S11.E02: Biscuit Week

[Athena]

Quote

It's Biscuit Week and the bakers make a sophisticated fruit, nut and chocolate combination for the signature, produce two tropical technicals, and create an elaborate table setting showstopper

 

[Aulty]

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.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Aulty

[Corgi-ears]

Mak is Treat Williams, and Lottie is Emma Stone.

Meanwhile, Sandy is still looking a bit rough this season.

[Kiddvideo]

I've disliked both showstoppers this year. I really think the early rounds should be to sift out people with weaker technical skills. Wheedle it down to the best bakers, then start adding flare. (And I got spoiled this week by clicking on a link to the Daily Mail about something else entirely. Never even gave it a thought that they'd have GBBO news. Live and learn.)

[Danny Franks]

Matt Lucas is a pleasant surprise so far. I'm used to him playing big, loud characters and genuinely haven't seen much of him just being himself. He just seems like a warm, gentle presence. Not hilariously funny, but pleasantly amusing and not distracting.

None of the bakers have made much of an impression on me yet. Rowan is posh, so is Lottie (though she pretends not to be). Sura seems to have a very down to earth personality and it's easy to see why Noel is enjoying her company.

I like Dave simply because of the relatively mature, measured way he reacted to his cakes being swatted last week. 

As for the technical, I really like coconut macaroons. They always remind me of my grandma, who used to buy them for us.

I don't normally comment on clothing but I hated Noel's jumper.

The showstopper was a dumb idea again. They seem to be a case of over-complication resulting in diminishing returns.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Danny Franks

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I try to plan ahead so that I can have some GBBO related snacks on hand when I watch (like when I watch cake week, I always want cake because I'm that simple). No need for that this week because I'm not interested in cookies with chewy dried fruit, macaroons, or biscuit based tea sets.

I really wish people would mention that if you use charcoal as a food coloring, you should not eat it within a few hours of having medication. Charcoal is an adsorbent (which is why it's used to treat drug overdoses).

I laughed when the bakers were bringing their macaroons up and Noel told Sura to hang back for a minute. She stopped immediately without question and then he said he was just kidding and she realized why so she just started laughing.

On 9/29/2020 at 1:16 PM, Aulty said:

Pink chocolate has finally hit the baking tent.

I'm pretty sure ruby chocolate was used in a recent season. I remember we had a discussion about how new it really is (my argument is that if it's been on the shelves at Trader Joe's for at least two years, it's not that new).

[zibnchy]

4 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

The showstopper was a dumb idea again

I am so tired of the "Build a scene based on a memorable event from your childhood and also make it out of biscuits" showstopper challenges. It's just gotten boring and I've always thought they were stupid because 1.) these are home bakers. Has any home baker ever uttered the words "I think I'll make a childhood story come to life in biscuit form today?" and 2) they always end up looking a little gross and usually ginger cookie dominates and I don't much like ginger cookies. Sorry, ginger *biscuits*.

BUT having said that I enjoyed this episode and showstopper. Maybe because I'm so damn happy to have this show. I was sure it would not happen this year. Also a couple of them looked actually good. I really liked the breakfast one with the toast. And the older woman's design looked kind of pretty. Maybe I'm just mellowing.

Sura is obviously the show's attempt to recreate the magic that was (and is) Nadiya. And that's OK because Sura seems pretty great and I like her and she's a competitor. Sura and Lottie are  also the only ones whose names I've learned so far.

That scene with Lottie's grandparents choked me up. I know it was meant to.

Noel has worn some awesome clothes in the past. Why did he wear that?

 

[Lois Sandborne]

Indeed, another goony showstopper. I'm not sure if the producers are worried about repeating themselves or are just kind of sacrificing sense at the altar of keeping things "fresh" and "exciting," but starting the season with those challenges back to back was worthy of some eye-rolling. Everybody watches for different reasons though; I'm sure some people out there enjoy those as much as more traditional baking-focused stuff.

I did wonder if Paul was coughing because of the charcoal or the coffee in Beardy Mark's biscuit set. Grey Marc's toast and tea thing actually ended up very pretty.

