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CheshireCat

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  1. You're so right. I don't know what it is with this season but I can't keep the names straight. (Should be getting better now that there are fewer contestants, though). I noticed that, too, and the strange thing was, he only sounded stuffed up during the second judging, not the first. Even if that happened, more likely than not, he'd tell the customer that it's too late, the cake is nearly finished or being packed up for delivery or out for delivery. Additionally, any changes would change the price. At the very least, the customers would have paid a down payment at this point, if not the whole price, so I doubt that any baker would actually make any changes to a cake a couple of hours before delivery. Speaking of twists, I didn't see anything that looked like it might have been the twist in tonight's episode. Judging from the pictures they showed, Sabrina is definitely really good at it. She would also have been right that it was a timing issue; she said the cake wasn't as cool as it should be and it's those things that mess up 3D cakes. What I think she should have realized is that the cake wouldn't have enough time to chill. Maybe, though, she thought they'd manage. I wonder why they didn't make a sitting elephant. That way, they could have supported the head on the cake board. One other thing I noticed was that the rice cereals looked really dry. I don't work with them as I don't eat them and I've always found a way to make it work without them but I wonder if she could have used some more marshmallows, too. I agree that it was right to send her home, though. She was responsible and I felt like she acknowledged that, too. As far as the first challenge was concerned, with the exception of Nikki's, the doughnuts all looked very dark to the point where I wondered if they might taste slightly burned. Since none of the judges said they did, I guess they didn't. Still, I think that the bakers might have chosen to make the oil hotter than it should have been so that their pastries baked quicker. I was surprised that one of the bakers used Pate a Choux. I don't know if she had experience with that dough and frying but it's not something I'd choose.
  2. I agree. I'm also not sure it's a fair challenge because making a dessert that is inspired by something is basically making modern art. Not everyone sees the same in modern art, so why should it be different for a dessert? Some see the inspiration, others don't. How do you judge that, though? As far as I know, it's a variation. Putting it in the oven, torching it and dousing it in alcohol are all acceptable ways to do it. I believe a hand pie is also a foreign pastry. In this case, the terminology seems to be different, though, whereas I think that for many other pastries, Americans use the same word for the pastry as in the country of origin. (eg, Pate a choux). But you're right, he could have asked to make sure he got it right.
  3. To be fair, it's really hard to decorate a cake with meringue and it's probably even harder when you don't have much time and are decorating in such a warm environment. With that said, I was underwhelmed by the decorations in both episodes this evening. The cocktail/bubble cakes looked great, some of the envelopes looked really good as well and a couple of the bugs desserts were good. Overall, I felt like the desserts the bakers did in the first two episodes were more impressive. The cakes from the first episodes all looked really good though. As in, once they were cut, they all looked well-structured and very appetizing. I've never made one either. I have a recipe in a cook book, however, the recipe seems to be for individual desserts and not a cake. But I googled because I was curious and the first pictures that popped up showed one layer of cake, a dome of ice cream and a layer of meringue about as thin/thick as icing would be at the sides and slightly thicker at the top. Did they announce a twist in either episode today? I noticed the flags each baker had added to the baked Alaska and since they didn't necessarily fit with the theme of the cake, I wondered if that might have been the twist for that bake? I have no idea what this kind of pastry would be called in French but is it possible he didn't know what a hand pie was and thought it just had to be a hand-held pastry? I don't think the first bakes count towards the elimination, so I think he was lucky. Likewise, Steven who didn't have much luck with his bug dessert. Generally, I kind of wish they would have continued with the two hour episodes, at least, for the first one of tonight when they still had ten bakers. Even I felt rushed by how rushed the judging was, especially for the first challenge. 😄
  4. I'm happy they gave them more time. I still think a little more time for the second bake wouldn't hurt but it already makes a difference to have 3 hours for it. They may not be showing it. I remember that during one of the championships last year, we all thought that there was no twist and I believe one of the posters then found something online that there was and they had apparently edited it out or something along those lines. I wouldn't have remembered the twist if you hadn't mentioned it; I'm so with you. I didn't miss it at all. Yes, you can get tangerines until well into spring but I know them as a winter flavor as well. I'd never associate them with spring. (I find spring tricky in general. The first strawberries come out in late May and carrot cake is popular for Easter but all the other berries are summer or late summer fruit as are peaches, nectarines and cherries and I can't think of anything else for spring).
  5. I loved that rehearsal scene, from the dialogue between Josh and CJ to the comments Bartlet made about the typos and how the staff tried to urge him along. I always laugh at it; thanks for the reminder.
