Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I simply tolerate Paul.  Not a fan.  Thoroughly enjoy Prue, Noel, Alison and adore GBBO so he's part of the package.  

Sorry to see Megan go before a couple of others on HBC I'm not fond of but she did not have a good night.  Happy for Steven and loved that the judges embraced his humor with the twist.  

I don't mind Nancy at all.  I like that there is someone judging from her "era" and I go way back with her to Farmhouse Rules so I'm used to her personality.  

I don't mind Paul and I don't mind Nancy (even though I do find her OTT). I agree that it is good to have someone from her era and someone her age. It is like Prue (and before that Mary Berry), it is nice to have someone older and more "experienced". 

[RealityCheck]

I thought Jessie wore a pretty ugly sweater.

 

For me, Nancy conducting when she likes the dessert is way past its expiration date.  I do not remember her using that gesture when Lorraine was the third judge.  I'm wondering if Carla's "duude" caused Nancy to stay up nights in the off season trying to come up with an equivalent signature mannerism.

[Rammchick]

I guess Duff's Chanukah sweater is the only nod to a different December holiday we're going to get this year.

[mlp]

I don't understand why the judges keep letting Courtney slide through.  Her gooey caramel dessert looked like a sloppy brown blob.  They praised her flavors and didn't say anything about how it looked when they've criticized others for better presentations.  I find her and Jer very annoying.

 

[Bumblebee84047]

Buzzed Carla is an adorable Carla.

[Starscream]

4 hours ago, mlp said:

I don't understand why the judges keep letting Courtney slide through.  Her gooey caramel dessert looked like a sloppy brown blob. 

 

Because the pre-heats have no bearing on whether or not a baker advances.  The most I'd say they matter is a baker might develop a good reputation with a lot of good pre-heats that might be beneficial in a bottom two situation against a baker who has a similarly bad bake but a worse overall reputation.

[mlp]

41 minutes ago, Starscream said:

Because the pre-heats have no bearing on whether or not a baker advances.

I realize that but I still think they've been easier on her all along for some reason.  Several of the bakers have been criticized for their decorating skills, a couple more than once, but they said nothing about Courtney's brown blobs.  Her trifle decoration was pretty bad too.  I guess one could argue that we don't really know if they said anything negative because comments could have been edited out.  That's true but, if so, I'd wonder why.

[dleighg]

4 hours ago, mlp said:

That's true but, if so, I'd wonder why.

Maybe the editors think the hair flipping is charming to the viewers. Personally I can't stand it.

[TVbitch]

I could never pin point which celebrity Megan was pinging for me. Was it Markie Post? Was it Christina Appelgate? Now I'll never figure it out.

I was also confused by them showing Rolos but never saying Rolo. Maybe they filmed the episode before they had locked down the sponser/contract.

Like Stephen, to this day I can't even so much as smell spiced rum due to an extremely unfortunate night of teenage debauchery with Captain Morgan.  

[tv echo]

I still think Megan looks like Jewel Staite (Firefly)...

   

[libgirl2]

32 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

I could never pin point which celebrity Megan was pinging for me. Was it Markie Post? Was it Christina Appelgate? Now I'll never figure it out.

I was also confused by them showing Rolos but never saying Rolo. Maybe they filmed the episode before they had locked down the sponser/contract.

Like Stephen, to this day I can't even so much as smell spiced rum due to an extremely unfortunate night of teenage debauchery with Captain Morgan.  

There were a few mentions about who she looked like. I think she looks a bit like Laura Linney. 

Not big on rum here either for similar reasons. Vacation in the Caribbean, went to a night club with my cousins. When you order a rum and coke, they gave you a bottle of each..... I can end it there. 

[tennisgurl]

It seems like Nancy was in a much better mood this week, must have been that ice slide shot! I'm surprised to see a Steven win, but he had a really good week. Where has that been this entire time exactly? I know that Jer can be a lot, but I like her enthusiasm and she had a really good week with her bakes. 

I was sad to see Megan go, she got stuck with a pretty rough bake, but I would have been pissed if Rolf went home this early because of one mediocre bake after leading the pack for so long. 

Some very tasty bakes this week, I really need to stop watching this show while hungry.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I was sad to see Megan go, she got stuck with a pretty rough bake, but I would have been pissed if Rolf went home this early because of one mediocre bake after leading the pack for so long. 

