Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[suebee12]

3 hours ago, Dirtybubble said:

Forgot to add:  LOVE JESSE PALMER!  I think he is a great host and I've been a fan of his since The Bachelor days!

I love him also but we go back further than the Bachelor(which I have never watched!) because I loved him when he played with my Gators!!!!🐊🐊🐊

Edited to add that I swear I searched the Thanksgiving show! I thought it had gotten eaten like some of the other shows have with the change-over.

Edited November 5, 2019 by suebee12

[mlp]

I was hoping they'd eliminate Melissa.  Devon's cake may have been a little dry but it looked right.  Melissa's was a mess.  I find it hard to believe that the taste was so much better that it outweighed the poor construction.

I like Janet.  She seems very pleasant and (shallow) I like her hair.  

6 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I’m afraid Pistaaaaachio will be around for a while.

I have to laugh at that because I grew up in Buffalo and sounded just like that when I moved to the Midwest.  After decades here, I've lost the flat A but she sounds normal to me.

On the FN site there are two videos about this show with Jason Smith.  The first one is short and shows him talking to the contestants.  The second one shows him making his own whatchamacallit - cookie tower cake.  He is absolutely a natural on camera.  I really enjoy him when he's just being himself and not throwing in all those silly sayings.

[kj4ever]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

I'm confused-- there already was one: 

Aww those are cookies I made in the pic!  That's awesome!

[theatremouse]

Y'all this topic is for Holiday Baking Championship only. Please stop discussing other shows.

[Irlandesa]

18 hours ago, GaT said:

Did anybody watch Holiday Baking Championship Sweet Revenge that came right after the regular show? My DVR cut off just as they were going to announce the winner.

I was happy with Lerome's win.  My DVR cut off the first episode (the season premiere) so I'm glad I recorded this special because otherwise I wouldn't have known who got booted.  Surprisingly, though, this episode wasn't cut off.

23 hours ago, littlebennysmom said:

Poor Devon.  But his plan for the $25,000 (adding another child to his family) really wouldn't have taken him far.  That would pay for, what, the kids diapers?  If it required more than that, tough luck, kiddo!

Wasn't Devon the guy who just had a baby with his husband/partner? I took it that he wanted the money for adoption or surrogacy or whatever route they want to take to bring another child into their family.

[mlp]

Revenge show.................. I liked Lerome during his season so I was happy for him but I actually think Steve should have won.  The assignment was, specifically, to make an elegant centerpiece cake.  Steve's was lovely.  Lerome's was rustic and would have been suitable for a kid's party.  IMO He didn't meet the challenge.  

[Rammchick]

21 hours ago, dleighg said:

why would semolina taste like corn? 

Maybe it was corn meal, and not semolina?  But yes, good point.

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

Maybe it was corn meal, and not semolina?  But yes, good point.

the guy said it was semonlina-- maybe he made a mistake? Or maybe the texture just reminded Duff of cornmeal.

[PaulaO]

Do the bakers bring their recipes, or are they just winging it?..  I’ve not seen anybody have a printed recipe at their bake station.

[luvapickle]

23 hours ago, mlp said:

I was hoping they'd eliminate Melissa.  Devon's cake may have been a little dry but it looked right.  Melissa's was a mess.  I find it hard to believe that the taste was so much better that it outweighed the poor construction.

I like Janet.  She seems very pleasant and (shallow) I like her hair.  

I have to laugh at that because I grew up in Buffalo and sounded just like that when I moved to the Midwest.  After decades here, I've lost the flat A but she sounds normal to me.

On the FN site there are two videos about this show with Jason Smith.  The first one is short and shows him talking to the contestants.  The second one shows him making his own whatchamacallit - cookie tower cake.  He is absolutely a natural on camera.  I really enjoy him when he's just being himself and not throwing in all those silly sayings.

As a baker, I feel taste should always win out. Otherwise all cakes could be rice krispies(like some cake makers) or worse Styrofoam 🙂

[luvapickle]

3 hours ago, dleighg said:

the guy said it was semonlina-- maybe he made a mistake? Or maybe the texture just reminded Duff of cornmeal.

