Mondrianyone

I was initially inclined to hate on the daughter in the disability case, but that was before we got to see the mother reveal herself. And then I felt sorry for the daughter, having to deal with that for a mother, her whole life. I was also puzzled by a couple of things, though. The daughter had the $10K cashier's check with her in the courtroom, so I wondered why JJ didn't just have her hand it over to her mother. The daughter readily acknowledged getting $4K of the total sum to pay for her wedding, and she didn't seem adamant about keeping the remaining $10K. If the mother drinks it up in the next month or two . . . well, she was insistent about getting it back. Also surprised that JJ didn't object when the mom said, "That's my money!" I was waiting for, "That's Byrd's money!" When I didn't hear it, I said, "No, that's my money!" Just to keep the earth on its proper axis.

No kidding. Did you see the one recently where the really big guy on the work crew tore his arm open trying to pull part of a wall down by jumping up and swinging on it? Had to be stretchered off to the emergency ward. And then the idiot's rewarded when he comes back by being named Safety Officer. Speaking of demo (and I can only speak for myself, but I'm probably not unique in this), I sort of get that it might be fun, once or twice anyway, to smash stuff up, if you're the one doing it. What I really don't get is why HGTV seems to think that viewers (mostly women, I'm guessing) love watching other people destroy things, all the time. They must, because it's a feature of every makeover show. Do they think we think it's sexy? Not me. What I really think is sexy is watching someone say, "Let's save these cabinets (or these appliances, or whatever) and donate them." Or even sell them on eBay? There's a big market for vintage stoves and colored bathroom fixtures, etc., so even selling stuff is better than smashing it to bits. I love that kind of thing on the rare occasions we see it. I'd think that a crew headed by two women would be tuned into that notion, but not here so much. Sorry, rant over.

I didn't know that the contractor (Lenny?) was part of this whole family web, but if he's married to Tad's mother, who was once married to the father that Mina and Tad share, then it would make sense that he isn't a blood relation of Mina or Karen--and related by marriage only in the sense that he's married to an ex of an ex, no? (I had to read that sentence three times. I'm glad my family deal is a lot simpler.)

I think it's probably true that being married to a big star gave her opportunities she wouldn't have had otherwise. But she also did beat all her fellow hosts (except Zakarian, who was a judge) when they competed head-to-head on Chopped. So who knows? It certainly surprised the hell out of me. And in the case of the one Zakarian made, also too raw to eat. Or at least that's how it looked on my TV. The chance you take when you insist on cutting open a burger, I guess. They may earn their salaries just tasting some of the stuff they're forced to taste. I think I'd've been looking for the spit bucket on that one.

I'm going to violate my own rule of three posts on a subject and then done, since it would be rude not to reply to you, Adam. I never would've posted merely to say that I thought the podcast was dull unless it didn't also piss me off. I think what I found most shocking about the repeated references to Val as old (and I don't think they were just references--they were meant to belittle; we don't always say "little old lady" for nothing) was how diametrically opposed they were to the spirit of the show--sweetness, in every sense of the word. I guess I thought they were really unsavory. (Stop me before I baking-pun again.) I suspect that most of us had it beaten into us by the lovely mods (and one lunatic) at TWoP. So that's who to thank. I'm glad you didn't take offense, even though a few things I said were probably meant to offend. No hard feelings on this end either.

That seems like a good idea. I started counting when the age references became a thing. I counted four. As I said, you had what were other legitimate reasons for not liking Val--i.e., her claiming that undercooked is how she liked things or that's how they did it in her family as excuses for falling short on challenges. I don't know why you couldn't stick to those, without the digs. Does the fact that you love Jane and Mary--and they're old--excuse making age-related cracks about someone you don't like? I don't like Kanye West. Does that mean I can single him out for racist crap? Then you should all know better. Look, when Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn, there was practically a ten-page set of rules everyone had to read before posting on that forum and possibly using the wrong pronoun by mistake. There's a whole lot less choice involved in the matter of getting old. So I just don't see why those kinds of gratuitous insults are okay while most others--about race, sexual preference, ethnicity, etc.--are verboten. Shouldn't staff here be held to an even higher standard than us unwashed posters? I try to limit my snark to behaviors and matters of taste, not physical things that people can't help. I do agree with truther above, though. You get points for not hiding out and actually replying to my criticism.

I like the recaps, too. Listening to the podcast was a mistake, based on loving the show so much that I wanted to get whatever was available. But what's available in that podcast is totally subpar. I don't really understand the logic of having two people who know virtually nothing about baking provide commentary on a baking show. It would work if they were ignorant but witty. Ignorant and dull, not such a great combo.

