carrps

She grew up among Native Americans, but I don't believe she has any actual NA ancestry. It's a touchy issue. A lot of tribes consider people raised in (with?) the tribe are considered tribal members. I guess, for me, what's the point of going on a show like this if you don't think the DNA matters? Oh, well. I'm a huge fan of Ruben Blades -- both his acting and his music AND his politics -- I'm looking forward to his episode. Actually, I like a lot of these people: Melanie Lynskey, Michael Imperioli, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Amanda Seyfried, and Amy Tan.

My absolute favorite cream pie. And it's not that easy to find!

One of my favorite cookies in the world (sadly no longer available) was Rose Almond. They were perfect. You do have to be careful, but used judiciously it adds a certain note that's almost citrus without the acid and it pairs wonderfully with various nuts. Another cookie I love is a shortbread with rose, cardamom, and macadamias. Yum!

Well, he had a lot of work done since last show. He also lost weight. But that's what you have to do when you're in show biz. I laughed at his manscaping.

I think she's really good at the things she's good at, and, well, kinda sucky at the things she hasn't done much. I'd forgotten about the win being decided strictly on the finale performance. She could potentially win if the challenge is in her wheelhouse. Even though I like her, that wouldn't make me happy.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but Lillian was working my last nerve last night. I can't imagine having her as a coworker. Is she a homebaker? If so, that's o.k. I just can't deal with all the "Look at ME!!!" all the time. Plus, her decoration on her steampunk cake was really amateurish looking. In the Pre-Heat, her "brownie" was actually liquid on the inside. Was that supposed to be a "lava" brownie? But none of the judges commented on it. Maybe they didn't want to make it obvious she was a goner so early in the show. The two sides of Joel came out last night -- the deconstructed "pretty" side, and the one that was getting with the Halloween program. Nice goat. Hollie is very talented for her age. She's not going to win. But she has a decent future. Manny had a nail-biter night. I'm happy he made the finale. Aaron? Everything has been said. Are they going to de-frost the people who went to the Cryo Chamber???

I get enough pretty on the other shows. I love this one because of the host, the judges, those costumes(!), and the good humor.

I was more terrified by the tornado than I was anything else. It seriously traumatized me for years. Flying monkeys were only second place.

That's right! Thx.

I just finished reading Colette's Claudine books which are set around 1900. She has a ton of descriptions of the clothes Claudine and other women were wearing -- from adolescence through womanhood. Really fascinating, and your comment reminds me of how revolutionary Coco Chanel was. I can't imagine being a middle to upper class Victorian woman and putting up with all they had to wear.

We missed it. We only knew about it because our dvr caught the last little bit before the Halloween Baking show started. Was it worth checking to see if it's OnDemand? Oh, and I totally recognized the winning boy. He looked just like he did when he was younger. What was his name???

We tried the first episode of Grotesqueries and noped out. Just lame, pretentious, superficial, and boring. And a waste of Niecy Nash.

We yelled it out loud! We didn't get it, either. It's like he does futsy little things, then, in the last hour, it's like "Oh, I have to bake a cake!" or "Oh, I need to make pate a choux!" He has skills, but his time management is horrendous. Wouldn't anyone think that whatever needs to be baked should be the first thing done? Then, you can do everything else while it's in the oven. And if it needs to be frosted, it'll have time to freakin' cool. I wish J L luck, but timed competition is not for him.

It works on Top Chef. Most cheftestants want to impress the judges, and those judges will remember if you skated through any challenges. If they're smart, they'll do what Joel did and stretch, maybe beyond their grasp, but even a semi-failure can be a "win" if you wow the judges.

Yeah, the initial few episodes of these competition shows usually do seem interminable. Top Chef, too.