Aulty

That friendship cake/bread thing comes in waves and oversaturation is usually how a cicle ends 😅 I was informed yesterday that Herman has a glutenfree sister called Hermione. Speaking of yeast related literature, I just started T Kingfisher's 'A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking' about a magician who can only do baking related magic. Its cute. (Its a young adult novel, but the description was so charming)

Dave has a a Doge! Matt and Noel have found their rythm. They are quite funny and much closer to the Mel & Sue dynamic than Noel and Sandi. Noel and Suna have a lovely rapport. Pink chocolate has finally hit the baking tent. I hope the supermarkets are well stocked this week - I assume its gonna sell well this week. I didn't care for any of the challenges. I hate florentines and macaroons and the show stoppers so far are Pottery Throwdown rejects. Shaping biscuits is one thing, but making a biscuit plate, cutlery, gravy boat etc. by baking it in or on top of plates, cutlery or gravy boats seems a bit lame. I did enjoy the various interpretations of tea services. Linda's looked very delicate and they really liked David's. He had a good week, a well deserved star baker. I am sorry to see Mak go. His bakes weren't up to scratch but neither were Rowan's and the latter is the poster boy for style over matter. Prue was quite right when she said that he is not listening to advice. I don't expect him to stay beyond the halfway point.

This pandemic could have been Herman's biggest hour. Herman the friendship cake. This was a big thing back when I was at university - its basically a kind of sourdough that you look after before dividing and passing part of it on to friends and using the rest to make a cake and breed more dough (and make more cake). Once you got it going, you didn't need any more yeast and those things lasted for months.

With another lockdown on the cards for Britain, supermarkets are preparing for more panic buyers. With Bake Off back on they not only have to make sure there is enough toilet paper but are stocking up on flour and other baking essentials. (as per some tabloids). This is both, hilarious and (a very Rosamunde Pilcher version of) British.

I read a comment on Twitter that was something along the lines of 'Who in their right mind would voluntarily want to leave their family for 7 weeks just to be on a baking show?' to which someone else replied 'After spending 3 months of lockdown at home with their loved ones, probably a lot of people'. They should approach this from a different angle. Make a bust of someone you really hate and relish the moment when Paul Hollywood puts a knife through their (cake) face.

Lottie reminds me of Hailey Steinfeld's character in Pitch Perfect 2.

What a hilarious start to a new series of Bake Off. They had to delay the show for 15 minutes because the British Prime Minister wanted to do an address only for Bake Off to kick off with a parody of PM's covid press briefings (which have been soo bad) as the cold open. Absolute belter! Matt Lucas was so on point as BoJo. I wonder if they'll do something else for the Netflix version. Battenburgs are an ok challenge for the signature. Makings cake sculptured is such a waste of good cake. That being said, what an interesting assortment of inspirations. I love Bill Bryson, but an author is a really surprising choice. David Attenborough, Bib Marley, Lupida, Freddie, Louis Theroux, Bowie all really cool people. But oh the drama. Maria Antoinette guy made every challenge extra difficult for himself and, predictably, it all went wrong. Make smarter choices laddy! Oh Loriea, sad to see her go. Lovely personality. Also, how many adverts does Sue Perkins narrate? Every ad break had something featuring her voice.

this is hilarious.

Dunno how many episodes are available on Netflix US, but that show is already in its 6th series and has accumulated over 100 episodes 🙂

Younger Season 7 Is 'Unofficially' the Final One, Says EP Darren Star I was wondering when they would start production again because there was no indication on Sutton's SM that she is back to work. I really hope it is the last season. Darren should finish the show properly and then go off an play with his new Paris Carrie doll.

Cush Jumbo did the Podcast with David Tennant (its a brilliant brilliant podcast series, the episode with George Takei is a rollercoaster!) and they talk about the Good Fight and the chaotic end to the production. Apparently Cush had planned her exit from the show for a while because they wanted to move back to the UK.

The contestants have been unveiled - the oldest baker is 61 but she looks very spritely and not like a granny/grandda candidate. They youngest is a 20 year old lad. They look a likeable and handsome bunch though. As per the TV listings for Channel 4, Extra Slice will be back too. I don't watch that annex show anymore, it has become to loud and silly, but I am curious how that will be structured - especially in light of the new Corona restrictions in the UK.