Our first COVID handshake. I don't love florentines, but when they described Lottie's cherry, ginger, dark chocolate ones, I actually wanted to eat them. Dave's were just beautiful. I'm surprised they didn't say anything about the temper he managed on that chocolate.

I really hope Hermine survives to show us what she can do in patisserie week.

Loved Rowan trying to make his waistcoats happen like Series 3 James's lovely wool sweaters. But I would've sent him packing this week for sure. Even though Mak might not have met the exact letter of the final challenge re: molding, he performed better than Rowan overall. I've made my peace with the judges not actually caring about the technical challenge, but even ignoring that, I think on balance Mak did a better job on the whole.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed Noel and Matt. Whatever Matt was saying about shapes or whatever, that conversation was very funny. And him and Noel kidding around about the time for the showstopper ("4,000?" "No 4 hours." "Oh, they'll never make it.") was hilarious.

Last week I forgot that the return of Bake Off means the return of The Bake Down podcast. This week the hosts took the time to clown Peter for saying he hadn't made something in donkey's years when he's all of 12 years old, which is a thought I had at home on my couch too. (They also may or may not discuss Howard having a small crush on Paul H. ...)

And I was going to say how much I loved Noel's big, chunky sweater, until I saw the random shaggy layer at the bottom. I like his style generally though.

[bybrandy]

8 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'm pretty sure ruby chocolate was used in a recent season. I remember we had a discussion about how new it really is (my argument is that if it's been on the shelves at Trader Joe's for at least two years, it's not that new).

I remember this comment because I had some in my pantry at the time that I bought at Trader Joe's.   

[Aulty]

9 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I try to plan ahead so that I can have some GBBO related snacks on hand when I watch (like when I watch cake week, I always want cake because I'm that simple). No need for that this week because I'm not interested in cookies with chewy dried fruit, macaroons, or biscuit based tea sets.

LOL you and me both. I went out of my way to buy some of my fave Ovomaltine biscuits to go with this episode, but didn't touch them because none of the bakes made me crave biscuits. 

 

I'm pretty sure ruby chocolate was used in a recent season. I remember we had a discussion about how new it really is (my argument is that if it's been on the shelves at Trader Joe's for at least two years, it's not that new).

Yes, I remember it now - I think I was surprised that it was a first for Prue and Paul at the time.

I am curious whether the supermarket chain who is the main sponsor for Bake Off in the UK this year (Aldi) gets a heads up about the challenges and recipes in each episode so they can stock their stores accordingly. They have a lot of baking stuff at the moment, but no ruby chocolate.

[Lois Sandborne]

I remember the ruby chocolate discussion a few years back and it being some evidence that the judges tended to be behind the times. People are saying similar things about the "caramelized" white chocolate Peter used for his florentines. That's been around a while too; I know Hershey made a bar that features it a few years ago, and if they're on to it, it's out there.

I had rich teas when I watched this week. I know, but I like them.

[TVbitch]

I spent most of this episode trying to figure out what on earth Prue was wearing around her neck. I became obsessed with trying to to get a good look at it. It looked like, um, well, I don't know what it looked like, cuz I've never seen anything like it. ...maybe a swan exploding? 

Warning: I got spoiled by google news for this episode. I was so mad! Have to be careful going forward cuz I hate being spoiled! 

[Brookside]

Has this aired in the US?  I thought it was on Fridays, and it is not on Netflix.  Sorry, just saw the "Unaired in US" warning.

14 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

I remember the ruby chocolate discussion a few years back and it being some evidence that the judges tended to be behind the times. People are saying similar things about the "caramelized" white chocolate Peter used for his florentines. That's been around a while too; I know Hershey made a bar that features it a few years ago, and if they're on to it, it's out there.

I had rich teas when I watched this week. I know, but I like them.

Not everything that is stocked in one country is necessarily readily available in another.  (And you'd have to shoot me before I'd eat Hershey's chocolate, and most Brits feel the same.)

I love Rich Teas 🙂

Edited October 2, 2020 by Brookside

[akr]

2 hours ago, Brookside said:

Has this aired in the US?  I thought it was on Fridays, and it is not on Netflix.  Sorry, just saw the "Unaired in US" warning.

