All Episodes Talk

[Fairfax]

Damn, Automne!  If you had a blog, I'd read it.  Your experiences sound far more interesting than PW's tedious efforts -- & they're probably even true, because who would make up anything so painful?

[Lura]

Atomne, forgive me, but your bosses don't want a pastry chef; they want a magician!  That's outrageous, what they're putting you through!  30 molds and 400 popsicles -- ridiculous!  I know you'll pull off this magic act somehow, but it's amazing how uncaring your bosses are.  I'm glad you posted this because it's a prime example of how hard chefs have to work, sometimes under the worst circumstances, to pull off what seems to others as a simple task.  Good luck.  I'll be thinking about you.  Really.

[anneofcleves]

I liked seeing the girls together in the street taco episode.  Alex looks so grown up. 

Tacos are practically a food group for me, so what she made today looked pretty good.  A taco bar is one of my family's things when I've got everyone together.  My only gripe was the canned mangoes in the salsa.  No, no, no.

p.s.  It's kind of sad that Ree is followed by Trisha Yearwood, who is infinitely more entertaining and interesting and genuine than blah, nasally Ree.  Trisha's episode around the debut of her Madame Trousseau wax figure (named Trisha Delisha, as inspired by Sasha Fierce) had me laughing so hard.  Especially as she's singing Foreigner songs as she cooks.  She's such a funny, dorky woman.  I'd love to work on her set. I'm not even completely sure what she made, but the lemon poppy seed cake looked pretty amazing.

Edited September 23, 2017 by anneofcleves

[Automne]

On 9/22/2017 at 0:27 AM, Fairfax said:

Damn, Automne!  If you had a blog, I'd read it.  Your experiences sound far more interesting than PW's tedious efforts -- & they're probably even true, because who would make up anything so painful?

Funnily enough, I'm trying to get a blog off the ground. There are many baking blogs out there, but most of them are focused on the very simplistic comfort baking desserts. Which, nothing wrong with that, I love a good chocolate chip cookie, but there's room for bringing gourmet desserts to the table. I want my blog to make these elaborate modern desserts approachable for the enthusiastic hobby baker who has advanced from the comfort baking. Things I don't get to do at work because I'm constantly trying to tread water and not drown.

Plus, it's an outlet for me to rant.

 

On 9/22/2017 at 2:08 AM, Lura said:

Atomne, forgive me, but your bosses don't want a pastry chef; they want a magician!  That's outrageous, what they're putting you through!  30 molds and 400 popsicles -- ridiculous!  I know you'll pull off this magic act somehow, but it's amazing how uncaring your bosses are.  I'm glad you posted this because it's a prime example of how hard chefs have to work, sometimes under the worst circumstances, to pull off what seems to others as a simple task.  Good luck.  I'll be thinking about you.  Really.

We managed to pull it off, believe it or not. I kind of wish we hadn't because now every catering manager who sees these stupid blood popsicles is going to put it out there as an option for future events. And then I'm really going to be pissed about how cheap they wanted to be to not get the Silkkomart molds I wanted.

But yes, generally, they all want a magician. Like I shit baked goods on command. This popsicle fiasco is not even the tip of the iceberg of shit I've had to deal with in this place. For example, we just hired a new pastry chef (and I'll circumvent my rant about how they once again overlooked me for the position). I've worked there for just under five years and this new one is the FOURTH pastry chef I will have worked under. 

The kitchen in general is the most overworked and least appreciated out of all the departments in the hotel, but the pastry kitchen is the red-headed bastard child.

Turned into a bit of a rant, sorry.

[Lura]

That's OK, Automne.  That's part of what this board is all about -- our successes, failures and frustrations.  I really hope that you get a blog off the ground because it sounds to me like you have a lot to offer.  Let us know if you get your blog started.  As for the popsicles, I'll bet you anything it's a passing fad that, once everyone has seen it done, will go the way of other passing fads.  The devil in me wants you to tell your popsicle story and say that the pops are a passing fad that has come and gone!  That it's now passé.  Any bride or otherwise) reading it would want something more original!  LOL

[grisgris]

I'd love to read an interesting dessert blog but preferable that doesn't have to document every single step with a photo. I never read those and impatiently scroll to the bottom of the post for the recipe.

