Christmas Cookie Challenge - General Discussion

[kj4ever]

8 hours ago, Popples said:

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.

It always cracks me up when they have a huge flaw and think the judges won't notice.  After going a round of judging with that horrid bitch in the middle you would think she'd know there was no way she was getting out of that one without a comment.

I hope they don't have that judge back.  I'm a big fan of constructive criticism, but that lady was just down right rude and high handed.  The people that don't like Lorraine on Holiday Baking need to check this woman out - she makes Lorraine look like a shrinking violet. 

[MerBearHou]

6 hours ago, kj4ever said:

It always cracks me up when they have a huge flaw and think the judges won't notice.  After going a round of judging with that horrid bitch in the middle you would think she'd know there was no way she was getting out of that one without a comment.

I hope they don't have that judge back.  I'm a big fan of constructive criticism, but that lady was just down right rude and high handed.  The people that don't like Lorraine on Holiday Baking need to check this woman out - she makes Lorraine look like a shrinking violet. 

Totally agree on the middle judge.  She was AWFUL and you could just feel how Ree was trying to smooth out that woman's Debbie Downer vibe on this Christmas Cookie show.  Someone forgot to give that judge the memo -- her manner of judging was SO out of place for the atmosphere. 

[festivus]

I'm about to drop in and be a bitch. Sorry in advance. 

 

All those villages were ugly! They need to rethink this show cause I'm tired of seeing crap I could do at home. (Ugly) If I want to see that I'll just look at the pictures I post on Facebook of my horrid creations. I think I may be out on this show.

[mlp]

5 hours ago, festivus said:

All those villages were ugly! They need to rethink this show...........................

What they need to re-think is the rules.  They just don't give them enough time to do their best work.  They ought to let them get a head start like they do with the gingerbread, maybe let them come in the day before or at least a few hours before filming and let them make their doughs and get them in the refrigerator so they can spend time decorating.

[Mittengirl]

The ridiculous time frames are absolutely the biggest issue.  Let them make the dough the night before, maybe even bake them, especially when making something 3-D.  You just can’t decorate warm cookies and have them look their best.

[BigBingerBro]

I wish I could watch this show but Ree Drummond is not allowed to be on my TV.

[tobeannounced]

I know nothing about Ree Drummond other than having seen her TV show a few times. Why do people dislike her so much?

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, tobeannounced said:

I know nothing about Ree Drummond other than having seen her TV show a few times. Why do people dislike her so much?

Honestly I do not know.  I like Ree and her family a lot but there is a ton of vitriol against her.  

Edited December 9, 2018 by MerBearHou

[Spunkygal]

That was pretty underwhelming. Aaron was the right winner if only for the fireplace scene. But when the theme is Mrs Claus on vacation, I don’t want to see a surfboard or a drink or a tee shirt as items by themselves. I want to see old lady Santa with a drink, on a surfboard or in a tee shirt.  Get her in your cookie somehow. Was Aaron on Holiday Baking Championship last year? I’ve seen him on one of those shows. And why is there always someone peeing in their pants over Ree? And FN is trying to mold Molly Yeh into Ree’s footsteps so I am already tired of her. 

[TimetoShine]

This one was pretty lame. Of the final 3, only Aaron’s seemed like a mostly complete piece. 

 

I did think the judge in the middle was extra nasty. She just had a negative attitude throughout most of it.  

[dleighg]

7 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

And why is there always someone peeing in their pants over Ree?

God, yes. So annoying.

[dleighg]

7 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

And FN is trying to mold Molly Yeh into Ree’s footsteps so I am already tired of her. 

SO MANY TEETH

[Spunkygal]

Just now, dleighg said:

SO MANY TEETH

Yes! And FN has put her on on the Gingerbread show with annoying sing-song Marcella so you've got double dental overload. 

[dleighg]

Did they tell that one woman to say "Wives of the North Pole" instead of "Real Housewives" as it's on a different network? Awkward.