Not everything that is stocked in one country is necessarily readily available in another.  (And you'd have to shoot me before I'd eat Hershey's chocolate, and most Brits feel the same.)

I love Rich Teas 🙂

Ruby chocolate was only introduced in 2017. I think that's still pretty new. I've had it once (fancy chocolates) & it was fine but I don't think I'd be aware it existed if I hadn't seen it on a TV show somewhere (Bake Off? Masterchef Australia?). Three years may be old if we're talking fashion, or if you're fairly young in general, but for a new baking ingredient that doesn't change the game really at all, it doesn't seem like something you'd change your baking habits to accommodate unless you were particularly interested in fancy chocolate. Most of the time, even then, you'd just spring for higher quality regular baking chocolate than you'd use for an everyday recipe. 

[CatLover74]

On 10/1/2020 at 9:13 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 

I'm pretty sure ruby chocolate was used in a recent season. I remember we had a discussion about how new it really is (my argument is that if it's been on the shelves at Trader Joe's for at least two years, it's not that new).

Yep.  That was Priya in Series 10 (I'm watching that episode now).  She used it in her chocolate biscuit bars, and Paul acted like he had no idea what she was talking about.

[leighdear]

I also think Lottie favors actress Emma Stone a bit...I really like her.   

Host Matt is still irrelevant and not at all amusing to me.  Noel however, I want to fly to England, track him down and be his best friend forever.  

I do love Rowan & his waistcoats, and I like Laura, and I hope she watches this back & sees that she's wearing the wrong shade of foundation on her face.  

Perfect Petey didn't like screwing up his macaroons.  You could see it threw him.  

That show stopper round was just not up to par for me, considering past seasons.  Even only at episode 2.   The theme of it, a set of serving pieces, is just weird and a bad choice.  Dave's was the best of a bad lot, and I didn't think it was saying much.  He was the only one even close to star baker.  The judges did seem to like the taste of a lot of the cookies, but they all just looked dry & unappealing.   

I'm kinda bummed at the whole episode.  Mak was no loss to me, I just didn't care for him.  

And as usual, I hate having to wait almost a week after the UK airing for Netflix to have it, and to comment.  

 

 

[Spunkygal]

I’m not criticizing anything about this season because I am so chuffed that it’s back! ❤️ Am I crazy or does Rowan have a Peter O’Toole resemblance to anyone else? 

[illdoc]

59 minutes ago, leighdear said:

And as usual, I hate having to wait almost a week after the UK airing for Netflix to have it, and to comment

A week? It aired UK on ... Wed I believe and Netflix (US) will have it Friday---that's 2 days.

[AZChristian]

13 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I’m not criticizing anything about this season because I am so chuffed that it’s back! ❤️ Am I crazy or does Rowan have a Peter O’Toole resemblance to anyone else? 

Hadn't really thought about it, but now that you mention it I can see it!!!

[krankydoodle]

On 9/30/2020 at 3:40 PM, Danny Franks said:

I like Dave simply because of the relatively mature, measured way he reacted to his cakes being swatted last week. 

Dave's shoulder shimmies cracked me up. I also warmed up to him more when he scolded his dog for refusing to go on and then just gave up and carried him home.

On 9/30/2020 at 8:07 PM, zibnchy said:

Noel has worn some awesome clothes in the past. Why did he wear that?

Ha, I kind of loved that sweater.

Someone pointed out that unlike last year, this year's crop of bakers vary quite a bit in terms of age. I think that's one of the reasons I'm enjoying this season more already. On a related note, I felt ancient when I realized Pete was only 10 when Bake Off first started.

[dgpolo]

2 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Am I crazy or does Rowan have a Peter O’Toole resemblance to anyone else? 

I thought Ian McKellen actually.

 

2 hours ago, leighdear said:

Host Matt is still irrelevant and not at all amusing to me.  Noel however, I want to fly to England, track him down and be his best friend forever.  