I hope you write one, Automne!

OMG! Here we go again: Cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes and garlic powder.  Not once, but twice. Here's one for ya: urfa biber. Ever heard of it? Actually, I hadn't either but found a yummy-sounding recipe in a job I was editing at work. It's a dried Turkish chili pepper and it was in a recipe for sweet and spicy roasted carrots, parsnips and chickpeas. (I think the person who submitted the recipe found it on Pinterest.)  The recipe also calls for parsley, feta and pomegranate molasses. Sounds like a great autumn side dish. Yum!

While Ree was making that diablo salsa, the number and variety of peppers she was adding was hilarious. Whichever the hottest pepper was, was going to obscure all of the others and why add dashes of Tabasco at the very end. Oh, I forgot, "Because I can!" It was ridiculous and overkill. The end product sounded inedible.

I thought the popsicles looked and sounded refreshing and might be something I'd try. I don't think I'd use a lot of sugar or sweetened grape juice, though. Not sure what I'd substitute but at least it wasn't a dessert full of ice cream and candy bits.

Alex looked great. I like her new hairstyle and she seems to have developed a lot of poise and self-confidence from being away at school.

[anneofcleves]

I agree, grisgris.   It was kind of funny how she made a point to start with canned tomatoes with green chilis, only to add jalapeno, habanero, chipotle, and tobasco. Where's the ghost chili? How about some banana peppers?

Edited September 24, 2017 by anneofcleves

[Automne]

Quote

I'd love to read an interesting dessert blog but preferable that doesn't have to document every single step with a photo. I never read those and impatiently scroll to the bottom of the post for the recipe.

Well, we have our dear Ree Drummond to credit for that. The nine million photos is to cover for the fact that she (and other similar bloggers) truly have nothing to say or at least nothing interesting and worth reading. Instead, they interject the photo  explosion with one or two sentences in between.

Ideally, there should be a photo at the top, the blog post in full, a money shot picture of the food, then the recipe. But nobody needs a full baker's dozen of the same exact shot from different angles.

 

The episode on now is the anniversary dinner episode and I'm still perplexed as to why Bryce and Todd are in attendance. Give all four kids some money and use of the car and tell them to get lost for a few hours. Hell, they're homeschooled, so you can call the tutors and tell them to come a little later the next day.

[ariel]

When I go to a blog  for a recipe, I like to see what the finished product should look like.  I don't need to see multiple pictures of measuring this and that.

[Lura]

Every so often I get a feeling that Ree is showing off, and that's how I felt about the Mexican bar episode.  She loves hot food, so she kept adding one pepper after another and fretting that the salsa might be too hot for the kids to eat.  It said to me that she could take it, but maybe others couldn't.  Sometimes, she forgets her audience, or pretends to, and flies off in her own direction.  Hot is hot, and the number and kinds of peppers in that salsa were, to me, unnecessary.  The fact that Ree looks at the camera, gives a devilish grin, and adds, "Well, maybe a little more" ... whether it's heat or extra sugar or butter or cream ... always turns me off.  It may have been cute the first time, but she's worn it out with me.

From a practical standpoint, for those of us (like me) who are not schooled in peppers, but would like to make the recipe, her antics leave us wondering just what peppers to add, and in what quantity, to make the salsa on the hot side but not intolerable.  It never fails to send me to Google looking for a more understandable recipe.  I don't know whether she knows or cares whether she turns people away with her cutsy little antics or not, but she does.

This "pepper show" is one more example of Ree's immaturity, IMHO.  Have your mischief with your snake and your other teasing, Ree, but grow up when you're in the kitchen until you learn the difference between showing off and helping others to make the dish as it should be made.

[Qoass]

Did she happen to explain what the difference was between a "street" taco and a... taco?

[grisgris]

No. She at least honestly described her meal as "Tex-Mex" so given that, I guess what she made wouldn't technically qualify as a "street taco."

Ree explained that since Alex moved to Texas, that she's been craving "Tex-Mex" food.  While Ree pointed out that that's what she makes all the time, on the ranch there is just something "different" about what is served across the border (Oklahoma to Texas that is!)

Yeah, I know. I was scratching my head, too ...

[LillyB]

Someone needs to sit Ree down and explain the difference between spicy and hot.

