The Kitchen - General Discussion

[Gam2]

I just watched the latest episode with Alex’s jello mold, etc. OMG. Sunny get louder and more intrusive and hard to tolerate on every show! She will not shut up no matter what is happening or who is cooking. Apparently, she’s so desperate for attention that she just pushes and pushes. I wish FN would fire her. I had to quit watching today about 20 minutes into the show but checked back in a few times to see what the others were making. GZ looked like he wished to be anywhere but there.

[annzeepark914]

12 minutes ago, Gam2 said:

I just watched the latest episode with Alex’s jello mold, etc. OMG. Sunny get louder and more intrusive and hard to tolerate on every show! She will not shut up no matter what is happening or who is cooking. Apparently, she’s so desperate for attention that she just pushes and pushes. I wish FN would fire her. I had to quit watching today about 20 minutes into the show but checked back in a few times to see what the others were making. GZ looked like he wished to be anywhere but there.

Contact Food Network & let them know that it's gotten worse and makes it hard to enjoy the show.  Saturday's show was so loud, mostly because of Sunny, that I'd hit the mute button frequently. I watched/listened only when she wasn't near the cooking area.

[cameron]

22 hours ago, buttersister said:

I believe it’s called a French tuck and it looked silly on Geoffrey. Also, speaking of French, it’s already passé.

Now only if we can get rid of the hawaiian shirts that are worn by some men.

 

[cameron]

6 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Contact Food Network & let them know that it's gotten worse and makes it hard to enjoy the show.  Saturday's show was so loud, mostly because of Sunny, that I'd hit the mute button frequently. I watched/listened only when she wasn't near the cooking area.

Normally, Sunny doesn't bother me but she was over the top on this past Saturday's show.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 11/28/2021 at 12:57 PM, buttersister said:

I believe it’s called a French tuck and it looked silly on Geoffrey.

The things I learn on these forums!  Knowing what it's called, I was able to look into it.  I didn't realize it was a man thing at all--until Zakarian, I think I'd seen it only on women, and mostly on house-hunting shows, for some reason.

I found an article that summarizes why I don't like the look:

Quote

While the French tuck ultimately seeks to appear effortless, it's fairly obvious that the wearer has carefully curated their look.

https://www.insider.com/sorry-tan-france-the-french-tuck-is-a-horrible-look-2019-9

It reminds me of the 80s, when preppy guys would turn up the collars on their polo shirts.  I used to enjoy telling them, "Uh oh, your collar is twisted" and go to fix it for them and they'd stop me, thereby admitting they had it that way on purpose.

22 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

GZ is teetering on the very brink of fashion victim.

That tan alone!  And now the french tuck, on top of previous instances of polo shirts with little bitty sleeves that his biceps bulge under.  And yet he let his hair go gray.  Such an enigma.

[annzeepark914]

Well... today's show was mostly pretty good. KL's sauce-making was interesting...even GZ was quite taken with it (the fact that the ground beef wasn't fried & how that affected the meat once the dish was baked). I make a coffee cake similar to GZ'S but mine has buttermilk in it instead of sour cream (probably has the same effect of lightening the coffee cake). The dollop of sour cream on the side? I was surprised. I prefer a dollop of whipped cream that has a "teence" of sour cream *in* it. That fountain of booze is intimidating to me!!  One sip & I'd pass out 😄

[StatisticalOutlier]

Say what you will about Sunny, but I don't think she's done the "oosh" thing, where instead of "dilution" you say "diloosh," for example.  Jeff started it, but I swear I heard Zakarian say it on the most recent show, and maybe Alex, too.  Just when Alex seemed to back off "literally"s to about two per segment. 

 

[buttersister]

Geoffrey ooshed so now he gets muted along with Jeff. The recipes, should one be of interest, are on the website. I can’t listen to any of them anymore. Except Sunny.😂 

[Gramto6]

Yeah, I just can't get with the "ooshed" on the end of everything. These are supposed to be adults hosting a cooking show...what is with the childish words? Not cute, infantile at best...please stop it!!

