Aulty

Well, surprisingly we're gonna get what we wished for next year. The last All Stars season on Lifetime that features former PR runway winners and winners from international seasons starts on January 2nd. I'm intrigued, amused and prepared to laugh out loud about Anya again. Irina Shabayeva from Brooklyn, NY - Winner, PR Season 6 Seth Aaron Henderson from Vancouver, WA - Winner, PR Season 7 and All Stars Season 3 Anya Ayoung-Chee from West Indies - Winner, PR Season 9 Dmitry Sholokhov from New York, NY - Winner, PR Season 10 and All Stars Season 4 Michelle Lesniak from Portland, OR - Winner, PR Season 11 Sean Kelly from Brooklyn, New York - Winner, PR Season 13 Anthony Ryan from San Antonio, TX - Winner, All Stars Season 2 Juli Grbac from Australia - Winner, Project Runway Australia Season 1 Christina Exie from Australia - Winner, Project Runway Australia Season 4 Cynthia Hayashi from Brazil - Winner, Project Runway Brazil Season 1 Django Steenbakker from the Netherlands - Winner, Project Runway Netherlands Season 1 Jasper Garvida from England - Winner, Project Runway U.K. Season 3 Evan Biddell from Canada - Winner, Project Runway Canada Season 1 Sunny Fong from Canada - Winner, Project Runway Canada Season 2

I liked the premise of the show and I will continue to watch - but the quite dark satanist setting vs. the young adult storylines didn't mix well enough for me. That being said, the humor that was woven into the stories along with replacing all sayings with their satanist-equivalten was thoroughly entertaining. I also thought the acting was great all around - Miranda Otto and Richard Coyle were outstanding. And I agree that the addition of Ambrose was a good choice - he is basically the replacement for Salem, who doesn't talk (pitty, I love a sarcastic cat) The make up on this show however was really really really bad - especially on Lucy Davis and Tati Gabrielle, their faces always had a greenish tint. It was so distracting and they need to fix that asap.

It was a funny episode, but Jonah's lies were utterly unrealistic and unsustainable. Shame they didn't tell the parents about Amy too. It also should not be that surprising that Jonah may have plans (or rather hopes and dreams because I doubt he has been pro active about anything for 3 years) for his future that do not include being a Cloud 9 employee. BTW: Is Amy still doing her school thing?

oh good. I didn't know that it'll be back. Sewing Bee has always been a good antidote to the contestant drama on Project Runway. Now, can we get the Interior Design challenge back too please?

Glenn might be emphatic, but he is also very by the book and it doesn't help that he is incredibly uptight and doesn't understand anything about women. So of course he is sorry that he has to call her in, but giving her easier tasks or let her rest does not cross his mind. Poor Amy. She should have gone to the secret depot she once found with Jonah to pump and have a nap ;-)

This was such a great season and a lovely finale. All three contestants are super bakers and it could have gone either way and it would have been ok with me. Congratulations Andrei! It felt like early GBBO, especially after the GBBO finale last week. The producers in Britain have increasingly relied on casting characters to keep the show interesting - still all decent bakers, but with distinct personalities. Even though I liked shy, flustered Rahul, loud, bubbly Ruby and creative, manga-girl Kim-Joy, I felt that the Canadian version was a pleasant watch with just regular, authentic bakers in a competition without insane prizemoney, where missing out on first place is not the end of the world.

I think I am developping a slight hate-crush on Benjamin (I blame it on his fabulous hair), but his design looked like a mumu with pants. The back was nice. I think Caitlins is actually something that would sell in a resort/cruise context. I remember a Marcus Lupfer pant with a cheeseplant-print that looked cool - it was blue though. Usually a lot of air time for a struggling designer heralds bad news and I feared for Peni when he did his jump suit last minute. Apart from the bellypouch, it looked good. And while we're on the subject: why do we see so little of Misty? Her look was great (my favourite), and Kerry did well too. Judy was lucky and Jess will know why she went home as soon as she sees her design on TV. The colours probably looked better irl, but very washed out on screen. The challenge was alright, some wallpapers were stunning - I would have gone for Kerry's - some were a bit lame. Would it be so bad to have a wider selection to make sure that not only the fastest runners get something that suits their style? I still love Andreas, great consultation again. Especially with Kerry and Caitlin. I dunno if it was in the preview for next week or the episode itself, but those stupid Cardi B noises and references are so annoying.

