Christmas Cookie Challenge - General Discussion

[Popples]

This is my first year getting into competitive baking shows, and I enjoyed this one. I like the Whale guy who won and his reaction to when the judges were happy when he didn't try to make tracks for the train cookies was pretty funny (OMG, what happened?).

Is that Ree woman supposed to be a big deal in baking circles? I've never heard of her, but the contestants were freaking out over her.

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, Popples said:

This is my first year getting into competitive baking shows, and I enjoyed this one. I like the Whale guy who won and his reaction to when the judges were happy when he didn't try to make tracks for the train cookies was pretty funny (OMG, what happened?).

Is that Ree woman supposed to be a big deal in baking circles? I've never heard of her, but the contestants were freaking out over her.

I agree -- so happy the Whale guy won -- he was delightful and very talented (the other two are talented bakers as well).

Ree Drummond is the "Pioneer Woman" and has quite a following on the Food Network.  Shows, cookware lines, cookbooks, etc.  I like her a lot but many think she's annoying.  Her husband is a wealthy rancher with tons of acreage in Oklahoma and we've watched her 4 kids grow up -- they do seem to be really good kids and have a very close family.

[dleighg]

1 hour ago, Popples said:

Is that Ree woman supposed to be a big deal in baking circles? I've never heard of her, but the contestants were freaking out over her.

She had a popular blog that she turned into a TV show (Pioneer Woman) quite some years ago. So she's "famous." I found the two female judges both annoying. "Cutie Tootie" ?? Give me a break, please. And the way too long joke about "old eyes."

And both the women who got kicked off first looked like they could not BELIEVE they were going home. Got a good opinion of yourself, huh.

[LegalParrot81]

49 minutes ago, dleighg said:

And both the women who got kicked off first looked like they could not BELIEVE they were going home. Got a good opinion of yourself, huh.

This was my thought exactly.  They were snarky about being cut, even though they both knew their final products had totally missed the mark.  Tin Can lady should definitely NOT have been shocked.  Need to prop up your design with a canned vegetable, you're going home, it's kinda obvious.

Edited November 6, 2018 by LegalParrot81

[Jillybean]

On 11/6/2018 at 12:48 PM, dleighg said:

And both the women who got kicked off first looked like they could not BELIEVE they were going home. Got a good opinion of yourself, huh.

Watching their jaws literally drop was kinda satisfying. It gets old when everyone makes a show of being a good sport at elimination in these shows.

I never knew using salted butter was a such a novel technique in cookie-baking, as the one eliminee made it seem.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Jillybean

[dleighg]

11 minutes ago, Jillybean said:

I never knew using salted butter was a such a novel technique in cookie-baking, as the one eliminee made it seem/

I've always understood that the reason cook books favor unsalted is that there is no standardization on "salted" butter. There's no way I think that the fact that she uses salted makes an "amazing" difference in her cookies. And she learned that not knowing the exact content of her recipe came back to bite her when she couldn't adjust.

[festivus]

On 11/6/2018 at 11:48 AM, dleighg said:

And both the women who got kicked off first looked like they could not BELIEVE they were going home. Got a good opinion of yourself, huh.

Especially the first one. Those cookies didn't even look as good as something my 4 year old niece would make. The second one, I thought her cookies were cute but damn with the hair hanging down. I don't know how the judges can eat that shit cause you know they know.

My favorite cookies for the cuteness factor were the flamingos with little Santa booties. I think I'll have to work some of those in this year when I do my decorated cookies. Tastewise, the way they were going on about the Mexican chocolate snickerdoodle makes me really want to make that one. I need something new to add to my repertoire this year. Also, who cares if the gingerbread men didn't have pants? I wouldn't have put any on there either.

I've never seen Ree Drummond's show but I'm fine with her here. She's cute. According to my post last year(which I barely remember) I hated the other female judge so I'm okay with the other judges this year. I didn't like cutie tootie comment(seriously, no-one cares) but I didn't yell at the TV, so a step up I guess.

[kj4ever]

20 minutes ago, festivus said:

Especially the first one. Those cookies didn't even look as good as something my 4 year old niece would make. The second one, I thought her cookies were cute but damn with the hair hanging down. I don't know how the judges can eat that shit cause you know they know.