Edited December 12, 2021 by Gramto6
typos

[buttersister]

Muting Mauro helps, but does nothing for the ignorance. The dichotomy of Parm and cream? Just STFU.

[annzeepark914]

Good God almighty! Why was Sunny wailing/yelling?  Did anyone hear someone pronounce phyllo as "fi-lo"?  Watching Alex roll up that strudel intimidated me.

Edited December 12, 2021 by annzeepark914

[Gam2]

My favorite cooking show is Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. She speaks English, in complete sentences, treats her viewers like adults and gives accurate instructions to follow to make her delicious dishes. I compare every other cooking show to hers. They’re always always lacking. 

[Mondrianyone]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Good God almighty! Why was Sunny wailing/yelling?

I was going to say she forgot to switch to her inside voice when she came back indoors. Then I remembered she never had an inside voice. 

[annzeepark914]

I thought she had lost the contest.  Then, when I was looking at the recipes on their website, I saw that hers was called the winning recipe. Maybe I wasn't paying that much attention (which happens when I'm sort of watching this show!) And Jeff wasn't impressed with the bread that GZ used (I agree). 

[Cozytea]

9 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

I thought she had lost the contest.  Then, when I was looking at the recipes on their website, I saw that hers was called the winning recipe. Maybe I wasn't paying that much attention (which happens when I'm sort of watching this show!) And Jeff wasn't impressed with the bread that GZ used (I agree). 

I'm watching it now. Sunny did lose. She had named her recipe Winning pesto, whatever lol. I have to say as annoying as Sunny is she looked lovely in this episode.  Her hair, makeup even her blouse was very flattering to her. Best she has looked.

Katie saying that people asking her about sunny still being outside was the second most asked question on sm made me laugh. 

[buttersister]

16 hours ago, Gam2 said:

My favorite cooking show is Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. She speaks English, in complete sentences, treats her viewers like adults and gives accurate instructions to follow to make her delicious dishes. I compare every other cooking show to hers. They’re always always lacking. 

I like to reimagine this show without this crew. Ina likes to cook with people, I nominate her and Kardea Brown, Delicious, Miss Brown, a duo of articulate, experienced producers of scrumptious-looking food. 

[Gam2]

21 minutes ago, buttersister said:

I like to reimagine this show without this crew. Ina likes to cook with people, I nominate her and Kardea Brown, Delicious, Miss Brown, a duo of articulate, experienced producers of scrumptious-looking food. 

Yes!!!!!

[annzeepark914]

33 minutes ago, buttersister said:

I like to reimagine this show without this crew. Ina likes to cook with people, I nominate her and Kardea Brown, Delicious, Miss Brown, a duo of articulate, experienced producers of scrumptious-looking food. 

My dream replacement crew would be Ina & Michael Symon, with guest chefs visiting each week.

[Gam2]

3 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

My dream replacement crew would be Ina & Michael Symon, with guest chefs visiting each week.

I’d nominate Jennifer Garner. She adores Ina and has a hilarious you tube show in her kitchen!

[Kathcart]

On 12/12/2021 at 1:20 PM, annzeepark914 said:

My dream replacement crew would be Ina & Michael Symon, with guest chefs visiting each week.

Michael Symon is a bit of a hollerer, too. Maybe if they could pick the cooking-from-home Michael Symon and not the previous loudmouthed version.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I think using fabric instead of wrapping paper is ridiculous. 

Oh, and Jeff?  Nobody's making a blouse out of the fabric from wrapping a present, unless it's a jungle gym.  I still remember way back in the day when a friend and I were discovering sewing, and she marveled, "Do you have any idea how much material it takes to make a sleeve??"  It really is surprising.

Edited December 14, 2021 by StatisticalOutlier

[Gramto6]

On 12/12/2021 at 5:29 AM, Cozytea said:

I'm watching it now. Sunny did lose. She had named her recipe Winning Pesto whatever lol. I have to say as annoying as Sunny is she looked lovely in this episode.  Her hair, makeup even her blouse was very flattering to her. Best she has looked.