Just shows how YMMV, not minding Matt at all, sometimes awkward but I thing he'll get there If I were to fly to England to track down Noel I'd be more likely to tape his mouth shut. I'm glad he's having fun but sometimes he pushes the bakers a little too much for my tastes.

I had to look up Florentine Biscuits because the Florentines I know are not like what they did, and sure enough, they are a whole different biscuit.

[MisterGlass]

I liked Mak for the short time we had with him.

I thought the place setting was a better (and less horrifying) showstopper challenge concept than the busts, and more in keeping with what they’ve done in the past.  My favorite was Marc’s toast, plate, and tea set, though the taco rack and salsa dish did look good.  I thought the silver and blue tea set also looked nice.

It was news to me that some Florentines have dried fruit pieces.  I feel like that’s at odds with the texture, but then I’m not a big dried fruit fan.  The plain almond kind are lovely.

Matt got a laugh from me during the waistcoat conversation when he said with wonder, “Paul!  This is what posh people talk about!”

I was thrown when Noel’s narration called Dave’s shiba inu a Japanese hunting dog.  I have trouble picturing a doge hunting. ETA: apparently birds and rabbits.

On 10/1/2020 at 11:31 AM, TVbitch said:

I spent most of this episode trying to figure out what on earth Prue was wearing around her neck.

Me too.  It looked like a white spider to me at first.  I think the 'beads' of her necklace were leather ties that were pointing off at different angles.

Edited October 3, 2020 by MisterGlass
Addition.

[Constant Viewer]

3 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Am I crazy or does Rowan have a Peter O’Toole resemblance to anyone else? 

Kind of a mix between O'Toole and John Hurt

Edited October 3, 2020 by Constant Viewer

[Brookside]

5 hours ago, leighdear said:

 

That show stopper round was just not up to par for me, considering past seasons.  Even only at episode 2.   The theme of it, a set of serving pieces, is just weird and a bad choice.  Dave's was the best of a bad lot, and I didn't think it was saying much.  He was the only one even close to star baker.  The judges did seem to like the taste of a lot of the cookies, but they all just looked dry & unappealing.   

 

I agree that the baking is maybe not as good this year, but I realized that there were several constraints against the show because of coronavirus: the bakers had to have a very sympathetic employee who allowed them six weeks off work; they had to be financially able to take that time off; in some cases their families had to be able to manage without perhaps a fulltime caregiver; students wouldn't be able to take that amount of time off.   And who knows how many who might have made it normally have already been horribly affected by the virus.  (Normally they bake over the weekend and go home for the week.)

4 hours ago, illdoc said:

A week? It aired UK on ... Wed I believe and Netflix (US) will have it Friday---that's 2 days.

Yeah, I'm utterly confused - where I am, PBS has it this week on Sunday whereas last week it was Friday.  No idea when it will turn up on Netflix.  It's not there when I check now.  (I'm passing the time by watching the Baked Alaska-Gate series.)

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, Constant Viewer said:

John Hurt

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

This seemed like a standard showstopper challenge for Biscuit Week to me.  The only difference is the pre-set theme of "place setting", which still brought out quite a variety of displays. 

I think Noel has found his groove.  Matt is OK when he's one to one with a baker, but I don't get any sense of connection between him and Noel.  Their "bits" fall flat.

ETA:  Anything on PBS is going to be several years old.  The last 3 seasons have been exclusively on Netflix in the US. 

Edited October 3, 2020 by Quilt Fairy

[Brookside]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

 

ETA:  Anything on PBS is going to be several years old.  The last 3 seasons have been exclusively on Netflix in the US. 

I watched the first episode of this series on PBS last week (on Friday), episode 2 is this Sunday  In fact these days (at least on my local affiliate), if you miss it, it will be gone the next week unless you want to pay for their premium service.  This is true for other shows, such as Call the Midwife.  And I can't DVR.  And half the time, Comcast chooses to ignore my "Series Reminder" requests.  It's all very frustrating.  Grr.  Sorry, rant over.

[kittykat]

On 9/30/2020 at 4:43 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I try to plan ahead so that I can have some GBBO related snacks on hand when I watch (like when I watch cake week, I always want cake because I'm that simple). No need for that this week because I'm not interested in cookies with chewy dried fruit, macaroons, or biscuit based tea sets.