[kj4ever]

8 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

That was pretty underwhelming. Aaron was the right winner if only for the fireplace scene. But when the theme is Mrs Claus on vacation, I don’t want to see a surfboard or a drink or a tee shirt as items by themselves. I want to see old lady Santa with a drink, on a surfboard or in a tee shirt.  Get her in your cookie somehow. Was Aaron on Holiday Baking Championship last year? I’ve seen him on one of those shows. And why is there always someone peeing in their pants over Ree? And FN is trying to mold Molly Yeh into Ree’s footsteps so I am already tired of her. 

That was driving me crazy.  Usually I'm pretty decent and figuring out where I saw these people before, and I cannot place which one Aaron was on.  I think he got far too, but I can't remember which one he was on!

I also was left scratching my head when Mrs. Claus wasn't featured on some of their cookies.  She's actually one of the easier Christmas characters to do free hand.

I want to see this show just once with a good amount of time for them to create just so I can see if these people can really do what is on their websites or if it took them forever and they photoshopped the pictures to death.

[Darian]

On 11/20/2018 at 4:16 PM, Spunkygal said:

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! 

I liked Kima and would love to see her on another show. 

I just watched this episode (I kind of hoard the holiday shows until mid-December). Couldn't agree more with your take on the Witchmas woman. I don't mind competitive, but she was obnoxious. I don't celebrate Christmas, but I could do this show. You make Christmas cookies. I can see giving your cookies a personalizing little twist if it's done right and with Christmas still being the focus. I'd feel the same if someone did a Halloween competition and and said they celebrate Hallomas and made it about Christmas. 

And she didn't invent Witchmas. It's been around a long time. If she wants credit for inventing a holiday, she should actually create one, like the little boy who created Wolfenoot, 

[Popples]

I wasn't terribly impressed with any of these contestants. If they had been featured separately on the other episodes I feel that all of them would have been booted off after the first round.

On 12/11/2018 at 7:55 AM, dleighg said:

Did they tell that one woman to say "Wives of the North Pole" instead of "Real Housewives" as it's on a different network? Awkward.

That's the conclusion I jumped to. Since the Food Network (Discovery, Inc. and Tribune Media) and Bravo (NBCUniversal) aren't under the same company umbrella, they probably don't want to advertise for each other.

[jlc]

On 11/14/2018 at 6:30 PM, Jillybean said:

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.

Jordan won Spring Baking Championship last year, or Holiday Baking Championship two years ago. He was very young, but the whole show he was cute and funny and he really did make some really nice desserts.

Edited December 14, 2018 by jlc

[Spunkygal]

Thank goodness we don’t have to hear “ooh, I can’t believe I’m baking cookies for REE DRUMMOND” anymore. Ugh. Goodbye to her and her huge immovable forehead.

I still don’t know which carries the most importance in this show—cookie flavor and texture or design. I guess flavor and texture because Justin’s lighthouse looked messy to me and all those wires were ugly. Too bad Christina’s sleigh didn’t feature the lighting component more prominently. I thought her design was well done other than that. I will say that Justin employed a technique that Douglas should have used on HBC last night. Justin also swiped white chocolate on acetate for a collar but then he used a comb and painted red chocolate in the grooves. He didn’t have quite enough time for it to set but it was a better technique than hand painting diagonal stripes. I was glad that smug “cookie professor” and her uninspired cookies were eliminated early. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Spunkygal

[Rammchick]

On 12/11/2018 at 4:55 AM, Spunkygal said:

Yes! And FN has put her on on the Gingerbread show with annoying sing-song Marcella so you've got double dental overload. 

Just be glad Giada wasn't on too!

Sometimes when I watch this show, I feel like I'm watching Nailed It! instead of a cookie challenge with experienced bakers.  The most important aspect of this is to be able to roll with the punches and regroup quickly when something goes wrong, and not everyone can.  

[Madding crowd]

I agree-I thought the lighthouse looked sloppy. It seemed like the judges cared more about the lights than the design. I thought the sleigh and the tree and box looked way better. I find the judges kind of unpleasant on this show compared to the Holiday Baking one. I know they are there to critique but they act like the contestants killed someone sometimes.

[luvapickle]

First-he never heard of ombre before? Sometimes I wish I hadn't, since I get orders for this ALL the time. The ombre trees Jordan basically thought were not smooth enough-last time I fell into a tree, they definitely were not smooth.  

