Halloween Baking Championship - General Discussion

[Rammchick]

16 hours ago, ruffy666 said:

Yeah but Food Network brings out the worst in all of their hosts.  Take your one gimmick and double-, triple-, quadruple-down on it.  Guy and his Flavortown (actually he probably says "THAT'S MONEY!" more often.)  Jason?  Why, call me a billy goat and slap my hairy tush!  I hate Zac on this show, I just can't stand him, but on other programs he's... well, I wouldn't say I like him but he's more tolerable.

Someone at Food Network thinks the key to viewership is giving everyone a catchphrase or an easy-to-digest profile they can fit into.  And heck maybe they're right, I dunno.  

Some time back, I read an article about Food Network that said that they filled their slate with all these competition shows in prime time to get men to watch.  So perhaps this says something about how FN views men -- as simple minded creatures who would watch the opening of an envelope so long as it was competitive.

[rocketinu]

Early in the year I went with a friend to a healthy cooking event with Carla Hall. She met with people afterwards to chat and take pictures. She imo is a very sweet genuine person. Stayed until everyone in line got to talk, didn't hurry it along. She did mention that this was to be taped in April.

Missed the first show but will catch up. Hate that Jon is gone tho.

[Spunkygal]

1 minute ago, rocketinu said:

Early in the year I went with a friend to a healthy cooking event with Carla Hall. She met with people afterwards to chat and take pictures. She imo is a very sweet genuine person. Stayed until everyone in line got to talk, didn't hurry it along. She did mention that this was to be taped in April.

Missed the first show but will catch up. Hate that Jon is gone tho.

I always imagined her to be a warm person like that. I prefer her brand of wackiness/enthusiasm over Guy “Flavortown” Fieri, Nancy “Bourbon” Fuller, or many others on FN. But everyone has to have their schtick. I guess they have to keep the energy up. But, yeah, John, we ❤️ you! 

[LittleIggy]

Nope, don’t like the new format at all. I’ve tolerated Carla as a judge, but now there is far too much of her. 

[ShelleySue]

I'm not crazy about the new format but I'm giving it a pass because I think the changes (no host, only one challenge) were made because of COVID.  However, that doesn't mean that I'm happy abut two twists.  The one twist was the worst part of the show and now there are two -- huh!?  

I also don't get the "room" themes.  This week was a haunted house.  Does that mean that every other week is going to be a different room in the house? 

Also, I have no idea where the train guy was from.  He said he was from Chicago but pronounced the S in Illinois.  I'm from Chicago.  We don't talk like that.  I would normally be rooting for someone from Chicago but I was glad to see him go just so I didn't have to hear him talk.

[MerBearHou]

6 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

also don't get the "room" themes.  This week was a haunted house.  Does that mean that every other week is going to be a different room in the house? 

Also, I have no idea where the train guy was from.  He said he was from Chicago but pronounced the S in Illinois.  I'm from Chicago.  We don't talk like that.  I would normally be rooting for someone from Chicago but I was glad to see him go just so I didn't have to hear him talk.

I think yes, each week they’re making the theme based on a different room — huh?!?

I like Carla a lot — always have — she seems like a very warm, genuine person.  But oh, I miss John Henson!  Did I hear he wasn’t available or is a COVID staff reduction thing?  

I heard the same thing by the Chicago guy — in my whole life, I’ve never heard anyone pronounce the S in Illinois!  What the heck, buddy?

Edited September 19, 2020 by MerBearHou

[mlp]

1 hour ago, MerBearHou said:

I like Carla a lot — always have — she seems like a very warm, genuine person.  But oh, I miss John Henson!  Did I hear he wasn’t available or is a COVID staff reduction thing?  

I HEARD the same thing by the Chicago guy — in my whole life, I’ve never heard anyone pronounce the S in Illinois!  What the heck, buddy??

I heard that the cast was sequestered or something during shooting - don't know if that's true or not.  I wonder if the conditions, whatever they were, were something John Henson couldn't agree to and that's why Carla did double duty.  Nothing against Carla but I sure hope John is back next year.  

I live in Illinois and I've heard plenty of people pronounce the S.  No one who is from here though.  