 

I think in the first round, that topper was way too hard. In the second, that book was kind of sad looking. I  know twists can be a pain, but the others seemed to get it (except Courtney, I thought hers was lame). Maybe if she would have decorated the book up some? 

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I know that Jer can be a lot, but I like her enthusiasm and she had a really good week with her bakes. 

 

I liked Jer from the beginning, she is really enjoying herself. Will she win? No, but I like watching her. 

[carrps]

I'm not a "fan" of Paul Hollywood, and I don't think his personal pecadilloes have anything to do with his knowledge of baking. In that area, he gets tons more respect than Nancy. I don't like her personality -- she's one of those look-at-me types with not much to back it up. I don't respect her opinions because I think she has pets and is often biased. I hate how she thinks it so cutesy that she's such a boozehound. Whew. 

[proserpina65]

On 12/3/2024 at 2:42 PM, Madding crowd said:

I like Paul well enough but he’s not perfect; he cheated on his wife with a previous host/judge on the American version of the Baking show and his own son doesn’t talk to him. 

Okay, let me rephrase that: I have far more respect for Paul Hollywood's knowledge of baking than I do for Nancy's.  Therefore I love it when bakers I like get a handshake from him, which also is far less ridiculously over the top than Nancy conducting an orchestra.  I don't really know anything about either of them as people.

Edited December 4 by proserpina65

[Pi237]

I was surprised the judges were so charmed by a roll of toilet paper on a Christmas dessert.  Not the reaction I expected. 
 

Tipsy Carla was adorable.

sometimes Nancy annoys me and other times I don’t mind her antics. But I’ll be happy to never hear Lady Flava again. Nothing against her, just said Too Much. 

 

 

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, Pi237 said:

I was surprised the judges were so charmed by a roll of toilet paper on a Christmas dessert.  Not the reaction I expected. 
 

Tipsy Carla was adorable.

sometimes Nancy annoys me and other times I don’t mind her antics. But I’ll be happy to never hear Lady Flava again. Nothing against her, just said Too Much. 

 

 

I feel the same with Nancy, she can be annoying but sometimes she is kind of funny. 

I think the TP was just so out of left field that they were surprised. And his trifle was good. 

[RoxiP]

I'm just going on record as saying Natasha has great Christmas earrings.

[Splashy]

On 12/2/2024 at 9:10 PM, kathyk2 said:

Megan was robbed announcing a twist with thirty minutes left is wrong.

That was wrong for everyone. I said What? With 30 minutes left?

On 12/3/2024 at 11:28 AM, Rammchick said:

Nancy's conducting the orchestra thing TWICE in one show?! Ugh.

OMG DON'T GET ME STARTED!!! Sorry, she just really triggers me with that nonsense.* That is not a conducting pattern, Nancy! She's doing infinity symbols.

  * Music major here 😎

On 12/3/2024 at 12:24 PM, Madding crowd said:

it’s no different than Carla saying Duuude

I get tired of that, too, but at least she hasn't said it that much lately. 

 

On 12/3/2024 at 1:15 PM, dleighg said:

they called them "caramel candies."

I noticed that. I said, why don't you just call them Rolos? But yeah, I guess they didn't pay enough for that!

On 12/3/2024 at 1:16 PM, proserpina65 said:

I love fuzzy navels.

My roommates & I used to drink those in college! 😋 Ha - long lost memory.

10 hours ago, TVbitch said:

I can't even so much as smell spiced rum due to an extremely unfortunate night of teenage debauchery with Captain Morgan.  

One Christmas (late teens) I got really sick after I ate some chocolate rum balls. After I got better, I wondered what cookies we had left, and when I opened the tin that had the rum balls in it, I gagged from the smell 🤮. I'm ok with it now, decades later! Not sure that I actually got sick from the cookies, but maybe caught a virus and the rum balls were the last thing I ate before the symptoms kicked in, so I made the association. 

Megan actually did pretty well until this week. The book was pretty sad, but also she said reading was one of her hobbies . . . that's not what the twist was about. It was supposed to be something specific to you that you have in your work space. Maybe she reads on her breaks? 

Edited December 5 by Splashy
Fixed formatting issues.

[Frost]

I don't know why Meghan didn't just use modeling chocolate to make her book.  She didn't need to stick with the leftover pieces of her bow.  Modeling chocolate wouldn't have taken more time and would have been a lot more colorful.