My favorite cookies for the cuteness factor were the flamingos with little Santa booties. I think I'll have to work some of those in this year when I do my decorated cookies. Tastewise, the way they were going on about the Mexican chocolate snickerdoodle makes me really want to make that one. I need something new to add to my repertoire this year. Also, who cares if the gingerbread men didn't have pants? I wouldn't have put any on there either.

I've never seen Ree Drummond's show but I'm fine with her here. She's cute. According to my post last year(which I barely remember) I hated the other female judge so I'm okay with the other judges this year. I didn't like cutie tootie comment(seriously, no-one cares) but I didn't yell at the TV, so a step up I guess.

I was thinking the new female judge would be alright and then we got the cutie tootie comment.  I didn't yell either but my eyes almost rolled out of my head.

Love the surprise on the booted faces.  That one girl with her stringy hair and double dipping and rubbing snot off with her hand.  OMG I can't imagine anyone would pay a visit to her bakery after watching this show!

[mlp]

Quote

I was thinking the new female judge would be alright and then we got the cutie tootie comment. 

That was Aarti Sequeira who has judged on a lot of FN shows.  I don't think she has any particular baking expertise but then neither does Ree Drummond.  Dan Langan is the actual expert on the panel.  Anyway, she was quoting her small daughter, not saying "cutie tootie" in her own right, so I gave her a pass on that.  

[kj4ever]

50 minutes ago, mlp said:

That was Aarti Sequeira who has judged on a lot of FN shows.  I don't think she has any particular baking expertise but then neither does Ree Drummond.  Dan Langan is the actual expert on the panel.  Anyway, she was quoting her small daughter, not saying "cutie tootie" in her own right, so I gave her a pass on that.  

Wasn't Dan just on one of the Spring Baking Championship shows?  I wonder why Food Network has to bring back these people that were just competitors as judges?

[NYGirl]

I gotta say I was shocked at the first one eliminated due to the fact that the pictures of her work were breathtaking!  I picked her to win and then when I saw her cookies I was like "whaaaa??????" It looked like her kid made them.

I was happy with the winner but I liked the older guy too.  He did nice work.  The woman finalist was a low talker and I found myself straining to hear what she was saying.

As far as salted butter I just rolled my eyes at her.

[Popples]

On 11/6/2018 at 12:46 PM, MerBearHou said:

Ree Drummond is the "Pioneer Woman" and has quite a following on the Food Network.

 

On 11/6/2018 at 12:48 PM, dleighg said:

She had a popular blog that she turned into a TV show (Pioneer Woman) quite some years ago. So she's "famous.

Thank you! I've heard of "Pioneer Woman" and have seen some of her products at Wal-Mart, but I've never watched the show.

[mlp]

Quote

Wasn't Dan just on one of the Spring Baking Championship shows? 

 

I think he was a finalist a couple seasons ago.  I remember him mostly from Cake Wars which he was on several times.  He's an actual baker and bakery owner and seems to be quite accomplished for someone so young.  I just like him.

[Madding crowd]

I didn’t like the snobby woman who won last night, especially after she said the other woman must have watched her videos to get the idea to make Mrs. Claus. Like she is the only one to make that! 

I thought the advent calendar seemed too hard for the time given. I really liked the offbeat one with the turquoise colors. 

[mlp]

I didn't like the woman who won either.  She was all kinds of self-important.  I was hoping the nice gal of Vietnamese descent would pull it out.  The third woman was talented but she was more invested in putting her personal stamp on things than in creating something that met the challenge which was Christmas cookies.

I know I've seen Jordan the judge before but I can't remember where.  I suppose he must have been on a previous baking competition.

[dleighg]

I didn't think those halloween cutters were so hard to transform. Boo could be a snowman, I saw the spider as a reindeer, the ghost could be a bell, ... (that's me writing before seeing what any of them decide to do).

[Spunkygal]

29 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I didn't think those halloween cutters were so hard to transform. Boo could be a snowman, I saw the spider as a reindeer, the ghost could be a bell, ... (that's me writing before seeing what any of them decide to do).