[LittleIggy]

All of those croquembouches looked craptastic, IMO. I’m not impressed with this set of bakers. 

[Maya]

The twists were out of control tonight. The people who had green apple, lemon and lime were at a serious disadvantage when they had to incorporate pumpkin. Gross. 
 

[LexieLily]

I'm confused by this show this year on a basic scheduling level, haha. Today's episode with nine bakers was two hours? Last's week's episode with ten bakers was two hours, but all the reruns of that episode are only one hour.

[ZootSuitWyatt]

37 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

I'm confused by this show this year on a basic scheduling level, haha. Today's episode with nine bakers was two hours? Last's week's episode with ten bakers was two hours, but all the reruns of that episode are only one hour.

I think the second hour this week was a clip show.

[Maverick]

 The same clip show that aired last week.   How many times are they going to re-air it?   The original episodes themselves weren't that interesting to begin with,  And as mention above, what they showed is really odd.   They didn't show any of the hosts (which is fine because they weren't crucial the way the episode was structured and I didn't like 2 of the 3 of them) but they showed ever judge that's been on the show, except Ron Ben-Israel.   Not only did he not get a costume segment or have any of his comments shown, they cut any long shots from his season that showed him on the panel..   It's obvious they very deliberately did not want to show him.  I haven't seen anyone erased from Food Network existence like this since Lenny the Lewd Cowboy.   

 I was only half paying attention, but the liberties taken with croquembouches were something.  One baker exclaimed "I'm using icing instead of caramel!  It's more stable!"   It also literally makes it no longer a croquembouche.  The hardened caramel is what gives it the crunch, the croque in croquembouche.  Another one looked like it was made out of mini whoopie pies rather than pate a choux.  

[LexieLily]

8 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 The same clip show that aired last week.   How many times are they going to re-air it?   The original episodes themselves weren't that interesting to begin with,  And as mention above, what they showed is really odd.   They didn't show any of the hosts (which is fine because they weren't crucial the way the episode was structured and I didn't like 2 of the 3 of them) but they showed ever judge that's been on the show, except Ron Ben-Israel.   Not only did he not get a costume segment or have any of his comments shown, they cut any long shots from his season that showed him on the panel..   It's obvious they very deliberately did not want to show him.  I haven't seen anyone erased from Food Network existence like this since Lenny the Lewd Cowboy.   

Speaking of Lenny, they actually re-aired his episode of GGG (one of the very first ones, I think) not too long ago. It was mid-day during a GGG marathon.

Re: the clip show: are they at the point where they are running out of new programming thanks to COVID?

[CheshireCat]

3 hours ago, Maya said:

The twists were out of control tonight. The people who had green apple, lemon and lime were at a serious disadvantage when they had to incorporate pumpkin. Gross. 
 

Who included lime and lemon for Halloween baking anyway? I associate summer with that, not fall or Halloween. If it had to be citrus fruits, orange and tangerine would have been a much better choice, in my opinion.

[TVbitch]

I think I may have to peace out of this season, y'all. I really hope Holiday Baking Championship does not suffer the same slide in quality. 

[Ms Lark]

Yeah, but the guy who had lime was the one who won! I was happy for that, I thought his zombie design was pretty cool. And green apple came in second, so these guys know how to balance flavors. I'm keeping my eye on them. The right person went home, too. Burnt puffs, broken filling, and pretzel fence. So, not such a bad outcome.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Ms Lark

[Maya]

This reminded me of the woman a couple years  ago who was forced to combine coffee and green apple, then got eliminated because the flavors didn’t go together 🙄

[Rammchick]

10 hours ago, Maverick said:

 The same clip show that aired last week.   How many times are they going to re-air it?   

It actually was different, but Karl's sarcophagus from last year (was it really only just last year?) was shown in both so far.  It's funny that I remember only some of the people and some of the bakes.  And for some reason, I have no memory of Damiano ever being a judge on this show.

[libgirl2]

13 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

All of those croquembouches looked craptastic, IMO. I’m not impressed with this set of bakers. 

Neither am I. I kept thinking back to GGBO, they had a baker, Helen Garcia, who always managed to do something horror related with her bakes, which were head and shoulders above anything I saw last night! She even has a book out, The Wicked Baker. 

