Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion

[40Love]

13 hours ago, TomGirl said:

They usually keep the home baker around longer, giving us someone “like us” to root for, but those waffles were kinda pathetic...

Agreed... and it seems like she just kept baking strawberries! When she kept saying "Literally waffles on a stick"... I knew she was a goner. Couldn't she look around and see all the monster desserts the other bakers were making? Yeesh!

[jcbrown]

6 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

OK, gonna get on Nancy now. That pinky affectation? Aargh. Screams pretension. WTF. She's supposed to be all down homey, booze houndy! Enough with the springy springy.

I cannot believe Clinton is coming off as dull as he is. He was pretty funny, snarky, and loads of fun on The Chew. Take a cue from GBBO!

This season is such a dud. Why am I still watching? Some of them belong on Nailed It! more than here. I do like they have several actual pastry chefs competing.

I cannot stand Nancy Fullaherself, her sing-song voice, her cackling about things being springy, her crowing about booze... Just ugh.

FN has sucked all the life out of Clinton somehow and it's no fun to watch.

I agree it is nice to see actual pastry chefs who turn out professional-looking desserts. And then there are the others. Skunk hair woman can go anytime. She is too ON for me.

The fair food on a stick challenge with the added twist was just stupid. I agree, they should take a hint from GBBO. Have them make actual desserts, not hacked together crap.

[LegalParrot81]

Was it just me, or did Nancy Fullaherself (I can't even begin to say how much I love the name) seem a little more subdued last night?  Her screeching, sing songy, high pitched, stab me in the eye with an ice pick voice, didn't seem quite as up front last night.

[sunshine23]

I like Nancy. She may comment on the unspringiness of a dessert too much, but I can overlook that.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The one who was sent home was the right one to go.    That dessert was awful.   

[Jesse]

21 hours ago, TomGirl said:

They usually keep the home baker around longer, giving us someone “like us” to root for, but those waffles were kinda pathetic...

Clinton did make me laugh when he kept saying, "So your dessert inspired by Belgian waffles is.... Belgian waffles."

[40Love]

20 hours ago, jcbrown said:

The fair food on a stick challenge with the added twist was just stupid. I agree, they should take a hint from GBBO. Have them make actual desserts, not hacked together crap.

GBBO is a legitimate baking competition/contest... set up to give the bakers the appropriate amount of time to create beautiful and tasty desserts. They even get a heads up and time to practice at home. The only surprise they face is the blind bake and even there, they get a (limited) recipe to follow. It's a fantastic show.

SBC , OTOH, is a straight up game show. There will be ridiculous twists, turns and surprises along the way. It's not meant to be elegant and thoughtful. It's a circus with clowns, balloons and wacky music. I haven't watched since the very beginning... but I don't think the show has ever presented itself any other way.

The Best Baker in America fills the role of GBBO on this side of the pond. I absolutely love GBBO... but, I also enjoy the goofy circus atmosphere of all the Holiday Baking Championship shows. It's just brain candy for me and a nice diversion from all the other real world stuff in my life. Heh! 

[luvapickle]

2 hours ago, 40Love said:

GBBO is a legitimate baking competition/contest... set up to give the bakers the appropriate amount of time to create beautiful and tasty desserts. They even get a heads up and time to practice at home. The only surprise they face is the blind bake and even there, they get a (limited) recipe to follow. It's a fantastic show.

SBC , OTOH, is a straight up game show. There will be ridiculous twists, turns and surprises along the way. It's not meant to be elegant and thoughtful. It's a circus with clowns, balloons and wacky music. I haven't watched since the very beginning... but I don't think the show has ever presented itself any other way.

The Best Baker in America fills the role of GBBO on this side of the pond. I absolutely love GBBO... but, I also enjoy the goofy circus atmosphere of all the Holiday Baking Championship shows. It's just brain candy for me and a nice diversion from all the other real world stuff in my life. Heh! 

You said it. I know people seem to be over SBC, but it's not meant to be GBBO or the other ones(Great Australian is actually my favorite). People do still feed on the wackiness, & twists-this is the U.S. where "drama" takes center stage. And while the twists may seem stupid....they do know they are getting a twist. That is part of the competition in which they do get $$$.

[joanne3482]

On 3/26/2019 at 12:13 AM, mlp said:

I was seriously hoping that someone at FN has read seasons' worth of comments and realized that everyone hates twists and this season wouldn't have any.  Silly me.