Those are exactly what I “saw” too! I was really hoping for a reindeer. Add me to the list that was not a fan of the winner. I appreciate the one contestant’s off-beat color combinations and she did beautiful work, but I am a traditionalist and didn’t care for the colors she selected. I loved seeing Gesine as a judge.

[Popples]

My cable decided to freeze, so I missed the beginning of the show and came in when they kicked off the first two contestants, so I didn't see the winner being bitchy at the beginning. I figured she would win because her design looked the best (from a distance). I liked the circle one, but agree the colors didn't scream Christmas and knew that would cost her. 

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, Popples said:

I liked the circle one, but agree the colors didn't scream Christmas and knew that would cost her. 

I also thought she "cheated" a bit by only having a couple of treats left by setting the "scene date" just before Christmas. I was surprised that none of the judges said (at least as we saw it) that "it looks nothing like an advent calendar".

Who was it that stuck some hard candies in as at least some of the treats? I didn't see that in the reveals.

[jcbrown]

3 hours ago, dleighg said:

I also thought she "cheated" a bit by only having a couple of treats left by setting the "scene date" just before Christmas. I was surprised that none of the judges said (at least as we saw it) that "it looks nothing like an advent calendar".

I agree that she sort of cheated by only making two or three treats to hide behind the "doors" in her "calendar." I liked aspects of her work but got pretty tired of her telling us how unconventional and special she is. Also agree that the winner had a very high opinion of herself. I was hoping for the other woman to win.

Edited November 14, 2018 by jcbrown
definite articles are useful

[luvapickle]

As a pro baker, this is kind of pissing me off that they are clearly going for looks, before taste on both episodes. A lot of things can look nice. But if they don't taste good what is the point in making them edible. The HBC is doing better in that regards. 

[Spunkygal]

4 minutes ago, luvapickle said:

As a pro baker, this is kind of pissing me off that they are clearly going for looks, before taste on both episodes. A lot of things can look nice. But if they don't taste good what is the point in making them edible. The HBC is doing better in that regards. 

Yes! A lot of decorated cookies are awful, especially the ones in grocery stores. I’ve found a few places that have beautifully decorated cookies that are delicious and they are worth every penny.

[Jillybean]

I swear Mary was on this show last season too. Am I hallucinating?

Jordan was on one of the baking shows. I can't recall whether he won but he was very good, and very young.

[tobeannounced]

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 3:09 PM, dleighg said:

I also thought she "cheated" a bit by only having a couple of treats left by setting the "scene date" just before Christmas. I was surprised that none of the judges said (at least as we saw it) that "it looks nothing like an advent calendar".

Who was it that stuck some hard candies in as at least some of the treats? I didn't see that in the reveals.

I think that was round advent calendar lady too (who apparently was separated at birth from Anna Paquin)

[festivus]

So Princess Snotty Pants won of course. I thought her design was boring. I liked the other gal, at least she did something interesting and I loved her cookies they showed in her contestant package. They were interesting and different.  The advent calendar theme was pretty boring, this episode was boring. I guess they're running out of ideas.

[Josette]

I didn't like the creative lady's advent calendar.  Plus, she didn't make any treats for her few doors and I'm pretty sure she added day 25.

[stitcher73]

On 11/8/2018 at 2:06 PM, kj4ever said:

I was thinking the new female judge would be alright and then we got the cutie tootie comment.  I didn't yell either but my eyes almost rolled out of my head.

Love the surprise on the booted faces.  That one girl with her stringy hair and double dipping and rubbing snot off with her hand.  OMG I can't imagine anyone would pay a visit to her bakery after watching this show!

YES!  YES!  When she wiped her nose and went back to decorating I gagged.  So glad I'm not the only one.  Pig.

[Spunkygal]

Well, the judges got it right last night and picked the right winner. So clever to use Tang to amp up the orange taste. I didn’t like the Witchmas chick or her designs. Just compete in the Halloween competitions and leave Christmas alone, lady! 

[tobeannounced]

Yeah, I didn't get the point of Witchmas. Just do edgy Christmas with skulls or whatever.

[mlp]

I was very glad the witch woman didn't win.  She was too OTT and in your face about it.  Christmas isn't supposed to be "edgy" or profane.  I was sort of surprised that someone at FN thought she was an appropriate contestant.  Happily, the right person won.

