Guy's Grocery Games - General Discussion

[Wings]

On 1/16/2017 at 0:05 AM, spiderpig said:

Is there anybody here whose first thought when told to make a sandwich, and finding the bread aisle empty, wasn't "go to frozen foods!"? 

I wasn't excited by any of the presentations, but I was glad the winner said he was donating to Guide Dogs.

 I was texting as I watched and missed him getting the frozen bread and only registered on it when they were tasting.  My first thought was he would get booted for not following the rules!  My multi tasking days are over but that doesn't seem to stop me though.  I just present as senile. 

[spiderpig]

42 minutes ago, wings707 said:

 I was texting as I watched and missed him getting the frozen bread and only registered on it when they were tasting.  My first thought was he would get booted for not following the rules!  My multi tasking days are over but that doesn't seem to stop me though.  I just present as senile. 

Joining you soon in The Old Posters' Home!

[Wings]

2 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Joining you soon in The Old Posters' Home!

You know, that is not a bad idea!  Over 55 communities for the reality show and message board obsessed.  Assisted living, too.  

[spiderpig]

39 minutes ago, wings707 said:

You know, that is not a bad idea!  Over 55 communities for the reality show and message board obsessed.  Assisted living, too.  

And remote controls with really large buttons...

[Wings]

7 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

And remote controls with really large buttons...

A theater with recliners to view currently running shows and a happy hour with snacks following to discuss.  This is better than setting up a fake religion.  I think I am onto something here.   

[spiderpig]

1 minute ago, wings707 said:

A theater with recliners to view currently running shows and a happy hour with snacks following to discuss.  This is better than setting up a fake religion.  I think I am onto something here.   

We could invite Louis from N'Awlins to join us.  Wasn't it sweet the way he just lumbered through the aisles at his own pace, and Guy followed around helping him?

[Wings]

Just now, spiderpig said:

We could invite Louis from N'Awlins to join us.  Wasn't it sweet the way he just lumbered through the aisles at his own pace, and Guy followed around helping him?

Yes, adorable and funny.  Love that guy.  

[mlp]

Count me in.  

[Maverick]

 I'm in the Old Cynics Home because I thought New Orleans chef was kept for the finale round because they knew the other guy could beat him.  After being bottom 2 for the second time I thought for sure he was out, but nope.  

[spiderpig]

14 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 I'm in the Old Cynics Home because I thought New Orleans chef was kept for the finale round because they knew the other guy could beat him.  After being bottom 2 for the second time I thought for sure he was out, but nope.  

You can have visiting privileges with us, Maverick.  You're welcome any Bingo night.

[Wings]

Cynics are hugely appreciated in the reality world.  I will open the rules to include cynics and the snarky.   You are welcome to move in!  No dips in bread blows allowed though.  

[spiderpig]

Anybody else surprised at some of the things they stock at Foodtown?  I'm completely unfamiliar with Jamaican cooking, but they had aki on the shelf.  Do they tweak the inventory when they are aware a contestant specializes in a particular cuisine?

That said, I'm on the West Coast where anything from the Pacific Rim is widely available, but I've never seen aki.

[mlp]

Quote

Anybody else surprised at some of the things they stock at Foodtown? 

Yes.  In fact, I've recently started to wonder if the contestants know ahead of time what they will be making rather than figuring things out on the fly as we've been led to believe.  I don't even know what aki is and I've sure never seen it anywhere although I'm in the Midwest and we don't have many Jamaicans around either.  There do seem to be quite a few cooks with Jamaican backgrounds on the various FN shows so maybe they do stock specialty items like that.

[Wings]

I think they ask each contestant for a list of foods they commonly use and make sure it is available.  I  wish.I had Flavor Town near me! I have lived in New England, Midwest, south and now the southwest and I  don't have a decent grocery here. Horrible.  I miss Publix in Florida   ***sob*** 

[spiderpig]

48 minutes ago, wings707 said:

I think they ask each contestant for a list of foods they commonly use and make sure it is available.  I  wish.I had Flavor Town near me! I have lived in New England, Midwest, south and now the southwest and I  don't have a decent grocery here. Horrible.  I miss Publix in Florida   ***sob*** 

Flavor Town - that's it.  Guess I was thinking of the Foodtown across from my college campus where we'd make chianti runs and they wouldn't card us.  (Remember the big jugs wrapped in raffia?)

Edited January 24, 2017 by spiderpig

[Wings]

1 hour ago, spiderpig said:

Flavor Town - that's it.  Guess I was thinking of the Foodtown across from my college campus where we'd make chianti runs and they wouldn't card us.  (Remember the big jugs wrapped in raffia?)

Yes! Lol   That is a flash from the past.