Especially when the twists are, to me at least, inequitable. The previous episode with the 'make a representation of your flavor' you had most with something relatively easy to model (modelling chocolate, fondant, marzipan and gum paste) and then 2 with isomalt.  Near as I can tell from all these shows, making things out of isomalt is difficult. How is this an equitable twist? I will say I at least liked the decoration twist more than the add chocolate covered bacon twist because it is easy to add a decoration when you're more than 1/2 way through the challenge, but it is much harder to add a flavor. 

[CrazyDog]

19 hours ago, Jesse said:

Clinton did make me laugh when he kept saying, "So your dessert inspired by Belgian waffles is.... Belgian waffles."

That was great. I think even the baker said "Thanks, Clinton!" lol.  I'm not minding Clinton, though I will always miss Bobby. 

I agree with a lot of the posts here...Nancy is so repetitive with her main criteria...brown, or not brown. And Lorraine drives me nuts with her tiny tastes too. Though as someone who's not a huge dessert fan (and yet I watch this show, lol), I can't imagine all the tasting and sugar they may have to eat doing two judging rounds an episode. So I kind of get pacing yourself.

I like Saber and Karina, and Riccardo seems to have some talent. Jordan is annoying me for no specific reason.

[Jenn47]

23 hours ago, luvapickle said:

You said it. I know people seem to be over SBC, but it's not meant to be GBBO or the other ones(Great Australian is actually my favorite). People do still feed on the wackiness, & twists-this is the U.S. where "drama" takes center stage. And while the twists may seem stupid....they do know they are getting a twist. That is part of the competition in which they do get $$$.

I agree with this, but would add that it's not even just about the "drama". As frustrating as they can sometimes be, I find the challenges and twists help keep it interesting as the chefs have to figure out how to address this "problem" that's been set for them. This last week was a good example of that for me-- the first challenge to make the pies initially seemed like it might involve different ingredients but then everyone got rhubarb. So, totally even playing field and then I got to watch a bunch of rhubarb pies being baked and judged. While there was some variation in what the rhubarb was paired with, in the end it was mainly about rhubarb. Over and over. Whereas, I do enjoy seeing how people have to deal with different ingredients or how people interpret the themes. This week we got everything from the literal "Belgian waffle on a stick" to the really indirect (and unsuccessful) "funnel cake" to the indirect (and really successful) "caramel apple". I don't know if that would happen if it was just "bake your best version of desert X".

[Maya]

On 3/26/2019 at 12:26 PM, 40Love said:

Agreed... and it seems like she just kept baking strawberries! When she kept saying "Literally waffles on a stick"... I knew she was a goner. Couldn't she look around and see all the monster desserts the other bakers were making? Yeesh!

Looked like she made the waffles first and then let them sit around for an hour while she made ice cream and bacon. I can only imagine how cold and limp they were by the time the judges ate them. 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Maya

[BigBingerBro]

Ugh, these early episodes make my head spin.  Too many contestants and desserts to keep track of. That paired with FN's editing makes me dizzy.

Aren't most county fairs in the late summer or fall?  I know in Florida we have them in Spring, but I didn't think that was representative of the entire country.  I felt bad for Ricardo and Sambo who probably are not as familiar with Fairs, but they are so strong with their baking skills that it didn't really matter.  

I love rhubarb, but I thought the challenge was rather "meh".  Why not have them do something else instead of pie??  It would have been more interesting and creative.

I was impressed with many of the main challenge creations.  I wouldn't have ever been able to come up with some of those ideas in a few seconds.

We just aren't seeing much of what Nancy has to say it seems.  Most of the constructive and helpful criticism comes from Duff and Lorraine.  I agree that Lorraine's "licks" are really not enough to properly get the full effect taste-wise, yet she seems quite fair in her judging this season.  Duff is obviously incapable of taking a normal sized bite.  I'm over it.

Clinton seemed to be trying a bit more to be funny and entertaining this round, but his interactions with the contestants seem really stilted and uncomfortable.  Bring back Bobby.

Edited March 30, 2019 by BigBingerBro

[trudysmom]

I asked Trudysdad if he thought Clinton seemed a bit off was because coming off The Chew, with a live audience, he's unsure how to interact with the contestants one on one and get the humor he's trying for.  He's not as charming as Bobby, or the handsome, ex-football player who hosted either this or the holiday series last, Jesse something?  (trudysdad had no opinion and doesn't care one way or the other, except to say Clinton is annoying.) 

I don't have a favorite yet, at least not by name, lol.  I like the middle aged guy who has a bakery in what I assume is a small town, whose son told him "just don't be the first one eliminated".  Lol.  Saber is a bit hyper for me, but he seems genuine and is obviously an accomplished pastry chef.  I'm not sure how I feel about him competing against lesser trained bakers, or home bakers.  It looks like a rigged game.  But then, given the right twist, limitations and time constraints, I guess it could be anybody's game sometimes.  

