PBnJay

Me too! 5/5!

I missed four on my test. Crossing my fingers.

Sorry I'm late. 4/5 with one *. It maybe could have been a perfect week if I had remembered the Marines' Hymn.

I am taking the test tonight too. I wish I had taken it Tuesday when others said it was easy. Or, easier. But the times didn't work for me. Good luck to everyone, I hope to see some posters on the show. This will be my third time taking the test. It's the charm, I've heard.

I second that! 4/5 +1* for me.

4/5. Now I know where Devon Island is. Too late, of course.

I just finished watching online and enjoyed all the games. I wish it had gone to seven games, with each person having two wins, then the last game determining the final winner. That would have been exciting. I didn't have a favorite, it was just fun to watch three great players. Congratulations to Ken though!

That's why I find these shows so hard to watch. What if you had eaten in that place the day before, when rats were pooping on your plate and slimy, rotten food from years ago was stuck on the grill your meal was cooked on. I do wonder how Gordon in his disguise is so obviously being filmed by large tv cameras, and no one in the place, especially the servers/owners, don't seem to notice. Makes me think so much is scripted, "We'll remake your restaurant and menu, plus give you network air time if you let us do a reality show in your kitchen."

Same here. 4 of 5 for last week.

It doesn't strike me that way, but either way, I'm sure it's because of time. I'd rather watch a baker stir batter for an hour than 30 seconds of the two "hosts" trying to be cute, and that includes the football fellow eating ingredients off of every baker's counter. So jerky.

Does anyone know why Brother Andrew was wearing a blue glove on his right hand only. Was it an ove-glove thing or for sanitation reasons? In both cases, I'd think he'd want to wear one on both hands. I didn't see any other bakers using gloves for anything.

4/5

It didn’t matter to me who won, but I was surprised Alex tanked out since I thought he had been leading since the beginning. I liked Dana’s emphasis on having a good time and doing what she loved. I laughed that Brother Andrew wore the same thing for every episode. He got to pack light for his trip overseas! I thought all the canapes looked yummy, and that segment made me very hungry. I had never heard of "shoe dough" so was glad to see it spelled on screen so I could google it: “little cabbages.” Since no one actually WINS anything on this show other than the glass-inscribed cake stand and bragging rights, everyone should have had a good time. Plus fam was flown in and contestants who left early got expenses-paid time in a British hotel, a win win for everyone. I’m glad another season will be filmed, I find it soothing to watch people bake without throwing tantrums, back stabbing or hating the competition. Although I could never be on as certain words automatically slip out of my mouth if I mess up a bake. I said plenty just watching others goof up! I think it's because his (nick) name is Spice. Reason enough, right? LOL!

2/5. And three lumps of coal in my stocking. I blame it on being naughty this year.

I interpreted the Mary Berry comment differently, the contestant said the creation TASTED very berry, which sounded like mary berry, which made Paul (and Sherry) seem like they were eating cannibal food. I didn't hear it as any hate toward Mary Berry, just that the bake would TASTE like Mary Berry. A slip of the ear, nothing more. And what's wrong with a good PB and Jay? Could bakers spray that dowel with Pam or something to make the hand raised pie dough slide off easily? All reality shows edit in reactions and close ups of contestants (and audiences when there is one) to make the finished show more interesting and/or controversial. So the bakers would be wearing the same clothes so, as another poster said, the editors could more easily splice film together.

I agree. I like learning things from these shows other than "it wasn't baked long enough."

I got lisp, Barbara Bush, parboil and rollbar, plus Mexico. ¡Viva Cinco de Mayo!