[spiderpig]

1/29 ep - We've got our DDD winner.  I thought having the double elimination and 86ing the final run through the store, so they could have the champion belt time filler at the end, was kind of lame.

[mlp]

I didn't understand that final bit at all.  It made me wonder if Carl's grousing about his trophy was legit instead of what I had thought was "humor" for the show and they came up with the belt to appease him for some reason.  So Bobby got 40K and Carl got the belt and they never really said what happened with the trophy.  It all seemed very strange and rather unfair to Bobby to steal his thunder like that.

[spiderpig]

9 hours ago, mlp said:

So Bobby got 40K and Carl got the belt and they never really said what happened with the trophy.  It all seemed very strange and rather unfair to Bobby to steal his thunder like that.

Exactly.  Bobby went through all that to get money for St. Jude's and his surviving daughter, and Carl horned in.  I thought it was mean-spirited and unnecessary.

I'm not liking Carl very much right now.

[Ciarrai]

I don't like Carl ever, so this has made no difference. I don't find his critiques interesting; as someone else said earlier he gives the same critique to everyone, no matter what they make.

[spiderpig]

Feb 12.  Another chocolate edition, just like Chopped, with ridiculous ingredient requirements that made my teeth hurt.  All the dishes looked awful.

Lindsay's voice.  Icepick meets ear.  She sounded like a high-pitched Gilbert Gottfried.  Thank Dawg she was eliminated first.

Best part of the show was seeing Damiano from FNS at the judging table.

[Wings]

It isn't entertaining to watch chefs struggle to make a savory dish with chocolate.  They love to do this on chopped, too.  

Chocolate dipped potato chips looked good but on a dinner plate?  Nope.  

Lindsay's voice, oh my god.  How unfortunate. 

[jcbrown]

I thought Damiano was terrible and am not pleased that FN is trotting him out again. At least now that Valentine's Day is here, they can drop their chocolate fixation and perhaps put him away again.

[spiderpig]

2/19 ep - How much do I love Eddie Jackson?  He's enough to offset the incredibly annoying Melissa D'Arabian.  She's still nails-on-the-chalkboard-please-make-it-stop awful, but Eddie is so adorable that I'm willing to put up with her if we can see him more often.

I have a hearty appetite, but those lumberjack breakfasts would have sent me straight to the ICU.

[mlp]

I watched both episodes that were on back-to-back and I think I'm still suffering from an overdose of Melissa.  I loathe her so much that she almost spoils a whole show for me.  Even worse, Katherine McCord was also on one of the shows.  She isn't too bad when she's on with people besides Melissa but she acts like she's channeling Melissa when they're together and it's almost unbearable.  I wish they'd have Eddie and Troy Johnson all the time.  

[Wings]

13 hours ago, spiderpig said:

2/19 ep - How much do I love Eddie Jackson?  He's enough to offset the incredibly annoying Melissa D'Arabian.  She's still nails-on-the-chalkboard-please-make-it-stop awful, but Eddie is so adorable that I'm willing to put up with her if we can see him more often.

I have a hearty appetite, but those lumberjack breakfasts would have sent me straight to the ICU.

Yes, yes and yes.  I would love to see more of Eddie on Chopped, too.  Anywhere really.  What a lovely man.

The judges didn't even comment on tofu scramble woman's strawberry 'jam.'  Strawberries in a blender with sugar does not make jam, it makes strawberry juice which is good for nothing.  

I like Troy and want more of  Carl, too.  I love that guy but loathe that he is one of Guy's close friends.  I don't like Guy but he is better than Melissa (strong statement).  

As a non breakfast eater (coffee only) those breakfasts were gag worthy.  When on vacation I will sometimes go bat shit crazy and have a poached egg on a pancake or on home fries.  Restaurants typically have terrible bread for toast.  

I would like to see their stations always stocked with oil, butter, mayo, basic herbs and common spices.  It would make the budget and weight meals more enjoyable to watch. 

With a gun to my head I continue to watch this annoying show.  

Edited February 20, 2017 by wings707

[Psychobunny]

7 hours ago, wings707 said:

Yes, yes and yes.  I would love to see more of Eddie on Chopped, too.  Anywhere really.  What a lovely man.

The judges didn't even comment on tofu scramble woman's strawberry 'jam.'  Strawberries in a blender with sugar does not make jam, it makes strawberry juice which is good for nothing.  

I like Troy and want more of  Carl, too.  I love that guy but loathe that he is one of Guy's close friends.  I don't like Guy but he is better than Melissa (strong statement).  

As a non breakfast eater (coffee only) those breakfasts were gag worthy.  When on vacation I will sometimes go bat shit crazy and have a poached egg on a pancake or on home fries.  Restaurants typically have terrible bread for toast.  