GZ won the contest, I believe.

Edited December 14, 2021 by Gramto6

[Cozytea]

GZ did win.

Sunny named her Recipe "winning blah blah blah", I can't remember now what she called it. She made a point to say when you look for the recipe it's called "Winning pesto"(?)  she probably just thought it was funny. 

[annzeepark914]

16 minutes ago, Cozytea said:

GZ did win.

Sunny named her Recipe "winning blah blah blah", I can't remember now what she called it. She made a point to say when you look for the recipe it's called "Winning pesto"(?)  she probably just thought it was funny. 

Oy 🙄. She acted really strange when Jeff announced who won (maybe she couldn't figure out how to hide her outrage at losing).

[Irlandesa]

GZ won the golden toaster.  But it was a strange little contest.  Sunny was trying to be "GZ-esque" with her pesto and she said GZ was taking a page out of her book with his wild and crazy flavors.

She might have been more GZ-esque but there's no way any of them would have mistaken the fried plantain crostini he did as something she would make.  Jeff knew who he chose as a winner.

[Cozytea]

9 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Oy 🙄. She acted really strange when Jeff announced who won (maybe she couldn't figure out how to hide her outrage at losing).

I watched an old episode yesterday or over the weekend, they were playing a game. She and GZ were partners and she acted so pissed that they lost. Everyone was laughing and you can hear GZ saying what is wrong with you?😄

She's can be odd.

[maggiemae]

Seriously...Sunny is so competitive and such a poor looser. With recipes or games.

Personally I love when she loses.

[chick binewski]

On 12/12/2021 at 12:42 PM, buttersister said:

I like to reimagine this show without this crew. Ina likes to cook with people, I nominate her and Kardea Brown, Delicious, Miss Brown, a duo of articulate, experienced producers of scrumptious-looking food. 

I don't love the look of some of her recipes but I like her style and I could sit outside that house with a cocktail for days.

On 12/12/2021 at 1:20 PM, annzeepark914 said:

My dream replacement crew would be Ina & Michael Symon, with guest chefs visiting each week.

Love Ina and Symon's home show was the one great takeaway from the pandemic. Like Ina, he's a good teacher.

On 12/12/2021 at 4:56 PM, Gam2 said:

I’d nominate Jennifer Garner. She adores Ina and has a hilarious you tube show in her kitchen!

She's goofy but 1. she made the best-looking homemade bagels I have ever seen and 2. I really want to try her chicken soup - she's convinced vinegar is the key ingredient AND she adds a lemon & honey mix that has me curious and 3. Team Sydney/Vaughn 4ever.

I think we're getting repeats til 2022. And Magnolia Kitchen, that show where the woman looks afraid of knives.

[LemonSoda]

8 hours ago, chick binewski said:

I don't love the look of some of her recipes but I like her style and I could sit outside that house with a cocktail for days.

Love Ina and Symon's home show was the one great takeaway from the pandemic. Like Ina, he's a good teacher.

She's goofy but 1. she made the best-looking homemade bagels I have ever seen and 2. I really want to try her chicken soup - she's convinced vinegar is the key ingredient AND she adds a lemon & honey mix that has me curious and 3. Team Sydney/Vaughn 4ever.

I think we're getting repeats til 2022. And Magnolia Kitchen, that show where the woman looks afraid of knives.

If we’re making requests I’d like Gesine back

[StatisticalOutlier]

The "oosh"ing continues unabated.  When Alex does it, it's like she's trying to be one of the cool kids, and it makes me sad--she's better than that.

[Gramto6]

3 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

The "oosh"ing continues unabated.  When Alex does it, it's like she's trying to be one of the cool kids, and it makes me sad--she's better than that.

The "oosh" bothers me to no end.  Was sad to see Alex going in too,  you are right she is better than that!