Drinking game: Take a drink every time “soggy bottom” is said. Another drinking game: Every time one of the judges says something and the baker just stares, or every time a baker answers a judge’s question and the judge just stares. There is a lot of staring and dead air on this show. Best quote of the night from Sherry: “The main thing that can go wrong with a sugar cookie is the sugar cookie.” Second best quote of the night from Paul: “It tastes good in my mouth.” Third best quote: “It’s not very Alex.” What does that even mean? Those hand raised pies were all hilarious. When the camera passed over all the trays, I LOL’d, they were all crazy funny looking. And Paul ate those every day as a kid? A pasty would have been SO much easier to make daily. It’s interesting that the editors let some dialogue get aired revealing that the bakers got to practice these bakes at home before coming onto the show. Isn’t it suppose to appear that every bake is new to all? I felt badly for both bakers who were made to cry. I would put my dough in the freezer to chill it quicker so wonder why some do that and some put it in the refrigerator part. I do like those red fridges, and I wonder where the power comes from. Are there massive generators behind the trees? That dough breaking wouldn’t have bothered me, I would have just pulled the dough over the holes or patched it. Don’t look for me on this show any time soon. Interesting that I can look at the two bakers in jeopardy and know which one is going home based on physical appearance. It's worked every week so far.

I hope everyone is having a nice day and can enjoy being with family and friends.

I feel the same way, I like the blind judging. Although I would not be surprised if judges were not tipped off as to which baker did what. It's funny when a showstopper falls apart into a pile on the plate yet "tastes great" so scores higher than someone else's bake. I don't find any of the contestants irritating so don't care who ends up winning. But because of comments here, I am paying attention to how Spice stands and walks. Her legs and feet didn't get a lot of camera time this week, which was disappointing. Maybe next time.

5/5. What an amazing early Christmas present. Thank you Santa.

I thought everyone's Queen of Puddings looked like failures once the slice was removed and all turned into some pile of random stuff instead of a slice. Maybe Q of P isn't suppose to stand up. I laughed when all of the bakers were sent outside to sit in the rain, shivering and wrapped in blankets, while the judges conferred. It was like they were being punished for being crummy bakers. Are contestants given a list of things they will make before they come to the show? How did all the brothers know to make a three-tiered stand to send with Brother Andrew. Funny none of them, including Bro. Andrew, thought about the peg holes being covered up once the cheese cake was put on the circle. It was nice for others to help put B. Andrew's cheesecakes together, but where was the help when Sally's gingerbread roof kept falling off. No one bothered to tell her to use carmel? The gingerbread creations were fun to look at. I still wonder if bakers were not tipped off they would be doing a gingerbread "house" so they could be ready to make one. The madeline flavors all left me not interested in eating any of them, except the green ones with the chocolate companions. The ones that failed biggest with the judges!

According to www.hildene.org, it's an estate. Nowhere is it called a plantation. The history of slavery in Vermont is interesting since slave owners kept getting around the ban instituted in 1777, and by calling slaves by "other" names. Vermont itself was not recognized as a state until 1791, when it was admitted as the 14th. Then, according to Wikipedia, "All slavery was finally abolished in Vermont in 1858 when the "Freedom Act" was ratified declaring that any slave brought into Vermont, was free." This is an interesting side note, also from Wikipedia: "The 1790 census counted 16 slaves in Vermont, all in Bennington County. In 1870, the chief clerk of the Census Bureau, who was from Vermont, changed the reported status of the 16 to "Free Other", alleging that the original report was a mistake. Whether it was really a mistake is a matter of some dispute. (The 1790 census of the United States did not reach Vermont until the following year, 1791, because the government of Vermont took the position that Vermont was not a part of the United States until its admission to the Union in 1791.) Anyway, all that was way before the Hildene estate was built in 1905. So the original question of can weddings that take place there be posted online, I say yes. YMMV.

Since it's in Vermont, slavery wouldn't even be an issue regardless of the year. That, combined with the fact Robert Todd Lincoln purchased the land in 1902 and the home was built three years after that. I think plantations are only in the south. The slant of a person's writing helps graphologists to determine personality traits. All those kids you are working so hard to make write identically are going to go their own way eventually. Or at least I hope so! I've not read any Judy Blume, but a lot of Beverly Cleary. And hooray for late-night Twilight Zone reruns. They are so fun. Looking forward to Jennifer in the Tournament of Champions. She was an amazing player.

4/5. I need to eat more fast food I guess.