[mlp]

I was surprised that none of the judges mentioned the awful pale green color on the trees of one of the women who were eliminated.  The blobs reminded me of lima beans.

I was even more surprised when the young man with the lighthouse won.  His cookies must have been really delicious because the overall look of his display was rather messy.  The sleigh was much prettier.

The producers must assign someone each week to fan girl Ree Drummond.  It's pretty obvious.

[Popples]

5 hours ago, mlp said:

I was surprised that none of the judges mentioned the awful pale green color on the trees of one of the women who were eliminated.  The blobs reminded me of lima beans.

I thought they looked like the shades of green in camouflage, which aren't terribly Christmassy at all.

10 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Sometimes when I watch this show, I feel like I'm watching Nailed It! instead of a cookie challenge with experienced bakers.  The most important aspect of this is to be able to roll with the punches and regroup quickly when something goes wrong, and not everyone can.  

That's twice this season one of the bakers has been completely flummoxed by unsalted butter. Maybe they've been using their super-secret ingredient of salted butter for so long that they forgot that most recipes that call for unsalted butter also usually say to use 1 or 1 ½ teaspoons of salt.

I was surprised only one baker thought to use isomalt for windows on the light challenge, then the judges dogged him out for it because it tastes disgusting.

 

The sleigh cookie was my favorite of the final three, but it seemed she didn't really think the lighting through.

10 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Thank goodness we don’t have to hear “ooh, I can’t believe I’m baking cookies for REE DRUMMOND” anymore. Ugh. Goodbye to her and her huge immovable forehead.

 

I didn't realize that was the finale, a rather underwhelming one at that.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Popples
Computer ate my thought.

[festivus]

Did mine eyes deceive me or were most of those displays at the end actually pretty? At least two and a half of the final cookies looked pretty good. I thought guy with the box would win. Taste must have been important.

[lh25]

On 12/18/2018 at 3:12 PM, Popples said:

I was surprised only one baker thought to use isomalt for windows on the light challenge, then the judges dogged him out for it because it tastes disgusting.

 

While I get the "everything on the display should be edible", seems like they could not eat the little bit of isomalt in these cases.  

Edited December 20, 2018 by lh25
Add words!

[theatremouse]

To me, isomalt is on par with fondant. It is edible. Its primary use is for looks, not for taste. It doesn't taste good and isn't generally enjoyable to eat from a texture perspective either, but unless the baked good has way.too.much of it, it doesn't actually taste bad; it's just not good either. In any competition where you expect looks to have large significance, it shouldn't be shocking that people use it. It bugs me when the judges act otherwise. If he'd given them an isomalt snowglobe and expected them to eat the whole thing, sure, ding that. But those small cutouts to let the light through? 'meh.

[CharlizeCat]

When the one contestant said that Ree was an "expert in piping," I about fell over laughing. If you say so. Maybe she got paid to say that. I think she brought up the isomalt because she has heard other judges make the remark that isomalt is difficult to eat. Since she doesn't have the baking expertise of the other judges, she struggles for something constructive to say other than comment on how the cookies look. 

[CharlizeCat]

I am curious as to how this show does in the ratings. I don't think it's very good and seems like it's just a vehicle to flatter Ree.

Also, what a waste of Eddie Jackson. I don't think he's a very good host on this show. Each week, he seemed less and less engaged.  Judging the BBQ and other savory cooking shows seem to be a better fit for him. I wish he had his own show. He was very good on FNS. He's a good cook and engaging in front of the cameras, other than propping Ree. 

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, CharlizeCat said:

I am curious as to how this show does in the ratings. I don't think it's very good and seems like it's just a vehicle to flatter Ree.

Also, what a waste of Eddie Jackson. I don't think he's a very good host on this show. Each week, he seemed less and less engaged.  Judging the BBQ and other savory cooking shows seem to be a better fit for him. I wish he had his own show. He was very good on FNS. He's a good cook and engaging in front of the cameras, other than propping Ree. 

It does quite well in the ratings, but most seasonal shows on FN perform well. You can look back through the posts on this forum to see its ratings.