That's great.  I actually made a Battenberg (lemon and pistachio flavored) yesterday and ate a slice while I watched tonight.  Maybe by next week I'll make some Florentines to enjoy during bread week.

When I saw and heard Rowan I immediately thought of John Hurt I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I did enjoy the coconut macaroon technical.  It's definitely tricky to judge how long one bakes that.  Dave was right that given the time they were allotted that it was longer than they expected.

No surprise Dave got Star Baker.  He knocked it out every challenge.  Hopefully Sura can put Swishgate behind her now.

I think I'm gonna start saying I haven't had *blank* in donkeys now.

Didn't mind the showstopper, better than last week.  It's just it's hard to make biscuit structures look good in short time.  If they are stretched on ideas they could do repeats (the same way the Amazing Race does).  I wouldn't mind seeing a repeat of biscuit structures or a biscuit box again.

I had Rowan pegged to go but not surprised it was Mak.  My only qualm is that Mak placed third in technical while Rowan bottomed out but then Mak got a lot of heat for not shaping whereas Rowan displayed some creativity with the lighthouse.  He's definitely marked next episode so we'll see.

 

[GaT]

There is always one contestant that is over-ambitious & doesn't listen to the judges advice to tone it down. Rowan won't be around much longer.

[dleighg]

4 hours ago, Brookside said:

No idea when it will turn up on Netflix.

I have Netflix and both times it's been there first thing Friday morning. Make sure you go to the "more episodes" option-- at first Netflix wanted me to rewatch last season. Maybe because that's where it had me "bookmarked."

[Michichick]

5 hours ago, Brookside said:

I watched the first episode of this series on PBS last week (on Friday), episode 2 is this Sunday  In fact these days (at least on my local affiliate), if you miss it, it will be gone the next week unless you want to pay for their premium service.  This is true for other shows, such as Call the Midwife.  And I can't DVR.  And half the time, Comcast chooses to ignore my "Series Reminder" requests.  It's all very frustrating.  Grr.  Sorry, rant over.

I’m weirdly fascinated by this. I’m assuming you’re in the United States because you have a PBS affiliate, so I’m boggling at your PBS station having the current season of Bake Off and that you don’t have it on Netflix. Normally I’d say this seems impossible, but it’s 2020 so the unusual is just the usual now.

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, Michichick said:

you don’t have it on Netflix

it absolutely is on Netflix here in the US. Right on time, Friday bright and early.

[Michichick]

1 minute ago, dleighg said:

it absolutely is on Netflix here in the US. Right on time, Friday bright and early.

I don’t dispute that. I watch it on Netflix. I was commenting on Brookside saying he/she is watching the current season on PBS and that their Netflix doesn’t have it. It’s like there’s some sort of time warp happening.

[seaELare]

Did anyone catch Noel’s comment (was it this epi or epi 1?): “Eating’s cheating”.   What’s up with that?  And then I noticed he never tastes the bakers’ bakes.  Does Noel have an eating disorder? 

[Brookside]

4 hours ago, dleighg said:

I have Netflix and both times it's been there first thing Friday morning. Make sure you go to the "more episodes" option-- at first Netflix wanted me to rewatch last season. Maybe because that's where it had me "bookmarked."

 

1 hour ago, Michichick said:

I’m weirdly fascinated by this. I’m assuming you’re in the United States because you have a PBS affiliate, so I’m boggling at your PBS station having the current season of Bake Off and that you don’t have it on Netflix. Normally I’d say this seems impossible, but it’s 2020 so the unusual is just the usual now.

It's all very confusing!  It's Saturday now and has turned up on Netflix.  Still not on PBS until Sunday though!

As Tears for Fears said:  "Mad World".

Edited October 3, 2020 by Brookside

[Lois Sandborne]

11 hours ago, illdoc said:

A week? It aired UK on ... Wed I believe and Netflix (US) will have it Friday---that's 2 days.