I would like to see their stations always stocked with oil, butter, mayo, basic herbs and common spices.  It would make the budget and weight meals more enjoyable to watch. 

With a gun to my head I continue to watch this annoying show.  

The stations are always stocked with staples. I think they have sugar, flour, butter, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper (including cayenne).

[spiderpig]

March 5 Bacon Edition.

My brother-in-law just had a triple bypass, and I hoped he wasn't watching tonight.  Just the sight of all that cholesterol would have sent him back to the ICU.

A ground pork burger in a bun wrapped in bacon and deep-fried?  There are no words.

[Katydid]

I enjoy the show, but Guy REALLY needs to drop the shtick he does with counting down to go in every.dang.episode.  I assume the contestants are told to pretend they don't realize he said "go" because surely they've seen the show before and realize he does it every time. 

[spiderpig]

March 11, 2017.  Another tournament, which is fine with me because I have this show on while I'm doing something else, like tax returns.  However, I thought tonight's chefs were amazingly talented and creative.  I was secretly rooting for Darnell and his off-the-wall approach to challenges.  Pizza in a Mason jar?

[mlp]

I agree that all the chefs were good although I didn't care much for the female.  I was very happy that she beat Robert Irvine but there's something about her attitude that I didn't like.  I was rooting for Sammy.  I remembered him from this show and either Chopped or CK or maybe both and I liked him each time I saw him.  

I thought Darnell was clever but I was surprised he didn't get eliminated first.  I would have loved to try his noodle dish but it really didn't look like an entree.  He was lucky the other guy overcooked his protein.  The pizza in a jar looked too liquid-y for me.

Edited March 14, 2017 by mlp

[Surrealist]

4 hours ago, mlp said:

I agree that all the chefs were good although I didn't care much for the female.  I was very happy that she beat Robert Irvine but there's something about her attitude that I didn't like.  I was rooting for Sammy.  I remembered him from this show and either Chopped or GGG or maybe both and I liked him each time I saw him.  

I thought I was the only one who felt this way. There's something about Samantha that annoyed me the first time around. She's smug. Or something. 

Darnell did say that he'd rather go out in a blaze of glory rather than play it safe with that pizza in a jar. That said I'm not sure I'd eat it. I admire his ingenuity.

Edited March 13, 2017 by Surrealist

[spiderpig]

Don't fret, guys.  It's only a matter of time before Philip Man-Bun shows up again.

[hkit]

On 3/13/2017 at 1:47 PM, mlp said:

 

I thought Darnell was clever but I was surprised he didn't get eliminated first.  I would have loved to try his noodle dish but it really didn't look like an entree.  He was lucky the other guy overcooked his protein.  The pizza in a jar looked too liquid-y for me.

The pizza in a jar looked like a pizza soup I make. I'm shocked they considered it worthy of a 3 way tie. It was a bit of a letdown because the waffle pizza did, indeed, sound "chronic". 

[Psychobunny]

I 've got to say that Gator has grown on me. I liked both finalists today and was upset that they both couldn't win.

[spiderpig]

30 minutes ago, Psychobunny said:

I 've got to say that Gator has grown on me. I liked both finalists today and was upset that they both couldn't win.

Agree that this show has a very high percentage of likeable contestants.  I was worried about Gator in Round 2, but was sorry to see firefighter AJ go.

The first guy to get sent packing was really young and had "red shirt" stamped all over him.

[Wings]

4 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Agree that this show has a very high percentage of likeable contestants.  I was worried about Gator in Round 2, but was sorry to see firefighter AJ go.

The first guy to get sent packing was really young and had "red shirt" stamped all over him.

What does "red shirt" mean and where does that come from?

I wanted to eat Cator's shrimp and grits, badly.   I often wonder if the judges ever ask that they want to finish a plate later? 

[spiderpig]

1 minute ago, wings707 said:

What does "red shirt" mean and where does that come from?

I wanted to eat Cator's shrimp and grits, badly.   I often wonder if the judges ever ask that they want to finish a plate later? 

Us'n ole Star Trek the Original Series fans. The Enterprise crewmembers all wore what looked like velour leisure blue/gold uniform tops, and when somebody new showed up in a red shirt and beamed down to a hostile planet we'd all go "Uh-oh" in unison.

Maybe I'd volunteer for the mission if I could have some of Gator's shrimp 'n grits before I left.

[Wings]

5 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

Us'n ole Star Trek the Original Series fans. The Enterprise crewmembers all wore what looked like velour leisure blue/gold uniform tops, and when somebody new showed up in a red shirt and beamed down to a hostile planet we'd all go "Uh-oh" in unison.

Maybe I'd volunteer for the mission if I could have some of Gator's shrimp 'n grits before I left.