All the ageist jokes about Val on the Spotted Dicks (aptly named) podcast were really adorable. Does that mean it would now be okay for the rest of us to make racist jokes about Salasi, or terrorist jokes about Rav because he wears a turban, or gay jokes about Andrew? If there were a contestant in a wheelchair, could we call her a cripple? I get it that you didn't like Val for other valid (I made a joke!) reasons, but I think I counted four snotty "little old lady" jokes by the end of the podcast. Do you think everyone who posts here is under thirty? And even if that were so, would that make it okay to demean a woman because she had the gall not to die before she got old?

"If you look up 'cafloutis,'" as Sunny suggested today, you won't find anything. (Except maybe "kaflooey.") 'Cause it's clafoutis. I loved the pretzel salad lady, too. She's welcome back. Even on a permanent basis. That's how you audition--just by being your funny, self-deprecating self.

Actually, what she usually says is "This is my playpen," which kind of tells you all you need to know in the end. I don't really know why I watch this, but I do.

I guess that means you liked it! I'm glad to hear that. I always feel that when I say something is good and someone else makes it, they're going to hate it. And then blame me. It really is a simple and delicious way to roast a chicken. I need to make it again, too.

I enjoyed today's show a lot, too. Much better use of Andres than having him demonstrate the bottle trick--which (hilariously, I thought) Ina didn't use when she separated an egg. I will try his frying technique, just because the end product seems so magical. The pavlova was beautiful, but I hate meringue. It's good for me to make things for people that they like, not just what I like, so maybe . . .

He said it was so he wouldn't be a junior.

It's not a run-on sentence if it's properly punctuated and hangs together logically and grammatically. That was just good writing.

Yesterday's rerun of Bare v. Pyles deserves to be added to the Case Names Hall of Fame, I think.

The trick only showed up sometime in the last decade, so it wouldn't matter if a person had Internet access for the last hundred years, which is how long I feel like I've been on the Web. I think the point is it was a moronic thing to have one of the world's greatest chefs demonstrate. We could have learned something wonderful from him. The first time I tried the water-bottle trick was about five years ago. It works well if the opening of the bottle isn't sharp and breaks the yolk. Now they sell gadgets with soft edges to do the same thing. I love gadgets, so I bought one on eBay. I also bought one for my friend who has a hand tremor. She really does have issues separating yolks from whites.

Couldn't agree more. That was so dopey. Anyone who's had Internet access over the past decade has already seen that trick a hundred times. I thought he was going to show it as a little joke and then go on to do something chefly. But no--suck egg, plop yolk, adios. Who thought that was a good idea?

Wow! You mean the only thing I have to do to get all the flowers is just be an irritating little nitpicker? I can do that! Thanks, Walnut--that looks like a gorgeous place to visit.

Has anyone made that updated version of chicken marsala from a few weeks ago (in my market--I know the scheduling is hinky)? I was thinking of doing it for a dinner party, under my new policy of daring to serve things to other people that I haven't made just for us once beforehand, since life is now too short to do a practice run of everything. It looked very promising, but it'd be good to hear from someone who's actually tried it. I'm definitely adopting that method for cutting chicken breasts that they showed.

They look like peonies, but I think those white ones are actually ranunculi. I've stopped watching NY, so I can't offer anything about the show itself. My only option now is to be botanically annoying. ;o) It's always wonderful to get any kinds of flowers, though.

Mine, too.

I don't remember that part specifically, but maybe what they meant is that while you're grilling with the coals from the first batch, you can start another batch in the chimney. Then you dump those already hot coals on the existing bed of coals to make it all burn longer, rather than adding unlit charcoal to the fire, which tends to put out the coals in the grill before the new ones catch themselves. At least that's how we've done it. Depends how long you need to keep the fire going.

You mean the charcoal chimney? We don't grill much either, but we did get one of those based on seeing how it's used on America's Test Kitchen, I think. You set the chimney on a nonflammable surface, fill the cylinder with briquets, crumple up a bunch of newspaper in the space underneath the cylinder, light the paper, and then wait for the coals to catch and turn gray with ash. Then you dump them into the grill and they're ready to cook. It works better than anything, and it's a lot safer than liquid fire starter.

You're very welcome. It's about the least intimidating recipe for roast chicken I can think of, so don't let that stop you. You don't even have to truss it (the trend now is not to truss birds, so that the meat on the insides of the thighs can cook through). All I did was tuck under the wing tips to keep them from burning. The herbs perfume the meat just fine, without having to go under the skin. It was easy and delicious.

Just so I can say something positive about this show (for a change!), last week I made Katie's version of chicken roasted over bread in a cast-iron pan, and it was exceptionally good. Less fussy than Ina's--no messing around making a pouch under the skin to stuff the herbs into (they just go into the cavity with everything else) and no prep a day in advance so you can chill it for 24 hours. The meat was really juicy, and the skin was crisped to perfection. One of my quibbles with Ina's chickens is that the skin often looks flabby and uncrisp, and I'd rather eat almost anything than flaccid chicken skin. My husband loved it, too, and he can always find something to complain about. So two thumbs way up for this one.