10 hours ago, Maverick said:

 The same clip show that aired last week.   How many times are they going to re-air it?   The original episodes themselves weren't that interesting to begin with,  And as mention above, what they showed is really odd.   They didn't show any of the hosts (which is fine because they weren't crucial the way the episode was structured and I didn't like 2 of the 3 of them) but they showed ever judge that's been on the show, except Ron Ben-Israel.   Not only did he not get a costume segment or have any of his comments shown, they cut any long shots from his season that showed him on the panel..   It's obvious they very deliberately did not want to show him.  I haven't seen anyone erased from Food Network existence like this since Lenny the Lewd Cowboy.   

 I was only half paying attention, but the liberties taken with croquembouches were something.  One baker exclaimed "I'm using icing instead of caramel!  It's more stable!"   It also literally makes it no longer a croquembouche.  The hardened caramel is what gives it the crunch, the croque in croquembouche.  Another one looked like it was made out of mini whoopie pies rather than pate a choux.  

What did he do to get erased like that? 

[Grizzly]

2 hours ago, Rammchick said:

It actually was different, but Karl's sarcophagus from last year (was it really only just last year?) was shown in both so far.  It's funny that I remember only some of the people and some of the bakes.  And for some reason, I have no memory of Damiano ever being a judge on this show.

And now I don't have to go back and watch season 1 since they showed the finale. Ah, Damiano. So nice to look at but what a wet blanket personality. Mr. "I do not like the taste of gingerbread." 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I was wondering if they could only get so many contestants that would agree to quarantine before the show started, and that why there are two or three who do a good job, and the rest are terrible.  

I saw the clip show of spook tacular (or what ever they called it) was a rerun from last week, and turned it off.   Some of the bakers on that were good bakers, but I didn't like some of them. 

[libgirl2]

41 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I was wondering if they could only get so many contestants that would agree to quarantine before the show started, and that why there are two or three who do a good job, and the rest are terrible.  

I saw the clip show of spook tacular (or what ever they called it) was a rerun from last week, and turned it off.   Some of the bakers on that were good bakers, but I didn't like some of them. 

Possibly, though I would think the lure of $25K would entice enough bakers. 

[GaT]

15 hours ago, Maverick said:

They didn't show any of the hosts (which is fine because they weren't crucial the way the episode was structured and I didn't like 2 of the 3 of them) but they showed ever judge that's been on the show, except Ron Ben-Israel.   Not only did he not get a costume segment or have any of his comments shown, they cut any long shots from his season that showed him on the panel..   It's obvious they very deliberately did not want to show him.  I haven't seen anyone erased from Food Network existence like this since Lenny the Lewd Cowboy.  

 

4 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

What did he do to get erased like that? 

Yes, what did he do? I don't remember hearing anything about him at all.

[libgirl2]

7 minutes ago, GaT said:

 

Yes, what did he do? I don't remember hearing anything about him at all.

I don't think he did anything lewd. I loved his show Sweet Genius. Maybe he didn't feel like selling his soul to the network? 

Edited September 22, 2020 by libgirl2

[CrazyDog]

Last night was a bit of a hot mess.

Even my SO who kind of half watches the show with me, and cares little about baking, said "that doesn't even look like croquembouche!" to more than a few of the creations, which was funnier at the time than it probably reads here, ha.

I thought the first two creations presented looked halfway decent, but the rest...yikes. it seemed like the one lady (Renee?) had the same issues this week as she did last week so I was surprised she stuck around.

I liked Michael not really playing the game during judging about his flavors. Paraphrasing..."Yup, nailed the horrible flavors you gave me. Not playing along as you pretend you're about to say something bad about them."

I'm also missing John Henson more than in the first episode.

Maybe it's just the COVID taint on everything, but the contestants seem to be having a little less fun this time around.

[Pepper the Cat]

Ron has been a judge on a Canadian show called The Big Bake as recently as 2019.

I love him.

as an off side, The Big Bake is a great show to watch.

 

[ruffy666]

I've made many a cream puff in my day, but never a croquembouche.  Just preemptively throwing that out there  before I get all judgey. 