[ariel]

9 hours ago, Qoass said:

Did she happen to explain what the difference was between a "street" taco and a... taco?

I think in Ree's mind a "street taco" is sold to you from a person of any color different from her.  This could mean anyone who  is not a bleached bottled redhead like she is.

[anneofcleves]

49 minutes ago, ariel said:

I think in Ree's mind a "street taco" is sold to you from a person of any color different from her.  This could mean anyone who  is not a bleached bottled redhead like she is.

Right.  It's like falafel is NY street food.  You know, sold by those people from "over there."

[Lura]

I think Ree has fantasies of running a food truck or peddling a bicycle cart or having a food stand in some city like NY.  Ever since she ate that falafel in NYC, she's been acting strangely about gourmet street food.  She finds "those people" to be so interesting, as she's said.  Picture Ree, hair drooping, rubber-thonged feet peddling, waving to all the people she comes across as she huffs by, ringing her bicycle bell and calling in her baby voice, "Eggplant!  Falafel!  Get your balls here!  Tacos!  As hot as you can take 'em!"  She'll hand out a little newsletter about street food with a recipe in every issue.  In the evenings, she'll hang out on the steps of a tenement trading stories and recipes with other street venders.  What a glorious life!  What a miraculous, magical existence!  Ree will have morphed into "The Street Woman."

Edited September 26, 2017 by Lura
changed a word

[ariel]

19 hours ago, Lura said:

 Picture Ree, hair drooping, rubber-thonged feet peddling, waving to all the people she comes across as she huffs by, ringing her bicycle bell and calling in her baby voice, "Eggplant!  Falafel!  Get your balls here!  Tacos!  

I'd pay money to see Ree do that in NYC ! 

[Lura]

film noire and peacheslatour, I miss you!  This board isn't the same without you.  My days are ho-hum without your observations and great good humor.  Without you, I feel like winter's gray skies hang drab and lifeless over me, and it isn't even winter yet.  Both of you add so much life to this corner of the world, so please bring back some of your sunshine!  I'd send each of you a groveling PM, but my PM doesn't work anymore.  Neither David Cole nor Microsoft can fix it. 

For me, every poster on here adds his/her own specialness to the board, but without the two of you, I feel like a lonely little petunia in an onion patch.  I want to feel more like a poppy in a whole field of poppies, with the two of you fluttering in the breeze with the rest of us.  With you here, it's like the circus came to town.  Please come back soon!  XO

Edited September 27, 2017 by Lura
insert paragraph

[film noire]

I'm reading along, Lura! Still here, just quiet (for once! : )

On 9/25/2017 at 7:30 PM, ariel said:

This could mean anyone who  is not a bleached bottled redhead like she is.

"I believe you mean me?"

Edited September 27, 2017 by film noire

[Lura]

Film noire!  I'm so glad to see you!  But you've changed your hair!  WHAT are you doing in that Zsa Zsa wig???!  Never mind.  I'll get used to it.  At least your big, brown eyes and your cute little button nose haven't changed!  Please, talk more -- or "aarf" more -- and see whether you can lure peaches back.  I have to hope that she didn't go with you to the same wig salon, but see?  There I go again, typing before I think about how it sounds!  (((Hugs)))

[peacheslatour]

Lol! I've been around, just enjoying the hilarious snark you all  bring! I don't really watch the show any more, but I will always have you guys.

[Lura]

Hi there, peachy one!

Seeing you has me smiling from ear to ear!  I'm so happy you're here.

I watch the show for its snark value only.  The show I watched last night had Ree using tequila in every dish and drink.  Since I don't care for tequila, my eyeballs were rolling the whole time.  She must have thought of that show after she'd had a few.  I even talk back to Ree once in a while when she really aggravates me.  She's only useful to me in that sense.  Otherwise, she's a waste of electricity.

[film noire]

On 9/27/2017 at 4:11 AM, Lura said:

Film noire!  I'm so glad to see you!  But you've changed your hair!  WHAT are you doing in that Zsa Zsa wig???!  Never mind.  I'll get used to it.  

LOL (Fun fact: Zsa Zsa was married to an actor who gave one of my favorite performances in "All About Eve", George Saunders. He also married her sister Magda. Talk about a sticky family situation.)

