RoxiP

I wish I hadn't looked here before Friday.

I can usually remember individual members from most of the teams but as far as knowing what the names of their teams are - no such luck. I do know the eliminated team (and you are right - the Ukrainian woman and the cake artist I remember because they were the feuding ones one week) was Peppermint something. The winners this week I identify the guy in that group because he looks more like he should be hanging out playing video games than baking, and then there's the team with the tall cookie artist whom we've seen before (is that Aaron?) and the lady the judges say takes on too many of the tasks, there is a team that has a blonde woman who I think is the sugar artist - other than that they all kind of blend together to me.

I really have a hard time knowing who is on these teams. I can't remember from week to week who goes home and have to do a process of elimination thought process...LOL!

When Dan was in the bottom 3 with Abbi and Rowan I was a little surprised he didn't go home, but all 3 of them were pretty bad (I still think Rowan should have been the one to go and in fact he did go home the next week). I know he's been in the bottom 3 another time but I kind of remember the other baker as being equally bad or worse.

Besides, the religious aspects, I also think Kody was influenced by wanting to have sex, which in most strict religious sects is forbidden outside of marriage. (This of course is not exclusive to his religion - I see it all the time - young people being "in love" and getting married at what seems to be a way too young age when in reality what they really want to do is have sex. Sex just isn't enough to sustain a relationship for a woman (this is a win-win situation for a man because if you aren't limited on the amount of wives you can certainly have sex with multiple women...LOL!). A lot of bad relationships start out with people mistaking lust for love.

I remember my roommate going to that bookstore - she was obsessed with Lonesome Dove when it came out - Larry McMurtry's sister actually ran the bookstore and she had Mr. McMurtry sign my roommate's first edition copy of the book. As far as I know my friend has never opened the book once it was signed (and she looked at it) because I guess the value goes down if the spine is cracked? It was one of her most treasured possessions.

My southern grandmother always said so and so was doing poorly...LOL. Another British expression I've always liked is that they go to the loo instead of the bathroom. At some point earlier in the season I thought Josh mentioned that his partner was male - pretty sure that would not make him a candidate for the Proud Boys (I could be wrong about his sexual preference and quite honestly I don't care one way or the other because it has nothing to do with his performance on the show but just probably not a racist Nazi type of personality - aside from his love of a violent sport he seems to be a perfect gentleman). That's one thing I like about Bake-Off is that they have had contestants on with disabilities (Briony comes to mind - she was one of my favorites) and there isn't a big deal made about it. Tasha's disability had to be mentioned because she had the interpreter with her but Briony never was given any special consideration nor did she make a big deal about it, and neither was Tasha's disability - it was mentioned at the onset of the program but has never been mentioned again.

But Jennifer had the best story of the bunch, having been in the Twin Towers on September 11. I'm sure she is a wonderful baker if she is given time to plan and not rush. This just wasn't her competition. I like Ashley and you can't argue with success - didn't she win both heats last night? This is her second win. I would have picked Greg to go up against also - and the vote was 2-1 so he obviously was successful, but I think her use of the cheese was what really won that round for her. I do agree that his decorations were cuter but taste won out over looks (I also suspect her decorations just didn't look that great on television - they seemed a little chaotic). I kind of liked the half-pie competition. It really made the bakers think about their strategy and they definitely had to work together to ensure that their pies baked properly. I think the baker who was teamed with Jennifer (either Bert or Javier?) almost lost it when she realized she didn't have enough apples and had to bake some more, delaying the time the pies were put in the oven, which makes the fact that both of them were blackened on top even more ironic.

I had a friend who didn't have a sense of smell due to allergies (years before covid) and when you can't smell you lose a great deal of your sense of taste (something I didn't realize until I met her). She had to always have a fire alarm over her stove in case stuff started burning because if she stepped away from the stove she wouldn't be able to smell burning stuff.

Regarding the timing issue - at least one the first day where they do two bakes - I wonder if they are limited by union rules on how long the tradespeople (camera, sound, etc.) can work?

I was happy to see that the older daughter was capable of interacting with her family - in the first show that didn't appear to be the case. I realize that the younger daughter's bedroom was small but I agree that more could have been done to make it more accommodating for friends and sleepovers. The desk - although a really cool design - was really not very useful. A laptop would barely fit on the work space. Definitely form over function.

Although I do think Nancy likes alcohol incorporated into a cake (hey - I like coffee in my cakes) I don't think it is right to blame her because a baker tries to pander to her by incorporating alcohol. I have also thought this series that she has toned it down quite a bit. In other baking shows contestants do the same thing - for instance in Kids Baking Championship it is well known that Valerie loves lemon so many of the baked items contain lemon. Thanks for the explanation of the opera cake.

