austin restaurant in the future. LOL best of luck, mate. Austinites have a unique dislike of Californians on their turf and the city is already rapidly approaching a 1:1 person:restaurant ratio.
  2. Remember Mark the Kiwi from season 4? http://wgntv.com/2017/02/07/top-chef-alum-adds-note-to-receipts-immigrants-make-america-great/ Granted, his restaurant is in Brooklyn, but it's still a gutsy thing to do in the current political climate. Plenty of cheftestants are either immigrants or the children of immigrants, and being in the restaurant business gives them a unique perspective on the impact of immigrant labor to the economy.
  3. What's the point of having an All-Star season if there's apparently a revolving door for past contestants? I wish they'd either do another All-Stars or keep it strictly to new contestants. No Stefan/Josie/CJ, no Grayson inexplicably being plopped back in, and no half-and-half. It's so weird to me, and it makes the All-Stars season a little superfluous.
  4. @ProudMary Oh my gosh, I had no idea he was so active/funny on Twitter! Time to follow. Thanks for sharing.
  5. I should think that we've moved beyond the use of pitchforks in our society. Everyone has their own tastes. After all, there's a reason people like recipes that are laden with fat, calories, sodium, and sugar: they taste good. I'm a self-described "food snob" but even I'll admit that a grilled cheese sandwich made with white bread and American cheese is the gold standard. I mean, I eat one perhaps once a year, but dang, it's tasty! Same with green bean casserole with the canned soup, prepackaged onions, and frozen beans. I get it! And when Ree doesn't gild the lily, her recipes are serviceable comfort food basics. Of course people like them. We've liked baked ziti since time immemorial. What's not to like? However, her show has become a parody of "middle America" with increasingly outlandish portions of cheese, meat, cream, butter, and canned goods that's both nauseating and irresponsible. There's little to no indication that it might be ill-advised to consume half-pound burgers topped with pepperoni and three kinds of cheese or dump seven cans plus Velveeta of all things into a pot and call it a day. And I don't buy the argument that she doesn't have any responsibility in this area. I also don't buy the argument regarding the amount of physical labor her family does, like that makes consuming an entire week's worth of saturated fat in one sitting acceptable. I don't think it's fair to compare Ree to Giada and Ina, who have a lot more experience in food preparation. Giada's show also took a definite turn towards the healthy spectrum as her career progressed. Additionally, Ina delighted in preparing more decadent French dishes but never pretended that they were something she ate every day. All my own opinion, of course, but I got the impression that she found the techniques more exciting than the ingredients. I feel like the "I can find that in my church cookbook" criticism finally penetrated Ree's bubble, and ever since she's been determined to show people how "original" she is by dumping every ingredient under the sun into her recipes. "That will show them!" I imagine her saying, glowing with satisfaction while her family stares in mute fascination at their cheeseburger-Cajun-fajita-Chinese-takeout-inspired "cowboy" casserole. TL;DR: she's unoriginal, self-satisfied, and her more recent recipes are horrific.
  6. Not necessarily. He can admit to having a problem with addiction without admitting guilt in those specific charges. It makes me wonder about the other chefs we've seen on the show who've discussed their previous drug/alcohol/addiction problems. I remember Gregory from S12 did, and Kristen Kish has talked further about hers as well. Being young and lauded in such a high-stress job seems tailor-made to kick someone off the wagon, and at the risk of sounding preachy, I hope that anyone who needs help has the resources to get it before they hurt themselves or others. My thoughts are with that woman and her child.
  7. I fully admit to being a sucker for a well laid-out cookbook with artistic photographs of finished dishes (evidence: my sagging bookshelves) but I was astonished to look inside a PW cookbook and see that nope, we readers really do get a picture for every solitary action in the recipe. Personally, I grew out of step-by-step pictorials when I was about ten. Unless, of course, it's a more complicated technique being presented, but "more complicated" and "Pioneer Woman recipes" rarely, if ever, intersect.
  8. I'm sad to see Chris Kimball go, because he was such a great straight man to the other hosts. However, I'm excited to see Julia and Bridget work together!
  9. I went to Paul Qui's East Side King trailer in Austin last night and it was really great! I got fried kimchi and curry buns, BF got Thai chicken with rice and curry buns. The fried kimchi was not what I expected: it was cucumber kimchi that was tempura-fried, so it was essentially the Korean version of fried pickles. It was light, crispy, and had a nice kick to it (anything restaurant-made that can make my nose run is a pleasant surprise to me). The curry buns were equally surprising and fantastic! The buns were deep-fried, so they were crispy, and they were stuffed with peanut butter curry, onions, cilantro, and mint. I inhaled everything and tried a bite of the Thai chicken. Also good! And it all came from a food truck behind a bar. The thing is, I had that rare eating experience where I actually derived pure, uncomplicated happiness from tasty food. If this was in any way indicative of the kind of food he put out during the competition, then it's no surprise at all that he consistently received such high praise that season.
  10. Does the episode description really call Martin Yan a "foodie"??? He's been cooking and publishing cookbooks longer than some of these cheftestants have been alive. Or producers, for that matter. SMH.
  11. Out of curiosity, I went to Walmart's website to check out her collection. Not to my taste, but yeah, it also looks really cheap even in the pictures. I read the reviews on the lemonade jugs and cracked up because for every negative review detailing how cheap, easily-breakable, and disappointing the pieces are, there's an auto-message from "Pioneer Woman" customer service that basically says "Sorry you don't like it. Um...yeah. We're working on it."
  12. Chopped is the best/worst for this. "Chocolate hazelnut spread", "sugar-covered marshmallow treats", "puffed rice cereal", etc. I guess that's what you get when you rely too much on processed, packaged foods on your cooking show...
  13. Doesn't even need to go that far. Kids are little sponges and observe/take to heart everything they hear. I had a friend who ended up with a "picky eater" for a second child because the oldest thought it was hilarious to say "[Food] is yucky!" even if she liked it and watch the younger one reject it flat-out. If Ree really does go around saying "Well, boys just don't like vegetables" in her day-to-day life then she's making a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  14. Credit where credit is due: I'd never encountered adding mayonnaise to a butter spread like she uses in her cheesy olive bread. When I first saw it, I found it revolting because I don't like mayonnaise. However, I usually have a jar hanging around in my fridge for the occasional potato salad or coleslaw. A few days ago, I was making garlic bread and found myself short on butter. I remembered the mayo thing and, with trepidation, added a tablespoon or so to bulk out my butter/garlic/herb spread. Sure enough, it was pretty great! The whole thing browned nicely and didn't taste like mayo at all. I have to thank her for bringing that trick to my attention, though I'll always shudder at the half-cup she uses in that olive bread recipe.
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