[buttersister]

“You can’t just hop in your Porsche after a couple of cocktails.” Thanks, Geoffrey. Should you also file bankruptcy to dodge servers’ class action lawsuit? Infuckingsufferable.

Note to producers: Mandatory meeting with makeup and lighting departments to review HDTV. Wow. All of them.

[maggiemae]

I was recently snowed in for a week and binge watched TK...I was surprised how many times GZ would not even take a bite of a dish prepared by another chef/cook.

[annzeepark914]

24 minutes ago, maggiemae said:

I was recently snowed in for a week and binge watched TK...I was surprised how many times GZ would not even take a bite of a dish prepared by another chef/cook.

I've only been watching it since summer of 2020 (when they taped from their homes). Never noticed this once they got back together or during reruns from years past. I'll watch him closely from now on. How strange.

[Gramto6]

I haven't noticed it either.

Mostly what I notice is Sunny and Jeff seem to tease/belittle GZ at every opportunity they get.

[Fostersmom]

On 1/9/2022 at 12:22 AM, Gramto6 said:

Mostly what I notice is Sunny and Jeff seem to tease/belittle GZ at every opportunity they get.

Well... in their defense he's just so damn pretentious all the time, I don't know if I could control myself any better around him. 

The last episode was a hot mess. They all did nothing but talk over each other the entire show, much more than the normally do. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 1/8/2022 at 11:22 PM, Gramto6 said:

Mostly what I notice is Sunny and Jeff seem to tease/belittle GZ at every opportunity they get.

I see it as much more good-natured teasing than belittling.  In fact, how would they even belittle someone they both acknowledge is their superior?  And I like the fact that they're comfortable enough to tease their superior (Sunny, in particular; I think Jeff and Zakarian really are friends). 

46 minutes ago, Fostersmom said:

The last episode was a hot mess. They all did nothing but talk over each other the entire show, much more than the normally do. 

I think I enjoyed this episode more than any other since the pandemic started.  Talking over each other is annoying to the viewer, but I think it's an indicator of a group that has an ease with each other.  They may not all like each other (I have no way of knowing one way or the other), but I think they get each other, and it shows in the banter.  Zakarian teases Sunny about eating vegetables, Alex comments on the excellence of whatever it is Zakarian was tasked with chopping up--that sort of thing.

 

[buttersister]

33 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Talking over each other is annoying to the viewer, but I think it's an indicator of a group that has an ease with each other. 

That's nice for them. However, they're being paid to do a TV show and, imo, being annoying to the viewer would be a reason to stfu when someone else is blabbering.

Edited January 10, 2022 by buttersister

[Mondrianyone]

What with Sunny presenting herself as such a social justice warrior on Twitter and such, it's kind of odd that she's so far up GZ's ass given his past history with workers at his restaurant, ripping them off and then declaring bankruptcy to try to escape a judgment: https://www.mashed.com/403133/why-geoffrey-zakarian-was-sued-by-his-own-restaurant-workers/.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 1/10/2022 at 12:44 PM, buttersister said:

That's nice for them. However, they're being paid to do a TV show and, imo, being annoying to the viewer would be a reason to stfu when someone else is blabbering.

Even though I said they're talking over each other, I think it's more of what happens in real conversations in groups of people, where there's inevitably some overlap as different people speak.  Or the conversations I have, anyway.  There aren't pauses after each person's statement, during which other people can begin talking, one at a time. 

My main problem with it is that sometimes the person interrupting can get shut out, and I'm left wondering what they were going to say (it happened with Katie in this episode). 

I understand if people don't like this sort of banter, but if it's not a format that is appealing, why watch the show?  Shows where someone just stands there alone and prepares a recipe aren't interesting to me at all, so I don't watch them.  That's why I didn't like the quarantine editions of this show, and watched them only because it was a habit and I kind of felt like I knew these people.  And of course to see if Sunny was still outside.   (BTW, she said in this episode that she's still not going to the grocery store in person.)