"Ranching in The Mist" episode: Her coleslaw dressing (the one made of whole milk and  mayo) has a half teaspoon of salt to two tablespoons of sugar -- I know she likes everything sweet, but that's an out of whack proportion of salt to sweet.

Edited September 28, 2017 by film noire

[Lura]

Film noire, I know the film well (watch it whenever it's on) and loved George Saunders.

Ree gets me.  Today she added salt to her yeast.  Salt impedes the rising of the yeast!  She shoulda waited a while to add it.  She made focaccia, but she didn't put in the finger holes that hold the olive oil and the seasonings to the top.  It's really pathetic, I think, when a TV cook makes things the wrong way.  Viewers who have never made it will have it all wrong (and not half as tasty as focaccia can be).  Her bread didn't rise the way it should have, and it looked leaden when she cut into it.  She had guests, and I guess they removed the part where her bread broke everyone's teeth.

[film noire]

"She sent over street tacos, Miss Channing!"

Edited September 28, 2017 by film noire

[peacheslatour]

The inimitable Thelma Ritter. I loved her in Rear Window and A Letter To Three Wives. I would love to hear her thoughts on Ree. She was always such an honest, plain spoken type.

[Automne]

14 hours ago, Lura said:

Film noire, I know the film well (watch it whenever it's on) and loved George Saunders.

Ree gets me.  Today she added salt to her yeast.  Salt impedes the rising of the yeast!  She shoulda waited a while to add it.  She made focaccia, but she didn't put in the finger holes that hold the olive oil and the seasonings to the top.  It's really pathetic, I think, when a TV cook makes things the wrong way.  Viewers who have never made it will have it all wrong (and not half as tasty as focaccia can be).  Her bread didn't rise the way it should have, and it looked leaden when she cut into it.  She had guests, and I guess they removed the part where her bread broke everyone's teeth.

Salt straight up kills yeast. When I make bread at work, I mix everything first so the salt is dispersed before I add the yeast mixture in (I use active dry yeast, which needs to be proofed in warm liquid first and with whatever sugar form used in the recipe. In the case of the bread I make, it's Guinness and molasses).

This is why I take issue with food bloggers and D-list celebrity cooking show hosts. They're being propped up and looked to as authorities on food and they screw up basic things. Things that most viewers at home aren't going to know are errors and then these viewers who don't have million-dollar budgets and plenty of free time will end up wasting both on something that turns out inedible.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Salt straight up kills yeast. When I make bread at work, I mix everything first so the salt is dispersed before I add the yeast mixture in (I use active dry yeast, which needs to be proofed in warm liquid first and with whatever sugar form used in the recipe. In the case of the bread I make, it's Guinness and molasses).

When I make pizza crust I used to use honey but then I got to wondering if it worked the same as sugar. Do you think it does?

[Automne]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

When I make pizza crust I used to use honey but then I got to wondering if it worked the same as sugar. Do you think it does?

I think so. I use honey when I make pizza crust as well.

[Lura]

My pizza dough recipe calls for honey, and it works great.  I got the recipe on the FN a long time ago.  I forget whose it is, but if memory serves, more than one chef uses honey instead of sugar.

[peacheslatour]

33 minutes ago, Lura said:

My pizza dough recipe calls for honey, and it works great.  I got the recipe on the FN a long time ago.  I forget whose it is, but if memory serves, more than one chef uses honey instead of sugar.

Funnily enough I got the idea from a John Irving book. Last Night In Twisted River.

And then the murders began....

[film noire]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Funnily enough I got the idea from a John Irving book. Last Night In Twisted River.

And then the murders began....

: )

[Lura]

I'm still trying to figure out the Hyacinth-Cyndi name.  Is Cyndi taken from the "cinth" in Hyacinth, or is one or the other a stage name, so to speak?  What is her birth name?  Hyacinth or Cyndi?  I have a lifelong friend named Cyn, but that's a nickname for Cynthia. 

[anneofcleves]

Did anyone see this week's episode?  I don't know about you, but nothing caps a feel good day of separating and weaning the calves from their mommas, prior to shipment to slaughter, like a tailgate with hand pies!  It's almost as good as a big old batch of whoopie pies following a tornado ripping through Pawhuska!

Edited October 1, 2017 by anneofcleves

[Lura]

1 hour ago, anneofcleves said:

Did anyone see this week's episode?