[Texasmom1970]

Rhubarb yuck not my favorite. Loved one shot of Duff taking a huge bite; then they show Lorraine taking a little bite like shewas scared to taste it.

All Nancy needs to be happy is plain pie crust filled with whiskey!

[Irlandesa]

I love rhubarb so last week was terrific for me---except for the strawberry rhubarb combo.  Rhubarb is meant to be tart and adding strawberries makes things too sweet. 

[bybrandy]

On 3/27/2019 at 1:24 PM, luvapickle said:

(Great Australian is actually my favorite).

Season 4 of GABO is easily my favorite season of any country's bake off.  

But, yes, I appreciate SBC for what it is and while bits of it will always annoy me, I still enjoy the show.   

3 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

All Nancy needs to be happy is plain pie crust filled with whiskey!

So long as the pie crust and whisky have colors appropriate to the season/holiday.  Otherwise?  Off with their heads.  

[Destiny74]

10 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Season 4 of GABO is easily my favorite season of any country's bake off.  
 

Where can I catch episodes?  Netflix?  YouTube?

[stitcher73]

On 3/19/2019 at 2:05 AM, mlp said:

Something screwed up my local programming so shows weren't coming on when scheduled and, even weirder, they were starting at 13 past the hour.  This show was scheduled for 7pm and finally came on at 10:13pm.  Very odd.

Anyhow, I like all the contestants so far.  I thought animal doughnuts was a tough challenge.  Most of the cakes looked pretty good although some of them didn't immediately say "watercolor."  The right person was sent home.

I like Clinton Kelly so I was fine with him although I'd prefer John Henson.

I, too, am on the John Henson bandwagon.  I love him!

[stitcher73]

On 3/31/2019 at 9:39 AM, trudysmom said:

I asked Trudysdad if he thought Clinton seemed a bit off was because coming off The Chew, with a live audience, he's unsure how to interact with the contestants one on one and get the humor he's trying for.  He's not as charming as Bobby, or the handsome, ex-football player who hosted either this or the holiday series last, Jesse something?  (trudysdad had no opinion and doesn't care one way or the other, except to say Clinton is annoying.) 

I don't have a favorite yet, at least not by name, lol.  I like the middle aged guy who has a bakery in what I assume is a small town, whose son told him "just don't be the first one eliminated".  Lol.  Saber is a bit hyper for me, but he seems genuine and is obviously an accomplished pastry chef.  I'm not sure how I feel about him competing against lesser trained bakers, or home bakers.  It looks like a rigged game.  But then, given the right twist, limitations and time constraints, I guess it could be anybody's game sometimes.  

that middle-aged guy also competed against Duff on an Iron Chef challenge.  He was Micheal Simon's pastry chef.  He does not look the same.  At all.  

[ninjakid]

I don't think it's surprising that the guy that competed against Duff on IC looks different. That episode aired in 2010.

[laredhead]

This may have been discussed at some point in the past, but exactly how does this show work?  Do the contestants have a clue ahead of time as to what they will be preparing?  Also, does the time limit actually run like they say it does, i.e. you have 2 hours, or 1 hour, etc.  On the GBBO the contestants know ahead of time what they will be asked to prepare - right?  I can't imagine competing even if I knew ahead of time, and had time to practice - lol.  

[Ms. TV]

The only shows on FN that I’d ever seen was the “Next FN Star” and, years ago, several “Iron Chef” and ”Chopped” episodes - so I don’t have a clue who these judges are. I thought I’d check out this Forum to see if anyone else thinks Lorraine is overly critical of most of the contestants...I don’t like her at all and I’m surprised to instead read a lot of negative comments about Nancy who doesn’t seem to say an awful lot.

I thought this was a brand new show and that Clinton was the ‘permanent’ Host - he’s the only reason I tuned in because I LOVED him on “WNTW” (and have hoped for years now that he’d bring it back on the air though not so much with Stacy because she was frequently down right mean). I don’t bake at all and don’t have a sweet tooth but I love me some CK.

I very much appreciate that in these four episodes so far I haven’t seen any back-stabbing and/or negativity between the contestants, which is something I can’t stand about contest shows....though tonight I did see Skunk Lady screaming like a banshee MORE THAN ONCE for everyone to get out of her way - the nerve. That on top of her brash personality so far made me super mad that she won, she’s just awful.

[littlebennysmom]

32 minutes ago, Ms. TV said:

The only shows on FN that I’d ever seen was the “Next FN Star” and, years ago, several “Iron Chef” and ”Chopped” episodes - so I don’t have a clue who these judges are. I thought I’d check out this Forum to see if anyone else thinks Lorraine is overly critical of most of the contestants...I don’t like her at all and I’m surprised to instead read a lot of negative comments about Nancy who doesn’t seem to say an awful lot.