The show airs on Tuesdays in the UK. I haven't watched any of this series via Netflix yet, but I see both episodes available. Back when it was a PBS-only thing in the States, I remember they aired the show on Sunday nights and let you watch it all for the rest of the season, but I'm sure their apps have affected how they do things. In my market, PBS hasn't aired Bake Off since it moved from BBC to Channel 4, even to rerun an older season. The seasons they did air are all on Passport though.

On 10/1/2020 at 8:00 PM, Brookside said:

Not everything that is stocked in one country is necessarily readily available in another.  (And you'd have to shoot me before I'd eat Hershey's chocolate, and most Brits feel the same.)

I love Rich Teas 🙂

Hey now, I didn't mean to open the door to any chocolate snob showdown; Hershey just came to mind as an example of it being mass produced. I haven't actually had what they call a "gold" bar. I have had and made caramelized white chocolate though. It's good stuff. And extremely  easy to make. If anyone is interested, I used a method from David Liebovitz's blog: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/caramelized-white-chocolate/

[Brookside]

8 minutes ago, Lois Sandborne said:

 

Hey now, I didn't mean to open the door to any chocolate snob showdown; Hershey just came to mind as an example of it being mass produced. I haven't actually had what they call a "gold" bar. I have had and made caramelized white chocolate though. It's good stuff. And extremely  easy to make. If anyone is interested, I used a method from David Liebovitz's blog: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/caramelized-white-chocolate/

Oh believe me, I eat plenty of mass produced chocolate, it's just that the way the milk used in Hershey's is treated that gives it a taste that most Brits find, shall I say, unpleasant!

[Spunkygal]

49 minutes ago, seaELare said:

Did anyone catch Noel’s comment (was it this epi or epi 1?): “Eating’s cheating”.   What’s up with that?  And then I noticed he never tastes the bakers’ bakes.  Does Noel have an eating disorder? 

I think I read that other than Paul and Prue, the crew will no longer be allowed to eat the goods. 

[blueray]

1 hour ago, seaELare said:

Did anyone catch Noel’s comment (was it this epi or epi 1?): “Eating’s cheating”.   What’s up with that?  And then I noticed he never tastes the bakers’ bakes.  Does Noel have an eating disorder? 

I hope not but yeah, I thought is comment about going to a restaurant and looking at the food but not ordering anything was odd. I get it was a joke but why would anyone not order anything lol. Maybe he has diabetes or something so he can't try their food.

Anyhow, I was mildly confused by the showstopper. Did they have to just make a place setting or the actual meal? I feel like it was a mix of both that were done but the actual meal ones are harder as they had to make it look like what it was suppose to be. That being said I still think Dave deserved to win as they liked his bake and he came in first in the technical. 

[blueray]

18 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I think I read that other than Paul and Prue, the crew will no longer be allowed to eat the goods. 

If that's true, it seems like a real waste of food. Especially since they can't take it home to their families this season. 

Edited October 3, 2020 by blueray

[AZChristian]

27 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I think I read that other than Paul and Prue, the crew will no longer be allowed to eat the goods. 

Nobody told Matt, apparently.  He seems to be thoroughly enjoying the tasting part of things.

And - Rowan DOES resemble John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander).  He needs to pull out a magic wand and speed up some of those projects!!!

ETA:  I didn't notice last week that Marc has an artificial leg.  Not slowing him down, though!!!

Edited October 3, 2020 by AZChristian

[Michichick]

20 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I think I read that other than Paul and Prue, the crew will no longer be allowed to eat the goods. 

Hmm, I would swear I saw Matt sampling the goods in the first episode.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 9/30/2020 at 8:07 PM, zibnchy said:

I am so tired of the "Build a scene based on a memorable event from your childhood and also make it out of biscuits" showstopper challenges. It's just gotten boring and I've always thought they were stupid because 1.) these are home bakers. Has any home baker ever uttered the words "I think I'll make a childhood story come to life in biscuit form today?" and 2) they always end up looking a little gross and usually ginger cookie dominates and I don't much like ginger cookies. Sorry, ginger *biscuits*

I agree. You can be an awesome baker and not be able to sculpt. That was bogus. Even the board game challenge was better. 