I did.  It was the first episode of Ree's that I have ever turned off before it ended.

[chessiegal]

26 minutes ago, Lura said:

I did.  It was the first episode of Ree's that I have ever turned off before it ended.

Hah! I lasted about 5 minutes into 1 episode years ago. Y'all are braver stock than I am. I find her totally unwatchable. She's a total fake and hack.

[Lura]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

Hah! I lasted about 5 minutes into 1 episode years ago. Y'all are braver stock than I am. I find her totally unwatchable. She's a total fake and hack.

Well, chess, you might be assuming that I watch Ree for the entertainment value, or for her sense of humor, or for better cooking techniques, or for her delectable recipes, and if so, pardon me for saying so. but you would be mistaken.  *wink*  I watch Ree for Ree-search so that I can keep up with my lovely friends on this board.  Otherwise, she is a total fake and hack and a phony and a fraud and an over-sexed, middle-aged pretender who missed the last boat to Cuteness.  I'm also going batty talking back to her outloud for 30 minutes a day.  I would say that keeping her out of your house for those 30 minutes is the wiser choice.  I would guess that you sail off to France in a healthier frame of mind.  The same cannot be said for your husband, however, who flicked on the TV to the FN the minute he hit Paris!  (I know; it was a joke.  He is one clever man!)  LOL

Edited October 2, 2017 by Lura

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I would say that keeping her out of your house for those 30 minutes is the wiser choice

Oh, I don't know. My husband and became very close, bonding over how unbelievably horrible she is. Oh, how we laughed and laughed. And then we watched Ina.

Edited October 2, 2017 by peacheslatour

[Lura]

Quote

34 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

My husband and became very close, bonding over how unbelievably horrible she is. Oh, now we laughed and laughed. And then we watched Ina.

 

LOLOL  I love that!  Ina snagged my husband, too.  We didn't bond, though.  A big pile of woodworking magazines covered the middle cushion of the sofa, and I guess they were too heavy to pick up.  (???)  Ree, on the other hand, drives him down the hall to his man cave.  Ever since I mentioned her high baby voice, he can't listen to her.  Ina's voice is more sultry.

[film noire]

On 10/1/2017 at 10:50 PM, peacheslatour said:

Oh, I don't know. My husband and became very close, bonding over how unbelievably horrible she is.

..and then the murders began :)

Edited October 3, 2017 by film noire

[anneofcleves]

Not trying to be rude, but I think I'm confused. I thought this was the thread to talk about the show. Is anyone watching anymore?

Edited October 2, 2017 by anneofcleves

[IOU Payne]

Sadly, I watched the episode where Ree made 4 beef recipes using "odd cuts of meat".  Now, when I think of unusual cuts of beef, I think of oxtails, beef cheeks, Korean ribs, shanks and so on.  Hamburger meat is not on the list.  Yet, one of the things she served were meat pies using ground beef (how exotic!) and rolled-out dinner rolls for the crust.  That's where she officially lost me.  Maybe she's shown us that she can make her own crust and therefore doesn't feel the need to replicate?  Or maybe she doesn't think Betty Sue Average would go to the extra effort of making crust, or even using pre-made puff pastry.  Either way, it ain't a pie if it uses bread dough.

[HyeChaps]

OMG when they cut from the scene of the cows going to slaughter to the big tray of burgers.?

[peacheslatour]

On 10/2/2017 at 2:10 AM, anneofcleves said:

Not trying to be rude, but I think I'm confused. I thought this was the thread to talk about the show. Is anyone watching anymore?

I used to watch when it was on in the late afternoons following Ina. If they would move her back there I would still watch but with her continuing repetitiveness I know I won't learn anything and if I can't watch with my DH so we can get some amusement out of her what's the point? But I do love all you guys and I like to hear what you are all saying. JMHO.

[grisgris]

I watched Saturday's show and once again was thinking how senseless it was to serve a huge meal loaded with fat and sugar out in the hot sun that would have everybody yearning for siesta time in about an hour. Huge cheesy beef burgers with potatoes then hand pies.  A few chicken legs would be fine if they were paired with some veggie sticks or something and if they need carbs, then how about some type of granola/oatmeal based bar treat that's going to give them some energy and won't leave a sticky mess everywhere.