I thought this was a brand new show and that Clinton was the ‘permanent’ Host - he’s the only reason I tuned in because I LOVED him on “WNTW” (and have hoped for years now that he’d bring it back on the air though not so much with Stacy because she was frequently down right mean). I don’t bake at all and don’t have a sweet tooth but I love me some CK.

I very much appreciate that in these four episodes so far I haven’t seen any back-stabbing and/or negativity between the contestants, which is something I can’t stand about contest shows....though tonight I did see Skunk Lady screaming like a banshee MORE THAN ONCE for everyone to get out of her way - the nerve. That on top of her brash personality so far made me super mad that she won, she’s just awful.

Skunk Lady needs to get gone with her fake perkiness trying (and failing) to mask her totally undeserved "me, me, me!" behavior.  I hope someone trips that loud mouth the next time she tries that "get out of my way" nonsense.

I will cheer unreservedly when her low rent arse is booted.

[LittleIggy]

On 3/26/2019 at 12:15 PM, CherZ said:

Seriously! I've said this before too. Sometimes it looks like she just takes a little lick off the prong and that's it. I love Duff for going full in - opens his mouth and takes a huge bite. I know people hate Nancy but I don't mind her and she does just the right amount of tasting at least.

Ditto! I’ve said the same thing about Lorraine just scraping the fork on her teeth. How can she taste anything? Giada does the same on FNS. I don’t hate Nancy either.  

[mlp]

I haven't retained the names of most of these contestants yet but...................... I was actually a bit shocked when they sent the man home tonight.  I thought the woman's was clearly worse and the guy has been doing great since the beginning.  She hasn't.  

The only contestant I don't like is "skunk lady."  All I remember about her name is it sounds royal but there's no "U" after the "Q."  🙂  She's loud and rude and has gross tattoos and a pierced nose.  Yuck.

I noticed that Lorraine actually ate most of her portion of the winning dish.  It must have been really good.

[luvapickle]

22 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

Where can I catch episodes?  Netflix?  YouTube?

I catch a lot online by bringing up the show, the season & video. Some are on you-Tube, some are on Dailymotion.

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Ditto! I’ve said the same thing about Lorraine just scraping the fork on her teeth. How can she taste anything? Giada does the same on FNS. I don’t hate Nancy either.  

The way Lorraine eats drives me batty. She seems to be trying not to ruin her lipstick.

[luvapickle]

7 hours ago, mlp said:

I haven't retained the names of most of these contestants yet but...................... I was actually a bit shocked when they sent the man home tonight.  I thought the woman's was clearly worse and the guy has been doing great since the beginning.  She hasn't.  

The only contestant I don't like is "skunk lady."  All I remember about her name is it sounds royal but there's no "U" after the "Q."  🙂  She's loud and rude and has gross tattoos and a pierced nose.  Yuck.

I noticed that Lorraine actually ate most of her portion of the winning dish.  It must have been really good.

I was surprised to, because she had more wrong with hers. 

Skunk lady annoys me somewhat with her attitude. I get being controlling because I'm that way in my shop. But when you're working with someone else, you WORK with him/her.

[Maya]

It was pretty funny how she referred to herself as a “classically trained French pastry chef” and then mispronounced “macaron” though. LOL

[Writing Wrongs]

1 hour ago, luvapickle said:

The way Lorraine eats drives me batty. She seems to be trying not to ruin her lipstick.

I can't decide which bugs me more: her bird bites or Duff shoving a whole pastry in his mouth.

[Kohola3]

7 minutes ago, Writing Wrongs said:

I can't decide which bugs me more: her bird bites or Duff shoving a whole pastry in his mouth.

At least Duff looks like he's enjoying the food and getting the full taste. I don't know ho Lorraine can even judge anything with the eight molecules of food in her mouth.

[Pallida]

I wonder if Lorraine is tasting individual elements with her small bites. When they show her plate, it looks like there’s far more eaten than implied by the small bites shown. Maybe she has something in her contract where they can’t show bigger bites. 

[mlp]

Maybe Lorraine takes more bites than we see.  She was a model and she still has a knock-out figure so she probably doesn't want to take in any more empty calories per show than she has to.  Having said that, I don't see how she can make judgments based on what we are shown of her tasting.

Duff OTOH takes big bites and enjoys them.  I imagine he opens his mouth so wide to avoid getting frosting and crumbs in his whiskers but it does look comical.  I imagine he knows that and doesn't care.  