I think the lady who made the red velvet cake might have been in the bottom two but her cake decorations were truly adorable and her cake tasted okay and they were able to taste the sage (I think). Plus the two in the bottom were definitely deserving of that place. Is what makes it an opera cake the idea that it is a rectangular cake with thin layers or is it the ingredients that it is made of (apparently coffee being a big part). If that is the case then some of the other bakers also didn't meet that criteria as far as flavors were concerned (but again, I don't know what the criteria is). I think if the guy whose turkeys were going to be artistic interpretations in the first round had had a bad round he might have been at risk of being in the bottom but again - the bottom two were both in that spot for good reasons.

Although the pun is very much appreciated I believe the proper spelling is mold.

Sohan still seriously annoys me...his recitation of how he is tempering chocolate and that none of the other bakers could do it which makes him stand out - while it is true it came across wrong to me - and yet when he said one of his chocolate elements was butterscotch I too questioned that. I love butterscotch but it isn't chocolate...you also buy peanut butter chips in the same area as chocolate in my store and I would never call that chocolate. I give him credit for arguing his case though. The kid who won has the sweetest smile. I remember how shocking it was that he got eliminated in week 2 after excelling in week 1. I thought this was good but liked the last Kids Baking Challenge (holiday edition) better.

Dan's call to his wife reminded me of Jurgen, who I believe won Star Baker two weeks in a row and nobody answered the phone at home either time! The week that Abbi was eliminated I believe that Dan, Roan (sorry if I butchered that) and Abbi were in the bottom three. I personally thought that Roan should have gone, since both Abbi and Dan had been more successful in previous weeks. I think that dealing with the hosts during their bakes is part of the obstacles the bakers have to face. I suspect that the bakers are told that interacting with them is part of the competition. Matty has won Star Baker so I wouldn't say that he is scraping through the competition. Have all the remaining competitors won Star Baker at least once?

Wow, the further along I get in this season the more obvious the friction is between the family members and crew. Tad (who obviously is only on the show to promote his own company - and I like the new, more responsible Tad) shows up as little as possible and there is almost no interaction between him and Mina, Karen and whomever is appearing with her in her little craft segments seem hell-bent on doing whatever they can to sabotage Mina's current project, the guy who appears in Karen's spot (sorry, his name is escaping me right now = Cory!!!) is mostly just throwing out ridiculous ideas and sarcastic comments, and MJ is pretty much there just to look pretty and rubber stamp Mina's ideas. It is all very passive-aggressive. You could tell Austin was kind of sad to be laid off but I'm sure he will be happy working with Tad again. I just watched the episode where she was going to build a duplex and carriage house with efficiency apartments and once again there was an expensive mistake made, and so she just built the carriage house (which had a concrete apron but I'll be darned if I saw a driveway up to the apron - are people supposed to drive through the mud?). I actually thought the efficiency apartments turned out fairly well although I thought the bathrooms were disproportionately large and would have taken some of that space for a larger bedroom area. And where were the entrances to those apartments? Inside the garages? I was very confused.

I do not think the handicapped daughter is capable of doing anything for herself based on what they showed of her. I suspect she is fed via tube so a place at the table probably is not much of an issue (same with the sink). Was that bathroom supposed to be a "wet room" (or whatever they call them?), because I did not see a drain and of course (understandably) there wasn't a lip or a door. I kind of always feel bad for the other child in a family such as this because her needs certainly seemed to be way down low on the list - perhaps in the next episode where they redo the upstairs that will be addressed (and where are the s?). Having said, that, I cannot imagine the day-to-day stress of handling what is obviously a seriously handicapped child.

I'm happy to hear that Valerie will be back.

Isn't Kevin also the one Jesse kept referring to as the Canadian? He was shown briefly in the first round but not much, but then again there are so many people there the first week I think they only emphasize people who are going to either be highly successful or highly unsuccessful.

I have to admit that I thought swans when I saw the turkeys - their necks were so long! The lady who won the pre-heat - I have to cheer for her because she lives in one of my favorite places on earth (New Braunfels) - I would move there in a moment if I could! But she has way too much hair, I agree.

Meri did also explain that circles take up more room than (presumably) rectangles or squares. Not saying it makes sense...

I suspect I probably will be. Darn it.

I was so hoping Liz would walk away.

Kody's only religion is himself.