[kj4ever]

There are people that are just naturally different, and then there are people that try to act different because they want attention. That annoying ass woman obviously fell in the trying to get attention category.

I wish they would have a challenge on here that gave them the actual time you need to make a beautifully decorated cookie just to see what their chops really are.

[lh25]

Am I remembering correctly that the witchmas woman claimed she invented that "holiday"?

I did a quick search, and there are lots of things out there about it.

[hookedontv]

5 hours ago, kj4ever said:

There are people that are just naturally different, and then there are people that try to act different because they want attention. That annoying ass woman obviously fell in the trying to get attention category.

Exactly! I embrace peoples’ differences but the witchmas lady was not genuine, she was using it as schtick to get herself noticed. She got herself noticed-just not in a good way. Annoying woman all around and I was very happy she didn’t win.

I wasn’t blown away by any of the contestants though, let’s hope next week brings a better batch! (See what I did right there?) 

[Bunnyette]

Witchmas lady was annoying, dear producers please put bakers on who genuinely enjoy and celebrate Christmas 

[Spunkygal]

I knew Ricky would win tonight but I loved Betty Ann. She was darling and so reminds me of a former coworker. Her frame was a bit too rustic but I’d love her family’s recipe! I am still puzzled about how Amber was involved in “oven-gate.” She had a sneaky look about her during that discussion.

[mlp]

I could easily be wrong but I had the impression that Amber had set the oven when she used it and BettyAnn didn't check the temp and turn it down when she used it afterwards.  I thought she was being sort of sarcastic when she said she'd sabotaged her competitor.  She seemed quite nice and I can't imagine she did anything like that on purpose.

BettyAnn's cookies sounded delicious but, overall, Ricky deserved the win.  His frame looked very professional and apparently tasted good too.

I had no idea who the female judge in the middle was.  I missed Dan Langan.

Edited November 27, 2018 by mlp
add something

[Josette]

Ricky's frame was lovely. 

 

11 hours ago, mlp said:

I could easily be wrong but I had the impression that Amber had set the oven when she used it and BettyAnn didn't check the temp and turn it down when she used it afterwards. 

Yes. Amber wanted her cookies to be crisper, so she set the oven to 375 degrees.  She called out to the others that she was using that oven. 

[proserpina65]

I tried watching this, despite the presence of Pioneer Bitch.  Saw two episodes, and on both, I thought the worst baker won, so I'm out.

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 2:05 PM, mlp said:

The third woman was talented but she was more invested in putting her personal stamp on things than in creating something that met the challenge which was Christmas cookies.

I wanted her to win because she actually seemed to realize that not all Christmas traditions are alike all over the world.

[jcbrown]

Ricky was totally the right choice. His frame was beautifully done. I wrote off Amber when she was simpering about how much she loves Ree. BettyAnn seemed like a nice enough person, albeit one whose character was dialed up to 11 for the purpose of this show, but her frame looked terrible.

[NYGirl]

I wasn't paying  close attention but I thought I heard them criticize something on Ricky's cookie so I was afraid he wasn't going to win.  I thought for sure Amber would win as she was a good decorator and I didn't hear a complaint about the taste of her cookie.  I loved Betty though even though she wasn't a decorator.  Her recipes sounded delicious.

I'm glad Ricky won.  

[TimetoShine]

I hate that they had to break Ricky’s frame. That’s how much I liked it. 

[festivus]

Yeah, Ricky's frame was the first actually pretty final cookie I've seen on the show this season.

[suebee12]

Just watched the latest episode and I have a question....Why in the world would you apply for a show that requires decorating and not know how to decorate? As soon as they introduced the 5 contestants, I almost immediately eliminated the men. The one home baker stated he really didn't decorate(and the work of his they showed proved that) and the other guy owns a bakery but said most of his work is with cakes...which is a uses different techniques! When all was said and done, it was obvious those two were going home first!

I loved the penguins but the black icing was a little hard to take...well, for me, icing is hard to take anyway(I even scrap off the filling of an oreo cookies and just eat the cookie part! All of  the finalists had some good ideas but I knew who the winner was going to be. I did notice in the THs that two of the women tied their hair back, but the one with the cornrows didn't and her hair hanging down was driving me crazy!