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, Frost said:

I don't know why Meghan didn't just use modeling chocolate to make her book.  She didn't need to stick with the leftover pieces of her bow.  Modeling chocolate wouldn't have taken more time and would have been a lot more colorful.

She needed to put a bit more effort into it. Yes, twists stink but you need to expect them on here. 

[Seelouis]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

She needed to put a bit more effort into it. Yes, twists stink but you need to expect them on here. 

Except they haven’t done twists all season I think. 

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, Seelouis said:

Except they haven’t done twists all season I think. 

I believe you are right but they have done them all the time in the past. I would have expected it at some point. At least it wasn't some awful thing they had to add last minute that would effect the taste. 

[AZChristian]

On 12/4/2024 at 2:54 AM, dleighg said:

Maybe the editors think the hair flipping is charming to the viewers. Personally I can't stand it.

I think even Carla might have regrets about giving her that nickname.  Everyone else in the world seems to.

I can see her naming her bakery "Lady Flava" now.

[starlightlost]

59 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

At least it wasn't some awful thing they had to add last minute that would effect the taste. 

Like the green apple syrup to a coffee flavored dessert?! Y'all remember that season? That poor lady.

[libgirl2]

4 minutes ago, starlightlost said:

Like the green apple syrup to a coffee flavored dessert?! Y'all remember that season? That poor lady.

That was the one I was thinking about but couldn't remember the exact horror. 

[Rammchick]

19 hours ago, Splashy said:

That was wrong for everyone. I said What? With 30 minutes left?

OMG DON'T GET ME STARTED!!! Sorry, she just really triggers me with that nonsense.* That is not a conducting pattern, Nancy! She's doing infinity symbols. 

It tends to make me yell rude things at the TV 😏

[KittyMom4]

On 12/4/2024 at 3:11 PM, Pi237 said:

I was surprised the judges were so charmed by a roll of toilet paper on a Christmas dessert.  Not the reaction I expected. 
 

Yea, it was cute but wasn't as impressed as the judges were. But for 30 minutes, it was a good idea. 

20 hours ago, Splashy said:

Megan actually did pretty well until this week. The book was pretty sad, but also she said reading was one of her hobbies . . . that's not what the twist was about. It was supposed to be something specific to you that you have in your work space. Maybe she reads on her breaks? 

I thought a cook book/recipe book, and she could have done a MUCH better job of it. I think she struggled as time went on. Overall did well.

 

And yes, "Lady Flava" needs to be retired, sheesh. I was a fan but she has been on my last nerve the last couple episodes. 

Rooting for Rafi!

[libgirl2]

4 minutes ago, KittyMom4 said:

And yes, "Lady Flava" needs to be retired, sheesh. I was a fan but she has been on my last nerve the last couple episodes. 

 

It was cute at first but now it is getting tedious. 

[RoxiP]

She obviously thinks she's cute and she was at first, but her charm is wearing off as the season progresses.  The flipping of hair, the high-pitched baby voice, the fact that her teeth meet top to bottom in the front (sue me - I have struggled with my teeth my entire life so a person's teeth are the first thing that I notice) - she is moving to annoying territory.  

[mojoween]

Two episodes are showing scheduled on the DVR tonight.  I’m guessing because there are three weeks left including today and there is still a pile of contestants.

[mojoween]

My Christmas is red and green, says Nancy, while wearing blue.  🙄

[MerBearHou]

For those of us who go nuts when people mispronounce macaroon and macaron, tonight is rough!

[mojoween]

Rolf said it both ways within the same sentence.

[littlebennysmom]

31 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

For those of us who go nuts when people mispronounce macaroon and macaron, tonight is rough!

They should be sent home for that alone.  

[libgirl2]

Is anyone else getting acne commercials?

[littlebennysmom]

That's exactly what should have happened (see comment above).

[CrazyInAlabama]

(I think they're taking five to the finale, will chop one early, and have five in the final bake, but I could be totally wrong again.  The preview looks like they were announcing the winner with five bakers still there, or they're faking us out again). 

S11.E07 Holiday Pajama Party (two hour episode) (Next week is episode 8, the finale)

New, 12/9/2024

Get cozy for the holiday pajama party! Host Jesse Palmer tasks the bakers with making footie pajama macarons in the preheat.  