[BigBingerBro]

Marquesa (Skunk) annoys to no end.  You could just see how thrilled Sabro was to suddenly have her as a partner.  The Dad team made a wise choice to split up team EU.  

I see Valerie is going to be hosting a new "Family" challenge show.  I can't remember the name.  Is there a forum thread for it yet?

[Kohola3]

16 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

I see Valerie is going to be hosting a new "Family" challenge show.  I can't remember the name.  Is there a forum thread for it yet?

Yes.

[ae2]

18 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

Marquesa (Skunk) annoys to no end.  You could just see how thrilled Sabro was to suddenly have her as a partner.  The Dad team made a wise choice to split up team EU.  

Yes, and when she did her twee cheer, "gimme an E" or whatever and wouldn't leave him alone until he responded to her... you could see in his eyes how much he hated her in that moment!

[CherZ]

Skunk lady is way too overbearing and full of herself so yes, I'll be glad when she's gone. Tracy should have been gone last night instead of the Dad, she bombed both ones if I recall.

Italian hipster is really kind of annoying too. He is a fabulous baker but seems rather arrogant. I hated his facial expressions when he wasn't paired up with his friend during the second round.

The Italian guy he was paired up with in the first heat seems very nice and down to earth. I think he's my new fav. That and the "can't stop smiling" lady. She seems nice. ;)

[springbarb]

15 hours ago, mlp said:

I haven't retained the names of most of these contestants yet but...................... I was actually a bit shocked when they sent the man home tonight.  I thought the woman's was clearly worse and the guy has been doing great since the beginning.  She hasn't. 

The guy who went home has been in the bottom two every week, I think. It was probably a culmination of everything elimination.

[camom]

The guy with the mustache bugs me a little.  Whenever someone else wins a challenge he looks like he just smelled something bad, like the judges made a mistake.

[Maya]

28 minutes ago, camom said:

The guy with the mustache bugs me a little.  Whenever someone else wins a challenge he looks like he just smelled something bad, like the judges made a mistake.

With the mustache, glasses, floppy bangs and accent, he always seems like he’s wearing a disguise to me 😂

[littlebennysmom]

21 minutes ago, Maya said:

With the mustache, glasses, floppy bangs and accent, he always seems like he’s wearing a disguise to me 😂

It's a real Snidely Whiplash look -- "curses, foiled again!" (twirls moustache).

[Texasmom1970]

I am not a chef but I love to eat. It is hard to judge since we cant taste the food but I think the lady should have gone home tonight.

[LittleIggy]

I like Saber. He’s funny and cute in a puppy dog way. 😆

[cherbitrary]

13 hours ago, Maya said:

With the mustache, glasses, floppy bangs and accent, he always seems like he’s wearing a disguise to me 😂

That is what I think every time I see him!

[Omeletsmom]

16 hours ago, Maya said:

With the mustache, glasses, floppy bangs and accent, he always seems like he’s wearing a disguise to me 😂

I think of him as hipster Damiano because they have similar accents.  For some reason, I don't find him as annoying as his looks would indicate.  I like both him and Saber. (? -- not sure how to spell it).

Edited April 3, 2019 by Omeletsmom

[40Love]

On 4/2/2019 at 1:55 PM, mlp said:

Maybe Lorraine takes more bites than we see.  She was a model and she still has a knock-out figure so she probably doesn't want to take in any more empty calories per show than she has to.  Having said that, I don't see how she can make judgments based on what we are shown of her tasting.

She seems to make valid critiques... Sometimes one of the other judges disagrees with her... But, I don't remember ever seeing BOTH judges reject her opinion. So she must be tasting enough to give a reasonable response. In can't eat like that, but if it works for her... cool!

[40Love]

1 hour ago, Omeletsmom said:

For some reason, I don't find him as annoying as his looks would indicate.  I like both him and Saber. (? -- not sure how to spell it).

I like him too... and don't think he's annoying at all. In fact, I find him kind of cute... disguise and all. --- (ducks to avoid shoes and pillows thrown at my head.) Heh!😄

[CharlizeCat]

How nice for the one team to think of Nancy by spelling out L-U-S-H.

[littlebennysmom]

Please, stop with the bourbon challenges.  We get it, Nancy's an alcoholic, the enabling must stop.  Plus, since when is bourbon "spring-y"?

Jason's advice to Corey was crap -- "don't change any of the flavors or it's not a hummingbird cake" means he wants the guy to lose.  Um, the challenge is to redo the dessert, not a literal interpretation.

Marqessa needs to do something about those chest moles, they look ready to drop into the batter of whatever she's making.

[Texasmom1970]

Nancy seriously needs an intervention. Someone call AA!