But MAN some of those towers were gross, sloppy, unappetizing messes.  I physically cringed when Tamara started slopping together her eclairs (which started out looking good!) with heaps and heaps of black royal icing.  That is certainly not a croquembouche and nothing like anything anyone would ever want to eat.

Also whole-heartedly agree that the twist was unfairly punitive to some contestants.  I mean, when the judges were going bonkers for that dude's apple and pumpkin cream puffs, I mean sure, those flavors plausibly go together.  It's not someone's fault if they got stuck with lemon or sour cherry and had to figure out how to cram pumpkin puree in there.

[kj4ever]

I call foul on bringing back a contestant that was in the finale of another season.  That's too much.

[GaT]

15 hours ago, ruffy666 said:

But MAN some of those towers were gross, sloppy, unappetizing messes.  

That's what happens when they throw 2 "surprises" at the contestants that they have to incorporate into their already planned out bakes. It's so stupid, everything they make looks like crap, is this supposed to be a baking competition or a "do your best" competition? And the judges need to lose the costumes.

[CheshireCat]

15 hours ago, ruffy666 said:

Also whole-heartedly agree that the twist was unfairly punitive to some contestants. 

I hate those twists in general. Sure, they know they're coming but it makes so little sense. Just let them bake their pastries or cakes. There is little enough time for the tasks anyway.

[Popples]

6 hours ago, GaT said:

That's what happens when they throw 2 "surprises" at the contestants that they have to incorporate into their already planned out bakes. It's so stupid, everything they make looks like crap, is this supposed to be a baking competition or a "do your best" competition?

This is really aggravating. Sure, the baker that went home burnt her first batch, but a second one had something burn while she was running around wondering how to make a stupid edible fence. Did the judges even taste the fence?

[lh25]

On 9/22/2020 at 8:33 AM, Maya said:

This reminded me of the woman a couple years  ago who was forced to combine coffee and green apple, then got eliminated because the flavors didn’t go together 🙄

I'm still mad on her behalf.  At least this time, while they mentioned that some flavors didn't go with pumpkin, they seemed to be able to take it into account.

[Eliza422]

Those had to be the worst selection of - can we even use the word? - croquenbouche I've ever seen. And that includes the winning one. Of course part of the problem is they had to include the candy pour thing AND an animal (?) theme AND a fence AND the extra flavor AND it's only 2 hours.

that's a lot on the shoulders of cream puffs and this group of loser bakers.

 

[CrazyDog]

I'm only half paying attention...but why would there be garlic in a buffet for vampires? Are the bakers vampire hunters like Blade? Catering a buffet while covertly trying to take out the undead?

I miss the two challenges.

I did like seeing a variety of smaller bites with the theme, rather than something like the horrible croquembouche of last week.

Also, is it just me or are they a little more cranky with Carla? The bakers often would joke and be sarcastic with John, but a couple of times now, it seems a little less humorous, defensive? The vibe is just off, maybe because she's a judge instead of a neutral host.

Sad to see Holly go, but loved Sinai's story behind her desserts. 

[Maya]

Holly was done with Carla. I agree that the vibe feels very negative. 

Sad when they leave and no gets to hug them, they just walk out alone with their head hanging. 😭

[Rammchick]

Tamara seems to have a bad attitude, and some of the judge's comments are way snarkier than they usually are on this show.  That's saying something with Zac around.  Overall, this has become not enjoyable to watch, especially combined with the two twists.

[lh25]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

Overall, this has become not enjoyable to watch, especially combined with the two twists.

I agree.  The twists were always my least favorite part of the show, so two is really bad.  And only one bake.  I'll watch it, but fast-forward through much of it and watch the judging.

[Rammchick]

And the garlic made no sense if this was supposed to be a vampire feast.  As in, vampires were going to eat it, not be repelled by it.  The edible coffin was not at all well explained.  Wasn't it supposed to be large, so that the whole display became a showpiece?  That was my interpretation, but that's clearly not what happened, since most of them were small.  And what did they really expect from the last 30-45 minutes?  Obviously the bakers couldn't decorate their items properly AND make an edible coffin.

 

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

The edible coffin was not at all well explained.  Wasn't it supposed to be large, so that the whole display became a showpiece? 

they said the coffin had to hold "some" of their items

[Rammchick]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

they said the coffin had to hold "some" of their items

OK, thanks, I totally missed that.  I guess you could interpret "some" any way you like.  