I am often very vocal about fries ;-)

The US healthcare system is scary and all the fuss about calling someone their gf/bf is so weird, especially after they have been dating and sleeping together for months. Dinah had the best lines and her interaction with the baby was sweet. Good that they didn't make her change her mind about keeping it while still making it clear that she will look out for her in the future (at least thats how I interpret it). The situation with Amy was complicated, but its not weird that she would bond a bit with Adam over the new baby and memories over their first born, if anything Jonah staying for the birth after Adam arrived should indicate that he is even more than just the boyfriend. The other storyline with Garret was boring, but him asking Glenn if its ok to call him if he misses him was funny.

I thought Danish week was great and the idea for vegan week was good but somehow vegan challenges are always setup so that everyone can moan about them, its so annoying. What I always liked about Bake Off is when they feature recipes that are not in everyone's standard repertoire and that viewers then try to replicate. Usually those were slighty more ambitious or exotic but featuring ingredients that are not too hard to come by - often these were the technical challenges. This year I feel the aqua faba pav is something that a lot of people have or will try. Maybe the rye breads from Danish week too (the apple-spheres looked delicious, but you need special equipment). So, these are the sort of thing that I want to see more of, and there certainly are quite a few options left in European and international baking. If they keep the signature and technical in that ballpark they can do all the biscuit chandeliers, cookie scenes, baked selfies and sugar sculptures they want for the showstoppers.

This one sais November 9th.

Russell Brand is Noel's BFF, they are quite funny when they are thrown together. Russell Tovey is a nice choice, he also was an Extra Slice a few weeks ago. But I am really looking forward to Jeremy Paxman, it's quite an unusual setting for him. There are a few people in the mix that you either love or hate and I will probably not watch all the episodes.

I would not categorize crepe cakes as patisserie and in general don't understand why they are a thing. My favourite cake, an Esterhazy cake, which also has a lot of layers, but the ratio of sponge to cream is balanced, whereas all I see when I look at those crepe towers is a stodgy pile with hardly anything between the layers. I'd rather have two or three crepes or pancakes with an inapropriate amount of maple syrup. I am also with you on the charcoal trend and have wondered before if charcoal pregnancies, due to the coal absoring contraceptives, are a thing. I have to admit that it looks cool and I'd rather eat something with charcoal than tons of artificial colours. The showstopper on a grander scale is a perfect task for the final (and iirc the final of the very first Bake Off was along those lines, an afternoon tea cake stand), because there is something from all the mayor categories. I think this will be a cracking final with Megan, Sachin and Andrei!

Jep! Not to take anything away from Mel and Sue who set the tone of the whole show and their style is still how the presenters of other incarnations are chosen. Apparently M&S used to talk over people in season 1 when they started crying or having a breakdown so the production team couldn't use the footage to the contestants disadvantage. It helped Bake Off to become a warm and friendly show for the coming seasons. I loved Noel on IT Crowd and was very happy with him joining the new Bake Off. I was more wary about Sandy, who I only knew from quiz shows like What the Dickens and QI (she is great on QI) - I thought they were to different in age and character. I am glad I was wrong, they are great. The short skits before each episode have been a lot better this year too. Do you remember the rumors before their first season started, that they all hate each other - Sandy is always knitting in a corner and Paul and Prue only talk during the judging?

There must not be a Kiwi Bake Off without a Pav. It's the law. I'm still not enjoying this incarnation of the Bake Off as much as I should. The challenges for this week were ... not very difficult? - I mean even I could do those to an ok standard. Well done Anabel - she has been such a calm baker so far! How lovely that everyone donated their leftover chocolate for Sonali to redo her ganache (her roulade still did not come together in the end), but Clayton and Stacey complained that he needed more chocolate too - do they usually have a limited amount of ingredients? Shannon had it coming, his Pav looked like a pancake cake.

What a weird weird set of challenges. The doughnuts were ok, but I would have chosen a different technical challenge (the pita bread challenge would have been great for bread week) and whoever came up with the final showstopper challenge should be given a day off when they decide on next years task. Green, grey and blue food colouring is so unappetizing, especially on the telly and none of the baked landscape looked appealing. It was as disappointing as the disastrous wedding cake challenge a few years ago. I'm ok with Rahul winning mainly because Kim Joy's display was really underwhelming considering her usual level of creativity. Ruby's showstopper was too messy. Rahul was really unlucky with the jar bearking and giving him some time back was ok. It was good that he insisted on not using anything he had on the bench wenn the glass broke. With the weather having such a big effect on the bakes, they should really start shooting earlier in the year (I loved the earlier seasons when it was raining cats and dogs during the judging). And when will we get an All Stars series of Bake Off?