[mlp]

I liked both of the men but it was obvious they would be the ones going home.  The right person won.  The cookies shown during her introduction were marvelous.  It's a shame the contestants aren't given enough time to do their best work.  

I didn't care for either of the judges who weren't Ree Drummond.  Molly somebody was tolerable but the one in the middle was a nasty witch.  I'll bet she's horrible to work for.  I hope they never have her back.  Ree looked embarrassed by her.  I don't watch Pioneer Woman and have seen Ree only as a judge on various shows but she seems like a nice person.  I thought she was trying to soften the feedback when she spoke to the contestants.  She seems to have toned down her black eye liner and looks a lot better.

[luvapickle]

7 hours ago, suebee12 said:

Just watched the latest episode and I have a question....Why in the world would you apply for a show that requires decorating and not know how to decorate? As soon as they introduced the 5 contestants, I almost immediately eliminated the men. The one home baker stated he really didn't decorate(and the work of his they showed proved that) and the other guy owns a bakery but said most of his work is with cakes...which is a uses different techniques! When all was said and done, it was obvious those two were going home first!

I loved the penguins but the black icing was a little hard to take...well, for me, icing is hard to take anyway(I even scrap off the filling of an oreo cookies and just eat the cookie part! All of  the finalists had some good ideas but I knew who the winner was going to be. I did notice in the THs that two of the women tied their hair back, but the one with the cornrows didn't and her hair hanging down was driving me crazy!

The one guy said he only did cakes, but then said "kidding". I'm with you with the black. Even when I get customers who want a cake, or cookies that have black, or dark blue, I warn them about the color. Sometimes they'll change the color, other times they get a sly smile & say they want to stick with it.  But what I don't understand.... you take the icing out of the oreos??? 
 

[luvapickle]

Wow, these judges were kind of wacky with their judging. You love marzipan, but the two complained about the cookie being chewy. That's some real good critiquing. Chewy & sticks in your teeth-some cookies do that. Just like some are made to be soft, & some are made to be crisp. And those cookies did not look burnt-unless my tv color was off-they had light brown edges.

[suebee12]

1 hour ago, luvapickle said:

But what I don't understand.... you take the icing out of the oreos??? 

I know I am weird but I really don't like icing of any kind...but I love the chocolate cookie itself! And when oreos added "double stuff", I cringed! I don't buy oreos myself but if I am somewhere they are offered, I just scrape all the "white" stuff off! (My favorite cake is mayonnaise cake because I only sprinkle it with powdered sugar!) I had a roommate once who loved icing so they always got mine and we were both happy!!!)

[theatremouse]

12 hours ago, luvapickle said:

Wow, these judges were kind of wacky with their judging. You love marzipan, but the two complained about the cookie being chewy. That's some real good critiquing. Chewy & sticks in your teeth-some cookies do that. Just like some are made to be soft, & some are made to be crisp. And those cookies did not look burnt-unless my tv color was off-they had light brown edges.

I think the issue is the contestant named what kind of cookie it was. That's always the danger on these shows...sure some cookies are soft and some are chewy and some are crispy, and yeah with something like chocolate chip it could be any of the three. But if you say you're making shortbread, or you say you're making...I can't think of more examples and don't remember what it was, but certain kinds are supposed to have a different texture. So if you make it and the texture isn't right, you'll get dinged for that because it shows you don't understand the technique.

The snowmen did have some darker brown edges. They didn't look burnt in the sense of them turning black or being uniformly too dark, but it was definitely a sign that those were overdone. It shouldn't have looked brown at all. If the edges are visibly too dark, the bottom probably tastes burnt.

[Popples]

The sugar cookies with the isomalt windows in them were gorgeous, and I had a feeling she would win.

I felt so bad for the penguin lady when that one judge said her lemon cookies tasted like floor cleaner. I know that using zest with a bit of extract would have made for a better result, but that seemed pretty harsh.

The third-place woman was kind of driving me crazy. Every time she messed something up, she would say "I hope the judges don't notice", but of course they did.