  6. Happy I could help. 🙂
  7. With the exception of Michael's (I felt so sorry for him), I thought all of the first round desserts looked amazing. Some were a bit more spectacular than others but they all looked like restaurant desserts. While Sabrina's (it was Sabrina, wasn't it, I was doing something else while watching?) was one of the less spectacular ones, the dessert was rolled so cleanly and evenly and I thought the colors were appetizing, too. From the look of the dessert alone, I probably would have given the win to the baker who made the coconut. That was incredible, she even put some of the dessert in the top. I was really surprised by the winner of the cake challenge. It wasn't that the cake looked bad, it just looked rather simple in comparison. It must have tasted beyond amazing to have won. The waterfall cake was stunning! And I think it was even more stunning by the fact that she had originally wanted to do something else and then had to do damage control. I don't know if they changed the application criteria or if they are giving the bakers more time now but I feel like the talent of the bakers has gone up for the past few championships. I was really impressed by all of them. I also appreciated the constructive criticism the judges gave. Yes, Nancy did mention "it looks like spring" several times, still, she also said other things. I was pleasantly surprised by that as she normally doesn't give that kind of criticism or it's edited out of her criticism. I don't know if she's changed her approach or if that's due to the two hours but I actually liked that they had more time for the judging. The judging didn't feel like "blink and you miss it"; there was time for the judges to say more than one sentence and time to take in the cake. To me, the entire show felt a little calmer and less rushed and I wouldn't mind if it was always like that.
  8. If you have a US TV provider, the last five episodes are available on the CBS website. 🙂
  9. The show ended with Callen and Sam in Morocca, reconnecting with Nell, Nate and a former CIA agent looking for Hetty and yes, the office is still very much operational. It was actually his son, although, I don't remember if he was already a fighter pilot or still in training. He was cleared of being suspected of having sabotaged his flight and returned to either the military base or school. If memory serves, his daughter was still attending the naval academy an Annapolis when the show ended.
  10. I'd prefer to call it something along the lines of "Best of the Seasons" but I really like the idea. They had all of the past winners on Christmas Cookie Challenge this past season and they came up with some awesome creations. I would also enjoy seeing how they have grown as bakers.
  11. It's been a while since I've read it and I don't remember the eating disorder. I'll have to go and re-read it. Yes, I think the group of friends running the business was one of the things that appealed to me. I also liked the dynamic that the author had created between the characters. They had a great kind of friendship and it felt true. One other Trilogy that I remembered that I enjoyed was the Key Trilogy. I don't know anything about Nora Roberts, so I have no idea about her as a person and I haven't read any of her recent books. (As much as I enjoyed some of her books, the newer ones that I read all started to read the same, so I stopped reading her). So, it's possible that her characters are more diverse by now. But in all the books that I've read, I remember only one LGBTQ character and he was a friend of a main character (and while I don't remember which book he was in, I remember I liked him and had hoped that the next book in the series would maybe be about him). To make a long story short, I think in order for her books to be attractive to someone like Shonda, Roberts would have to agree that the producer could make certain changes. If she were willing to do that (and as I said, I don't know anything about her, so it's entirely possible she would be) then I think you're right, they'd be perfect for young actors and actresses and it would be great if a big name producer bought the rights. Although, I feel like either Lifetime or Hallmark did use a plot or two from her books. I know Hallmark has Debbie Macomber movies and I believe she's an author, right? And there's a Chesapeake Series and I've meant to look that up to see if that's based on the Mariah Stewart books and I keep forgetting. But I thought that some time within the past two years, I'd seen an announcement for a movie based on a Nora Roberts book, too.
  12. My favorite Nora Roberts books are the Wedding Quartet Series and the Inn Boonsboro Trilogy. Those were characters who I really cared about and who I wouldn't have minded to read more of and about. (Eg, I would have liked if more than one story had been told about each couple).
  13. I think Major Crimes did a lot of that and it's one of the reasons I loved that show. It's kind of contradictory. The show got so many things right with regards to how society views women and Rusty's attitude and his relationship with Sharon and then they treated Sharon the way they did... I also loved how Sharon responded. At the beginning, she was understanding and allowed him to be angry at her but then there was the point where she had enough. It felt natural and right. I also liked how she would often guide him by asking questions rather than telling him what the right or wrong thing to do would be. I think she demonstrated really good parenting.
  14. I would imagine that she has some stuff left in the US. So, she would probably have taken the small suitcase with things she wanted to have immediately and the rest would have been in a container, waiting to be shipped back to the US. I agree with both. I think she provided a perfect balance to Scott and she actually was my favorite character, so I'm kind of bummed she left. At the same time, I can't say I'm surprised. While she did provide a good balance to Scott, they also seemed to not know what to do with her after she and Scott decided to call it quits. Almost as if they had defined the character through her relationship to Scott only which is a pity. And yes, no more office romance, please. Although, I don't mind it per se, it simply seems that so many shows feel like they have to have characters hook up and they don't. There are a lot of good stories to tell without involving romance.
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