As avant guard challenges on PR go, this was a pretty good. A lot of work and thought go into car design, and there were certainly enough jump off points for an AG challenge. I feel that the results were a lot of interesting silouettes and shapes. Kerry's was borderline gimmiky, but also really cool and well made. I liked Benjamin's fabrics, especially the tinfoil/blue one, and he was right when he said that this will stand out. His poor model, Georgina and the panel coming to her aid and being comforting highlighted that this is not as catty a show as some other PR season were. I usually don't watch the Models of PR, but I might watch that one later, I'm sure the incident is featured there. Misty's design I liked too, even though all we saw her do during the episode was walk around chatting to other people. I wasn't too keen on Judy last week, but her dress this week was very Anne Sophie Madsen, so her win is OK with me. No quibbles over any of the bottom choices, anyone of them could have been eliminated. Peni has been dangerously close to the edge for a while now. Again, Andreas and the Holden-Lady explained the challenge well, and the consultation rounds with Andreas are one of the best parts of the show (even without TG style catch phrases ;-).

I liked Danish week and the idea of having a week dedicated to one country's traditional bakes. It will give them many options for future seasons like Austrian or Bohemian week (you could make a whole season based on Viennese bakery alone - Danish pastry was brought to Denmark by Viennese bakers btw) or something Russian, Asian or Middle Eastern. They did Mochis in the Canadian show and it was great because it was a process that we haven't seen before. I find this more interesting than making challnges more difficulty by asking them to make a cake tower, cookie sculpture or 15 different biscuits instead of one interesting thing. I think it was a draw between Manon and Rahul and there would have been discussions and different opinions either way. But why did Ruby not come last in the technical? She, of all the bakers, did not get the technique right! PS: @ElectricBoogaloo I'm not stalking your boards ;-) I'm just a bit bored and apparently watch the same stuff as you.

The second season of the Great Family Cooking Showdown startet last week. The new judges are likable, but imho the format, unfortunately, has gotten worse.

I don't like that they are so crammed together with smaller workbenches. It was so noticeable in the camera shots that there isn't enough space between the stations. But I like the fridges! I thought the cupcake challenge was a bit beige. And the kids cake challenge is usually a good indicator regarding who is a keen Pinterest user - I hate those rainbowy unicorn cakes with a passion.

Hayley and Madeleine are quite annoying (I think their voices are too screetchy) and I don't like the 2 challenge format (the Irish Bake Off had that too iirc). Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the bakers don't have a week off to go home between the rounds, they film it all in one go or group shooting days. I think that has an influence on the standard of the bakes - they probably can't practice much? The bakers are lovely and so far I have no issues with the judging. Why did Ana not remake her caramel? She tasted it and knew it was revolting? The tray bakes were all a bit underwhelming.

I hate Vegan and Free from weeks because all they do is moan and mock (especially during Extra Slice). Vegan bakes can be great, but you have to know what you are doing - merely replacing eggs and butter and expecting a similar taste is wishful thinking only. The chemistry in baking with alternative ingredients is totally different. And it often does not have longstanding history that classic, French or Viennese, style recipes have. And as we saw with the aqua faba Pav, it can be a proper alternative if you know how to handle the right ingredients.

Ugh, so many raw edges! Seeing how the designs have turned out I am curios what we would have ended up with without the item swapping. Personally I would have been more excited if they were told to buy a specific type of item, like shoes. With pants, tops, bras, shoes ... it was a weird mixture. Lenon is a very nice person, but they focussed to much on them in the first two episodes and it was really annoying. Their shoes though! No complaints about the elimination.

I actually liked the challenge - a Scandi silouette with a colour palette inspired by the flavours (I actually like Höpt) was not a bad start. 'Salted Lychee' and 'Pear & Basil' would've lent themselves to layering different textures of off-whites and cool colours while 'Elderberry & Herbs' and the Watermeldon one could've gone more towards colour blocking and prints. At least thats what I would have done. Sadly the majority of the designs was rather generic and had little to do with Scandinavian design. I liked Benjamin, Beau, Caitlin and Misty; Kerry's was nice too. Nicole, Lenon and Massey's where fugly and sending Nicole home was the right decision

The designs look a lot better in the photographs than they did on the runway. I liked almost all of the looks, including Beau and Matt's. I wasn't keen on Jess & Massey, and what Camille & Peni did has been done in one form or another by other contestants on other PR seasons and it never worked on any unconventional challenge ever.