I also felt squirmish and uncomfortable watching the cattle being loaded in the truck and Ladd dismissively hand-waving, "We'll just get rid of the steers." I know they all are used to it but still ...

Again, I saw that Cowboy Josh had his little kids there.  I don't know if they are specifically asked to show up for episode filming to up the "cuteness factor," or if they join their dad for lunch every day. Ree seems like the type who would ooh and ahh over it, but be secretly seething at them "freeloading" meals for the children.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

veggie sticks

Lololololol. Ladd wouldn't be caught dead eating "girly" food like that.

[Lura]

I have to wonder sometimes whether the idea for this show looked good on paper -- that is, the ranch life, the children, the raising of cattle, modern-day "Little House On the Prairie" -- but whether the finished product wasn't nearly as interesting as the concept.  Face it: Ranch life is boring.  It falls on Ree to add the interest -- the good humor, the unusual dishes, the mothering, etc., and Ree can't fill the bill.  For instance, trying to throw a kids' birthday party with no classmates, no neighbors, no exciting places to go, is a problem.  With four kids, they all know that the party attendees will be hiding behind the kitchen counter.  Where's the fun in that?  What about this life is new and interesting?  There isn't a whole lot there to watch, and much of it is repetitious.  Renovating a building was partly an attempt to do something different, but it quickly grew old.  Now Ree is "moving forward" to renovating a new place.  We've been through all that before.

All I'm trying to say is that the original appeal of the show wore off fast, and the future doesn't look bright where excitement is concerned.  No wonder viewers are tired of watching.  Ree claims that the excitement will be in seeing one of the suites with a special bathroom.  I may be the next one to tune out. 

[Motor City]

Lura:

“I have to wonder sometimes whether the idea for this show looked good on paper -- that is, the ranch life, the children, the raising of cattle, modern-day "Little House On the Prairie" -- but whether the finished product wasn't nearly as interesting as the concept.  Face it: Ranch life is boring.  It falls on Ree to add the interest -- the good humor, the unusual dishes, the mothering, etc., and Ree can't fill the bill.  For instance, trying to throw a kids' birthday party with no classmates, no neighbors, no exciting places to go, is a problem.  With four kids, they all know that the party attendees will be hiding behind the kitchen counter.  Where's the fun in that?  What about this life is new and interesting?  There isn't a whole lot there to watch, and much of it is repetitious.  Renovating a building was partly an attempt to do something different, but it quickly grew old.  Now Ree is "moving forward" to renovating a new place.  We've been through all that before.

All I'm trying to say is that the original appeal of the show wore off fast, and the future doesn't look bright where excitement is concerned.  No wonder viewers are tired of watching.  Ree claims that the excitement will be in seeing one of the suites with a special bathroom.  I may be the next one to tune out. “

I totally agree with you.

[grisgris]

I'm getting a little mixed up jumping from thread to thread (re: actual show vs. etc.) The show vis-a-vis, has turned into a compilation of *cough* "best-of" recipes from previous episodes cobbled together into a square peg to fit into the round hole of a given theme (either chosen by FN for the weekend, or Ree herself.) If it is a new episode, Ree now doesn't even bother to update whatever retread she's preparing. Apple and cherry hand pies are now blueberry. Big whoop ... Lemon pepper drumsticks are now just plain old black pepper flavored. Yawn.

I think that maybe she's angling for some kind of lifestyle show.  That makes sense with the expanding product lines and building rehabs. Remember, Aunt Sandy wanted a lifestyle show and FN stuck her with a cooking show with the token tablescapes thrown in, so maybe Ree is hoping the reverse strategy will work for her.

Or ... I also get the sense that Ree is the type who grows bored easily and likes to move on to other projects. That's fine, but if you are going to diversify, then figure our where it is you want to focus your efforts and go there. If she'd prefer to become "Frontier Flipper"* on HGTV, go for it. Dump the cooking show. Spreading yourself too thin and giving lip service to other areas rarely pays off.

*Am I wrong to say that I'd totally watch this show.  It would be hilarious!

[ariel]

Somehow, Ree has a lot of crazy fans that worship the poop covered ground that she walks on, think she's the next coming of Julia Child,  & think that Ladd is hot.  Go Figure!