Then, it's time to decorate the tree as the bakers team up to make cream puff garlands.

Finally, the competitors must make white elephant desserts consisting of either a Charlotte royale, entremets cake or a dacquoise cake and decorate it with a holiday stuffed cuddle toy. The stakes are high as judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller decide who will advance to the finale.

Bakers:

1. Courtney-Pro-NJ

2. Jer-Pro-NV

3. Natasha-Pro-Mass

4. Steven-Home-Ontario (was on Great Canadian Baking Show)

5. Rafi-Pro-CA

6. Rolf-Calgary-Pro

I love Jesse's pajamas. 

Preheat: Footie pajama Macarons. I wonder how the shape will affect the bake of the macarons?  Natasha explained how this will change the bake quality.  I love Steven's tip about separating the yolks from the egg whites.  Some look fantastic, but a few are total train wrecks.  Steven's are awful.   Rolf's are barely cooked. 

Natasha's are lovely.   

Rafi's is great, with tons of brandy for Nancy, but filling apples aren't cooked enough. 

Jer's is a Santa Shark, with yellow filling.  Duff says the flavors don't work together.

Rolf's are cute.  He has only made macarons less than five times.  Decoration is fantastic.  Duff loves the flavors.

Steven's is a bad decorating job.  Flavors are good. 

Courtney's is bizarre looking. Decorating sucks.  Mexican hot chocolate is way too spicy. Carla says too much heat in the center icing.  

Winner:  Rolf gets an advantage, not cash.  (He picks his teammate, and the other teams). 

The judges are all in pajamas.  for the next Preheat challenge: Bakers team up to decorate the tree with cream puff garlands. They're working in teams of two, one flavor each. 

Rolf and Natasha-Judges love Rolf's, but Nancy doesn't taste bourbon. Duff doesn't like Natasha's, and Carla says underbaked. 

Courtney and Jer-Garland isn't neat.  Courtney's is tasty, but Duff says shell not cooked enough.   Jer's is great flavor, but shell overbaked. 

Rafi and Steve-Looks fantastic.  Steven's tastes fantastic. Rafi's taste is great flavor, but Carla says a little soft in the center. 

WInners are: Steven and Rafi, and they get a main heat advantage. 

Main Heat Challenge: Finally, the competitors must make white elephant desserts consisting of either a Charlotte royale, entremets cake or a dacquoise cake and decorate it with a holiday stuffed cuddle toy.  Steven and Rafi go first and last on the white elephant gift exchange.  Jesse's right, this is such a boring white elephant, no one swapped gifts.  Steven swaps with Natasha. 

Steven's is gorgeous. I love the decoration. Cake is beautiful when he slices it. Flavors are fantastic. 

Jer's is cute, taste is great. 

Rafi's is beautiful decorating, and very professional.  Flavors are fantastic, Carla and Nancy are directing music. 

Natasha's looks amateur, lumpy, drippy, and like I made it (I don't bake, I buy, and her cake is ugly).  The stuffie on top is hideous.  Flavors are lacking, except one small layer. 

Rolf's is beautiful, and well decorated, turning it into a teddy bear/sock monkey. (I think it looks like a clown).   Slice is lovely.   Duff says the Bavarian filling is perfect.    

Courtney's is interesting.  Her stuffy looks like a villain, not Santa.  Duff says flavors aren't great, Carla says flavors are there, but texture is off. 

Top Two: Rolf and Jer.

Winner: Jer

Bottom Two : Natasha and Courtney

Eliminated: Courtney

Bakers to finale: Rolf, Natasha, Jer, Rafi, and Steven. 

Edited December 10 by CrazyInAlabama

[mojoween]

I hope Jer’s family was paying attention and she gets that hand mixer for Christmas.

But am I high, or did Nancy bitch about pink in the preheat, but Jer’s pink won the main heat?

I read one of those AITA posts where this girl’s family was mad she won a cooking competition because the mom thought cooking is just a hobby and not a life skill, like neurology (the mother was a doctor).  Well fuck that lady, because listening to Jer talk about the Charlotte Royale shows that you have to know a heckuva lot to be good at baking.

Rafi saying that Steven does things in unexpected ways made me laugh because I’m sure Rafi was being complimentary, because Steven was sitting right next to him, but it can also come off not at all complimentary and that Rafi is just baffled watching Steven work.