[GaT]

I am confused. Season 3 Episode 7 is recording on my DVR tonight @ 11:00. And these are the next episodes:

Mon, 11/11, 10 PM

S03E06

Mon, 11/18, 10 PM

S03E08

What happened to episodes 1-6? Why are they showing episodes out of order?

[Beckabby]

I haven't finished watching last night's premiere yet but I already hate the female judge on our right. GTFO with her wanting to see movement on the mason jars. 🙄

[luvapickle]

6 hours ago, GaT said:

I am confused. Season 3 Episode 7 is recording on my DVR tonight @ 11:00. And these are the next episodes:

Mon, 11/11, 10 PM

S03E06

Mon, 11/18, 10 PM

S03E08

What happened to episodes 1-6? Why are they showing episodes out of order?

That's just screwup on FN's part with the guide.  You'll just have to watch what you record(as in the description part).

[Ms Lark]

20 minutes ago, Beckabby said:

I haven't finished watching last night's premiere yet but I already hate the female judge on our right. GTFO with her wanting to see movement on the mason jars.

Ditto. I think she's a lifestyle expert blogger of some sort? All I see is one great big phony.

[luvapickle]

29 minutes ago, Beckabby said:

I haven't finished watching last night's premiere yet but I already hate the female judge on our right. GTFO with her wanting to see movement on the mason jars. 🙄

Brandi Milloy. Yea, she was overly picky about everything. But I like how Matt Adlard would then go the opposite(after giving her a look). He is a great judge!

[Dirtybubble]

Meh this is an O.K. show to watch.  I like the judges and every contestant seems to know their cookie stuff but my only problem is the host.  IDK what it is with him.  I can't tell if he is uncomfortable or just bored but he seems so underwhelmed with hosting.  He hosted last season and I remember he was the same way just soooo.....blah with everything, no enthusiasm what so ever.

[Spunkygal]

I was so impressed with the winner’s cookie garland. It was gorgeous and if Ree says it’s the most impressive thing she has seen, well, there you have it! Heh. She knows it all! 

i liked the British guy judge. He had a cute personality and was a good balance from Ree and blogger lady. Hope he comes back. I guess it doesn’t matter what order the episodes are shown in since it’s not a cumulative thing where surviving bakers return on the next episode, but it confused me, too.

[Irlandesa]

12 hours ago, GaT said:

I am confused. Season 3 Episode 7 is recording on my DVR tonight @ 11:00. And these are the next episodes:

Mon, 11/11, 10 PM

S03E06

Mon, 11/18, 10 PM

S03E08

What happened to episodes 1-6? Why are they showing episodes out of order?

I am guessing it's because it's a show where order doesn't matter. There are new contestants every week.  I've seen the Food Network do it with some of there cooking shows too.

Why this instead of another?  Who knows.  It looks like next week's might already be available On Demand. 

This show usually bores me because all the cookies sound the same but I did like the winning garland. And I almost felt like the male contestant was flirting with the Male judge (who was great).  

I expected the home Baker to get dinged for baking inedible paper straws into the cookies but I guess they didn't care.

[dleighg]

11 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

This show usually bores me because all the cookies sound the same

I like seeing their decorating techniques but I have no interest in eating those sorts of cookies. All flash, no flavor. They are going to be really sweet from all that frosting. Basically I don't like frosted cookies at all. 

And I know it's shallow but the Canadian woman has resting debbie downer face. She also seems to have a high opinion of herself-- apparently the entire baking world has learned from her online videos.

Edited November 5, 2019 by dleighg

[littlebennysmom]

8 hours ago, Beckabby said:

I haven't finished watching last night's premiere yet but I already hate the female judge on our right. GTFO with her wanting to see movement on the mason jars. 🙄

That "movement on the Mason jars" made no sense to me.  They have a screw top cap decoration on the cookie, whaddaya want?  Randomly placed sparkles?  That would look ridiculous, they're clear.  Apparently the other baker got the Mason jar cookies right because there were snowflakes to suggest the snowglobe idea, so it was all right with Fussy Blogger. 🙄

[Popples]

It was kind of weird that two people I follow on YouTube were on the same episode. Marlyn, the Canadian baker from Montreal Confections, is really talented and the male judge Matt Adlard, who was the "Topless Baker" but now wants to move in a different direction and start baking while wearing a shirt. In his most recent video he did say that he would appear on the Food Network but didn't say what show, so I forgot about, then was completely surprised.