Sex Education started work on series 3 this week as per some actor's social media. Production was initially pushed back from spring to August due to Corona, but it seems they had to delay it a couple more weeks. Will we get an utopian fall scenery this time round? I don't expect another January release date though, because apart from taking some time, there will be quite a queue for post production.

Nadiya has a new show out on the BBC: Nadyia Bakes (8 episodes). At the moment it airs on Wednesdays on BBC 2, and its on the iPlayer. I watched the first episode and its as lovely as her Family Favourites programme. Dunno if or when it will come to Netflix, but you can keep an eye out for it 🙂

Sue has another of her 'travel' programmes out on the BBC: Sue Perkings: Along the US-Mexico Border. Its on the BBC iPlayer (Sue's programmes on Japan and the Ganges are also available)

Suzie has a wee cooking show on the BBC now (dunno if it only aired on BBC Northern Ireland, but its on the iPlayer) - Suzie Lee's Home Cook Heroes (only 3 episodes so far). Its OK, most of the dishes very very homey, but her recipes for Chinese dishes are quite nice.

They are not as sexy as a SMEG but a chest freezer would be so much more efficient for challenges like those. Or just let them prepare the ice cream the day before - its what you'd do at home.

To me, the prospect of some shows adressing the Corona crisis in their upcoming seasons has lost its appeal since spring. There is a lot of comedic potential in it for a show like Superstore but the situation surronding Covid has become mentally straining and I am not sure I want to be reminded of it in every other show this autumn.

I only made it through the first couple of episodes. Its not great. The premise of the show is ok but I don't think Mel and Sue are great actresses. They are good show hosts and panellists, but I don't enjow their other stuff as much as their Bake Off banter (although Sue's first show Getting Out was well written the acting let it down).

you can mix it yourself, its 1 tsp of baking powder for every 100g of plain flour

I can second that, its a very lovely show. Her Mocha Swirls have become one of my favourite sweet things to make - I'll actually make a batch tomorrow.

It is quite noticable even with the way the challenges are set up that the production wants the bakers to produce instagrammable stuff and go for ideas that are hot on Pinterest. As the viewers have to trust the judges when it comes to taste, the creative and elaborate designs are giving them at least some idea of the baker's abilities. I think this is why (sometimes older) contestant who are just really good at baking but not trawling the net for the latest trends seem less exciting and have a harder time this past few series. When Brendan and Nancy where on the show it as still a bit more on the traditional side. That was back when the signature challenge was still introduced as something the bakers make at home for their families. I remember when Frances was on series 4 she was a bit of an odd one out with her whacky ideas (the breadsticks!). I think it changed a bit with the Nadyia series. Me, I hate fussy desserts and would rather have a basic cake that tastes good than a baked self-portrait that uses half a crafts cabinet. I did like things like Danish week where the focus is on new techniques or flavours because those are things I would try out at home even if I'd have to the 1-2 special ingredients. I will try to bake a 5 pie tower or recreate the crown jewels in cream and fondant just because they did it on the show.

I remember thinking at the time whether she was a contestant that the missus could roll her eyes at while her hubby found that he didn't mind having to watch this show that year. The Candice series was the first where I didn't watch the finale.

I can't remember if there ever was a hint about Sutton sleeping around before Richard, but that story seemed a bit out of character. Yes, she is hurting, was drunk and he was into it, but it came after he told her about his children and she knows his wife. Did the dude say anything about his wife or that his marriage wasn't great anymore? Anyway, congratulations, you're a homewrecker now. The stuff about her mother relapsing was very sad though. Will her professional performance now get dented by a potential shift towards an alcoholic party girl? Jane Sloane, the future of Scaret magazine and target audience to the puffy sleeve industry. Eva might have questional views on many things, but her approach to whatever the relationship between her and Kat is (was) is far more grown up and permitting towards their different views. Looking at Kat, it looks more like lust and the temptation of the forbidden fruit. If it wasn't for their completely different political views, I'd welcome her getting with someone who has a mature approach towards a relationship.