Ha!  Yeah, I knew he was a goner when he chose stew beef.  I don't even use that for stew and I have a pressure cooker!  A tender cut of beef would weigh the same. 

Kim chi in Mac and cheese.  No. Kim Chi anywhere.  No

[spiderpig]

2 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Ha!  Yeah, I knew he was a goner when he chose stew beef.  I don't even use that for stew and I have a pressure cooker!  A tender cut of beef would weigh the same. 

Kim chi in Mac and cheese.  No. Kim Chi anywhere.  No

Mr. pig and I were in South Korea one year while they were delivering cabbage everywhere by truck so people could prepare and ferment their own Kim Chi (and you know that means burying it alive with fish guts). The whole thing was surreal, with big trucks making stops and people would come out of their residences and then walk away with cabbages exactly like The Invasion of the Body Snatchers with the pods.  We still reference Body Snatchers in connection with Kim Chi.  Chuckle.

We still eat it on occasion, though.  It's not like it's carrots!!! :-(

[Wings]

I do know how kim chi is made.  It tastes rotten because it is. Lol

Love the body snatcher reference!  

[Wings]

13 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

We still eat it on occasion, though.  It's not like it's carrots!!! :-(

Funny.  I find what foods people dislike fascinating.  Carrots seem like such an odd food to hate.

I don't like aged or fermented food.  That was limited to prosciutto until I was introduced to Kim chi several years ago. 

[spiderpig]

4 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Funny.  I find what foods people dislike fascinating.  Carrots seem like such an odd food to hate.

I don't like aged or fermented food.  That was limited to prosciutto until I was introduced to Kim chi several years ago. 

Please reference "We all hate cilantro" thread...(because it really does taste like soap)

Meanwhile, I'm fascinated by FN's attention to firefighters and cooking. I couldn't decide between AJ and Gator, but AJ's pizza dough was reputedly undercooked. I'd like to see AJ again, though, because it's so nice to find out that in our nation's most dangerous profession*, they put such emphasis on a good, darn, healthful meal.

*I feel a fight coming on...

[jcbrown]

Another week where I liked all the contestants. I was sad the helium-voiced young woman did not win and sad when the New Orleans chef (I never remember any of their names) was sent home second. Could it be I am actually starting to look forward to this show? I don't miss the dashing around the store bit at the end AT ALL.

And kimchi on a hot dog is spectacular junk food.

[mlp]

I enjoy this show.  Guy dials his shtick back to tolerable and I usually like the judges as long as Melissa isn't one of them.  Sometimes the things they are told to make are a bit outlandish but they're never actually ridiculous like many of the challenges on CK were.

I also liked the chefs this round.  My favorite was the guy who was eliminated first.  I didn't understand how they decided to cut him for underseasoned rice (subjective) when everything he presented was cooked well.  The woman they kept forgot a plate.  Nothing subjective about that.  I wasn't totally happy that she went on to win after that although I did like her.

[LazyToaster]

I would have cut her too - forgetting to fix a plate seemed like a worse mistake to me too.  I honestly am amazed at the level of cooking they can do in such a short period of time and in a sort of make-do kitchen. 

[Wings]

1 hour ago, LazyToaster said:

I would have cut her too - forgetting to fix a plate seemed like a worse mistake to me too.  I honestly am amazed at the level of cooking they can do in such a short period of time and in a sort of make-do kitchen. 

They a lot in those kitchens!  A griddle and deep fat fryer both heated to temp when they begin is pretty good.  They also have tools like blenders and food processor all plugged in and ready to go. 

[suebee12]

After tonight's finale, I am so hungry I cannot believe it. All of that food sounded yummy, even the foods I normally would not eat! At the beginning I was rooting for Tom but by the time the show was over, I thought any of them could have won it!  That last twist that Guy gave them was a really big one but they both adapted quickly and brought forth wonderful food. It was a great finale and was so interesting, I am going to rewatch before deleting it from my DVR.

[Snarklepuss]

I was happy with the outcome of this "master's" tournament.  I thought they were all phenomenal cooks especially the woman, and given that I often feel the women can't get caught a break on these cooking competition shows I was very happy to see one win such a high honor.

I have come to feel that the judges zero in on one flaw to give as reason to send someone home because it sounds less hurtful than saying something like, "Your dish just didn't taste as good as the others".  The only problem with that is it sounds petty and kind of arbitrary, like they were just looking for something to pin on the person to send them packing.

[spiderpig]

I was happy too.  All the food looked awesome, and I think the judges really had to work it to come up with someone to eliminate.  That said, (I forget her name already)'s food showcased incredible ability to adjust with time constraints and station swap.  Her plates were gorgeous and tantalizing.

(Also, no sob story.  She just wanted to remodel her kitchen.)