Even though I was biased towards Marlyn, I was happy with the winner, her wreath was really nice.

[GaT]

This is ridiculous, can someone tell me who won please? This is the third FN in a row where my DVR quit right as the winner was going to be announced. I don't know if it's FN or Comcast's fault, but it's really pissing me off.

18 hours ago, Beckabby said:

I haven't finished watching last night's premiere yet but I already hate the female judge on our right. GTFO with her wanting to see movement on the mason jars. 🙄

I don't like her either, I think she just a little too impressed with herself.

[dleighg]

2 hours ago, GaT said:

This is ridiculous, can someone tell me who won please?

I'm bad with names, but the one who did the (impressive) spheres and put about a zillion ornaments on her garland.

[laredhead]

GaT, I don't know if your DVR has this feature, but mine can be set to end a show at its announced time, or time can be added to it up to 2 hours.  I set all of my recordings to end 5 minutes after the announced time and that works, especially on HGTV and the Food Network shows.

The woman who made the winter wonderland themed wreath with the large number of cookies won. 

[Popples]

6 hours ago, GaT said:

This is ridiculous, can someone tell me who won please? This is the third FN in a row where my DVR quit right as the winner was going to be announced. I don't know if it's FN or Comcast's fault, but it's really pissing me off.

The one who put Gouda cheese in her cookies.

[theatremouse]

19 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I expected the home Baker to get dinged for baking inedible paper straws into the cookies but I guess they didn't care.

I don't think they cared because it's totally possible to eat the cookie pretty much normally and not get a mouthful of straw (plus straws are safe to put in your mouth, even if they're not edible). I bet you could either pull the straw out, or if not take a bite near-but-not-on the straw and the cookie would break away from it. I think that makes it a bit different than the usual reasons for barking at people about inedible stuff on the cookies. No inedible decoration, sure, but this served a functional purpose like straws in a tall cake.

[kj4ever]

Here we go again!

Loved the winner's creation!  It is so hard to hang cookies without them breaking or making them out of dough that resembles clay once baked.

Hated the new female judge.  I'm getting tired of the "bloggers" who are now our "experts".

[luvapickle]

12 hours ago, GaT said:

This is ridiculous, can someone tell me who won please? This is the third FN in a row where my DVR quit right as the winner was going to be announced. I don't know if it's FN or Comcast's fault, but it's really pissing me off.

I don't like her either, I think she just a little too impressed with herself.

I know what you mean about cutting it off. The Cooking Channel has been doing that as well. What I do is when it gets to 58 minutes, I hit slow forward, & I usually just catch who the winner is.  What would be nice is if these shows would post who the winner is on their website or something. There's still a Freakshow Cakes episode, that I have no idea who won.

[SoCal Mema]

On 11/5/2019 at 8:29 AM, Dirtybubble said:

Meh this is an O.K. show to watch.  I like the judges and every contestant seems to know their cookie stuff but my only problem is the host.  IDK what it is with him.  I can't tell if he is uncomfortable or just bored but he seems so underwhelmed with hosting.  He hosted last season and I remember he was the same way just soooo.....blah with everything, no enthusiasm what so ever.

I don't know why they like to give us former football players for hosts on these shows.  Eddie (I'm aware he is also now a chef, but...) and Jesse.

[ShelleySue]

I noticed something about the slice and bake (or whatever they are called) cookies.  Everyone used a lot of food coloring.  The guy who eventually won (the dog biscuit bakery guy) even used black food coloring on the base of his snow globe.  On other cooking shows they always talk about how too much food coloring, especially black, gives food an artificial, chemically flavor.  I thought it was weird that no one mentioned that at all.  As a matter of a fact, the only time taste in relation to a color was discussed was when the same baker (I can't remember his name) used metalic paint on his centerpiece cookies.

Edited November 12, 2019 by ShelleySue
typo