Small Rafi whacking his family with a stuffed giraffe is a charming visual.

I thought Rolf’s “bear” looked like an elf.

[MerBearHou]

9 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I thought Rolf’s “bear” looked like an elf.

I did too — like Hermey, that elf in Rudolph who wanted to be a dentist.  

Courtney’s final cake was a total confusion with the “galaxy” decor on top of her glaze and then the angry looking with a moustache stuffie on the top.  The cake layers looked problematic when they were slicing.  I will not miss her one bit.  She will call herself Lady Flavor until she’s 95 and the judges egged that on completely.  

[kathyk2]

I liked Courtney but I'm glad Natasha survived. I'm not as fond of Steven as the judges are I thought the toilet paper was stupid. I thought Duff was getting frustrated with Nancy.

[springbarb]

5 minutes ago, kathyk2 said:

I liked Courtney but I'm glad Natasha survived. I'm not as fond of Steven as the judges are I thought the toilet paper was stupid. I thought Duff was getting frustrated with Nancy.

Duff's comment that not everything needs to be red and green was excellent.

I was annoyed in the macaron judging that they got on Courtney's for not looking like pajamas, but not making a comment about the shark ones. They looked cool, but they didn't look like pajamas.

[bilgistic]

Is it just me, or was everyone extra obnoxious tonight?

I hope I never hear the phrase "Lady Flavor" for the rest of my days.

[Girl in a Cardigan]

4 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Is it just me, or was everyone extra obnoxious tonight?

I hope I never hear the phrase "Lady Flavor" for the rest of my days.

Literally thought this too! I know this episode was two hours long, but it felt like FOREVER. I never want to hear Courtney's voice or Jer's stupid cat noises again.

Glad Natasha made it to the finale because she fucked up one thing, but Courtney has been consistently bad for weeks. Making something that tastes good, but looks like shit is not what this competition is about.

Like Rafi, I'm baffled by everything Steven does, but I guess it's working for him (except when it doesn't). Hoping he gets sent home in the preheat with Jer, and I can see Natasha, Rafi, and Rolf battled it out for the champion.

[libgirl2]

I don't get the hate for Steven. I think he has really stepped it up the last couple of weeks. And even thought the decorating on his Hanukkah pajamas didn't work, I was glad someone acknowledged the holiday! This is the holiday baking championship yet nothing. 

As soon as I saw the design for Courtney's cake, I knew she would leave. 

[MerBearHou]

@libgirl2 Steven is one of my favorites!  Along with Natasha.  They both have warm, wonderful personalities with talent to back it up.  

[rlc]

Ixnay on the adylay lavorflay forever.

[Frost]

I was so worried for Natasha!  What a time to have a bad bake.  I'm so glad she made it through, and I'm very glad to see Courtney go.  Jer looks to be a contender, but her cat noises are not cute and her screaming and jumping up and down are annoying me.  And you guys get off my lawn!!!  🙃

Rafi baffles me.  Is he really an excellent baker, or does he play one on TV?  His persona doesn't seem to match his results.  Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Rolf seems to have loosened up.  I'm starting to root for him, and I used to think he was kind of stiff and insufferable!

[libgirl2]

4 minutes ago, Frost said:

I was so worried for Natasha!  What a time to have a bad bake.  I'm so glad she made it through, and I'm very glad to see Courtney go.  Jer looks to be a contender, but her cat noises are not cute and her screaming and jumping up and down are annoying me.  And you guys get off my lawn!!!  🙃

Rafi baffles me.  Is he really an excellent baker, or does he play one on TV?  His persona doesn't seem to match his results.  Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Rolf seems to have loosened up.  I'm starting to root for him, and I used to think he was kind of stiff and insufferable!

I was worried for Natasha but after seeing what Courtney made, I felt she would be safe. She is just too good. 

Rolf is really showing some fun personality and I like it. 

[mojoween]

I’ve fallen in platonic love with Natasha and when she cried about her melted lobster, I know she couldn’t have seen it, but we all saw what Courtney did and I wanted to reassure Natasha she would be ok.

The “Friendsgiving” rerun showed up on my DVR randomly over the weekend, so I watched it in case I had missed something (who remembers Karen was on this show?) and Duff said Courtney’s cake in that episode was more suited for Halloween.  That was the first thing I thought when I saw her cake design last night.