[Grizzly]

I thought the "rat-a-choux" was very clever.

[mlp]

5 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Tamara seems to have a bad attitude, and some of the judge's comments are way snarkier than they usually are on this show. 

The first time Tamara was on, I was hoping she would win, partly because I couldn't stand Michelle who won and partly because I liked her final cake better.  I liked her then but she does seem to have a bad attitude this time around.  

Every time I looked at Brian, he reminded me of someone but it took me until halfway through last night's show to figure it out - Tim Love.  I've never liked Tim Love and I do like Brian so I'm glad he stayed.

Like everyone else (except the producers apparently), I hate the twists and adding another one with less than an hour to go just seems mean.

I have never liked the group hugs FN seems to have required contestants on many shows to do but I agree that the loser looks sort of pitiful just walking out with no interaction at all.

 

[mojoween]

I’ve gone my entire life not knowing that I was bereft of something, but I need a black sesame coconut cheesecake posthaste.

The inside of that sad pecan hand pie looked difficult to eat.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I dislike that they seem to have two groups of contestants, the good bakers and decorators, and the ones that seem like an early elimination on any other season.    I really think that the producers accepted whoever agreed to be quarantined before and during the entire filming, and that eliminated a lot of people.    I certainly wouldn't want to travel during this time, and I bet a lot of the pros are making up for lost business, not going on a TV show. 

I'm glad Miss Pecan Hand pie went home last night.  Her partner had an off night, but she doesn't seem up to the level of the previous winners on this show.   That hand pie looked terrible, and was a waste of good pecans. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[LexieLily]

7 hours ago, mlp said:

The first time Tamara was on, I was hoping she would win, partly because I couldn't stand Michelle who won and partly because I liked her final cake better.  I liked her then but she does seem to have a bad attitude this time around. 

Why is a contestant on this show twice?

[crazycatlady58]

7 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Why is a contestant on this show twice?

They could not find anyone else 

[springbarb]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm glad Miss Pecan Hand pie went home last night.  Her partner had an off night, but she doesn't seem up to the level of the previous winners on this show.   That hand pie looked terrible, and was a waste of good pecans. 

When Carla made comments about the hand pies not working and the baker just blowing her off, I knew she was toast.

[joanne3482]

19 hours ago, mlp said:

The first time Tamara was on, I was hoping she would win, partly because I couldn't stand Michelle who won and partly because I liked her final cake better.  I liked her then but she does seem to have a bad attitude this time around.  

Tamara didn't have a great attitude her own season; I remember she wouldn't suffer the host's inanity, which made me like her. She side eyed him plenty. I'm not sure what the difference here is this round. Maybe her attitude is worse, but I also feel like there's not a lot of levity among the bakers like there usually is. Not a lot of camaraderie and joking so the whole vibe is kind of down which makes Tamara's attitude seem even worse. There's nothing countering her.  

[ShelleySue]

13 hours ago, springbarb said:

When Carla made comments about the hand pies not working and the baker just blowing her off, I knew she was toast.

Carla didn't just make a comment, did you see her gesturing in the background?  It was obvious.  Plus, even her partner, the home baker whose name I can't remember, knew that puff pastry  wouldn't worker.  Heck, even I knew that the goo from a pecan pie wouldn't be contained in a puff pastry.

One thing I don't miss from the pre-Covid shows is the mad dash to pick out the flavor/food/option at the beginning of the challenge.  This week when they had to choose the blood type to choose partners they did so very orderly. 

[ruffy666]

On 9/29/2020 at 8:06 AM, Rammchick said:

And the garlic made no sense if this was supposed to be a vampire feast.  As in, vampires were going to eat it, not be repelled by it.  

Imagine the ridiculous position this puts contestants in... either "I taste too much garlic in your dessert in which we required you to use garlic and it's gross!"  or "I don't taste the garlic in your dessert which was supposed to contain garlic so you didn't meet the challenge."  It's so dumb.

Anyway, I was totally down with the rat-a-choux this week.  Any filled pastry is likely to get my vote (uh, except ones that contain black garlic...)