Rowan should have gone. I liked Mak, but Paul seems to have been turned against him from the beginning. He even whinged about Mak using ginger and orange together in his Battenberg, which made me raise my eyebrows. 

 

[janie jones]

11 hours ago, Brookside said:

I agree that the baking is maybe not as good this year, but I realized that there were several constraints against the show because of coronavirus: the bakers had to have a very sympathetic employee who allowed them six weeks off work; they had to be financially able to take that time off; in some cases their families had to be able to manage without perhaps a fulltime caregiver; students wouldn't be able to take that amount of time off.   And who knows how many who might have made it normally have already been horribly affected by the virus.  (Normally they bake over the weekend and go home for the week.)

Not necessarily. I'd guess that at least some of the contestants were working/doing school from "home," not taking taking time off. Although the caregiving situation could have been an issue.

12 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

I was thrown when Noel’s narration called Dave’s shiba inu a Japanese hunting dog.  I have trouble picturing a doge hunting. ETA: apparently birds and rabbits.

I was thrown by him not just saying the name of the breed.

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

I think I read that other than Paul and Prue, the crew will no longer be allowed to eat the goods. 

I could have sworn Matt had his own plate last week when they were judging the first round. I was surprised Noel didn't this week.

[AZChristian]

I find myself unaware of a lot of modern sayings, so I googled "eating is cheating" and found this:

"Eating is cheating" means when people just drink a lot beer and they feel full, they turn down food and say "eating is cheating." 

 

[Omeletsmom]

11 hours ago, Brookside said:

I watched the first episode of this series on PBS last week (on Friday), episode 2 is this Sunday  In fact these days (at least on my local affiliate), if you miss it, it will be gone the next week unless you want to pay for their premium service.  This is true for other shows, such as Call the Midwife.  And I can't DVR.  And half the time, Comcast chooses to ignore my "Series Reminder" requests.  It's all very frustrating.  Grr.  Sorry, rant over.

IDK how; this series is exclusive to Netflix.  It airs Tuesday in the UK and is available for streaming on Netflix Friday in the US.  You must be watching one of the older seasons.

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, blueray said:

If that's true, it seems like a real waste of food. Especially since they can't take it home to their families this season. 

I think it's related to COVID and specific for this season even though it's not the most likely place you'd get the disease.  But I'm just guessing.

[Gwendolyn]

Rowan should have gone, he did worse than Mak in the technical and has yet to actually complete any of his grand ideas. As Prue said, he doesn't listen to the judges. But I bet he was kept at producer urging because his wild ideas and failure to listen brings drama.

During the technical I could tell who was under baked, their macaroons were so not golden. People put them back in the oven, they're still white!

I think Peter, Surah, Dave, and Lottie are the strongest contenders at the moment. but we'll see, depends on your specialty and where it falls in the themed weeks how good you seem as baker.

As for Noel not eating, before he started hosting the show, he mentioned watching his weight in interviews when asked about joining the team, so he may not eat just to avoid temptation.

 

[Concerned]

Love learning new words that might be used in England, but not where I live. Prue said one of the contestants had gone “Off-piste.” I had to look that one up and add it to my list that includes chuffed and hob.

[marinite]

12 minutes ago, Concerned said:

Love learning new words that might be used in England, but not where I live. Prue said one of the contestants had gone “Off-piste.” I had to look that one up and add it to my list that includes chuffed and hob.

Noel used “off-piste” last week. The only reason I know that is I couldn’t understand what he said so I rewound, put the CC on, and watched it again. Heh.

My friend has some ruby chocolate that she bought from Trader Joe’s and I’m hoping to get a couple of nibs to try. Until Priya used it last year, I had never heard of it either, so I am fascinated.

[kittykat]

I've seen ruby chocolate at my Trader Joes and have been tempted to buy.  I liked it on Hermine's Florentines with the mango.

I also remember Noel saying he tries to keep his weight under control hence the not eating.  Matt OTOH I heard got sick the first day from eating everyone's bakes.

Lottie gets the first handshake.  My heart warmed seeing her visit her grandparents socially distanced but lamenting not being able to hug them.  It's little moments like that you don't realize what you had until you can't do it.