But I did do a lot of FFing during the quarantine episodes, and I almost never FF the in-studio shows, because I'm watching primarily to hang out with these people for an hour.  And I found out during the quarantine shows that I prefer them in a group.

An example of what I like about this show is the lettuce soup in the latest episode:  a random comment that gets legs.  I actually laughed out loud when Zakarian said, "I accept written apologies."

[buttersister]

Different strokes makes the site go ‘round.

[HyeChaps]

Was there ever an official announcement that Alex was part of the regular cast?  IIRC she started showing up during quarantine times and just stayed.

[annzeepark914]

Several people have said that GZ doesn't eat    what the others cook. I watched yesterday and saw him eating the corn pasta w/ sundried tomatoes that Alex made. But he only seemed to eat a few spoons(forks?)full. Didn't notice with any other foods prepared (it's hard to keep track of what people are doing with that busy crew) but it's something I'll keep an eye on 👀.

[lambertman]

On 1/16/2022 at 2:00 PM, HyeChaps said:

Was there ever an official announcement that Alex was part of the regular cast?  IIRC she started showing up during quarantine times and just stayed.

https://press.discovery.com/us/food/press-releases/2019/food-network-and-beloved-chef-and-personality-4680/

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 1/16/2022 at 1:00 PM, HyeChaps said:

Was there ever an official announcement that Alex was part of the regular cast?  IIRC she started showing up during quarantine times and just stayed.

She showed up before quarantine times because I remember she would never shut up, which was annoying, especially since she was new, except what she was saying was usually useful, so I wanted her to talk, but at the same time I wanted her to shut up.

I loved Alex trying to open the tube of crescent rolls.  I do think she'd done it before in her life, as she claimed (and I laughed at Zakarian telling her it's okay if she hadn't).  I had some a while back and hadn't opened a tube in a long time, maybe back when you whacked the tube on the edge of the counter.  So I had to read the directions, and I'm wondering if Alex usually needs reading glasses but doesn't wear them on the air, and couldn't read the directions and didn't know what to do.

When I was a kid, I was in the kitchen of a friend's house, and my friend told me to get something "out of the pantry" and I just froze because I didn't know what a pantry was.  It was embarrassing.  (Obviously, if I still remember it 50 years later.) 

[annzeepark914]

Someone probably advised Alex to cut back on the comments (even though what she was saying had to be helpful to a lot of new cooks). I think she's settled in now and when she's cooking, I'm always paying attention.

Edited January 23, 2022 by annzeepark914

[buttersister]

At least when Alex speaks, she delivers useful information. As opposed to stray ramblings or unchecked egos or gibberish.

[MerBearHou]

When Alex was smooshing out the croissants, I noticed her fingernails are down to almost nothing. She must be a terrible nail biter.

[Gam2]

I do hope that Alex doesn’t bite her fingernails because that is incredibly unsanitary. I’ve also watched as she’s made comments on the show. Sometimes I think she’s just asking questions/making comments to enlighten the viewers although she already knows the answers. Other times, I think she’s just being a know-it-all which I hate in anyone. From the look on her face, I think it’s the later.

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I loved Alex trying to open the tube of crescent rolls.  I do think she'd done it before in her life, as she claimed (and I laughed at Zakarian telling her it's okay if she hadn't).  I had some a while back and hadn't opened a tube in a long time, maybe back when you whacked the tube on the edge of the counter.  So I had to read the directions, and I'm wondering if Alex usually needs reading glasses but doesn't wear them on the air, and couldn't read the directions and didn't know what to do.

I had some recently too after a very long time of not having theme.  I had a tough time opening the tube.  I'm used to the "press a spoon" method.  I think slapping the counter would have been easier.

They don't have time to read the directions, though.  They should have practiced that ahead of time.

1 hour ago, MerBearHou said:

When Alex was smooshing out the croissants, I noticed her fingernails are down to almost nothing. She must be a terrible nail biter.

Is that different than usual?  She's a chef.  I'd imagine it's easier to have short nails, especially when chopping.