Semolina can be made from maize, so maybe it productions fault for not labeling it as such. Just like rice it comes in different varieties.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The container said semolina on it.     So my guess is someone mislabeled it.    I like this bunch of contestants.     I really wish they would rank the contestants one through whatever number they finish each week, and keep them all until the end.   Then pick a winner, with the lowest score, so they can be graded on all of the work they did all season.    I wish they gave them more time, so they could do a better job.  

Edited November 8, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[kj4ever]

They are currently replaying season one. They had some really good peeps on this season, and it's kind of funny watching holly jolly Erin after seeing her true self and meltdown on Food Network Star.

[Claire85]

On 11/7/2019 at 7:19 PM, kj4ever said:

They are currently replaying season one. They had some really good peeps on this season, and it's kind of funny watching holly jolly Erin after seeing her true self and meltdown on Food Network Star.

Where can I see this? She drove me nuts on HBC. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I saw the season one episodes a while ago, maybe on Cooking channel instead of FN, and the Erin episodes were so interesting to watch when you already know the winner.   She certainly wasn't so jolly, and happy on FNS was she?    I didn't like her on the rerun where the season winners were teamed with the kid's Holiday show winners.   Jason and Maeve worked with their teammates, but Erin seemed to ignore her teammate most of the time.   

Edited November 9, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Spunkygal]

3 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I saw the season one episodes a while ago, maybe on Cooking channel instead of FN, and the Erin episodes were so interesting to watch when you already know the winner.   She certainly wasn't to jolly, and happy on FNS was she?    

Yes, reruns of previous seasons are on Cooking Channel!

[kj4ever]

On 11/9/2019 at 12:03 PM, Claire85 said:

Where can I see this? She drove me nuts on HBC. 

They replayed on FN, but I think they are available On Demand right now too.

[mojoween]

I know Melissa’s cake was TERRIBLE and didn’t meet the challenge at all, but there is something about her I really like.  And she’s doing this with her own bun in the oven!   
I really want to try Geoffrey’s pumpkin spice caramel signature bite.  That’s all my favorite things in one small bite.

[omgtv]

OMG those maple bacon mini-buns looked sooooo good. And I am a vegetarian! 🤣

[Pepper the Cat]

7 minutes ago, omgtv said:

OMG those maple bacon mini-buns looked sooooo good. And I am a vegetarian! 🤣

They looked so yummy!

[omgtv]

I actually felt bad for Sarah, she seemed totally panicked, and I don't want her to be cut because I think she is really good.  I think she and Cedrick are cute. 

[Spunkygal]

I’m going to buy Jesse his own fork.

[littlebennysmom]

44 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I’m going to buy Jesse his own fork.

What?!  And deny the Bourbon Battleaxe the pleasure of forcing Jesse to eat off her fork, whether he likes it or not?  They need to stop showing that on every show, televising Jesse's "gotta put up with this tasting off of her fork every week" is progressively increasing my second hand embarrassment for Nancy.  

[Maya]

Literally everything everyone made in the first round looked delicious. And most of the pies too! 
 

[Rammchick]

On 11/6/2019 at 11:49 AM, luvapickle said:

Semolina can be made from maize, so maybe it productions fault for not labeling it as such. Just like rice it comes in different varieties.

But just realized, if that had been the case, then all of them would have tasted like corn, not just Devon's.  I suspect he grabbed the wrong container.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, littlebennysmom said:

What?!  And deny the Bourbon Battleaxe the pleasure of forcing Jesse to eat off her fork, whether he likes it or not?  They need to stop showing that on every show, televising Jesse's "gotta put up with this tasting off of her fork every week" is progressively increasing my second hand embarrassment for Nancy.  

It looked like a spoon to me. How do you know there isn’t an extra piece of cutlery there for him.

I couldn’t believe some of the big bites Lorraine was taking! About time she used those big teeth!

[kj4ever]

8 hours ago, Maya said:

Literally everything everyone made in the first round looked delicious. And most of the pies too! 
 

I thought they all looked great too.  I'm really liking this batch of bakers.  My favorite on these types of competition is always who's food I want to eat (and they never win lol), and I wanted to try all of those.

[dleighg]

at least the twist here was sensible. Flavored whipped cream is pretty fair to everyone.

And that whipped meringue "dribbling" on the maple crust was intriguing.

Edited November 12, 2019 by dleighg

[luvapickle]

They are really doing different things this season.- Don't get those sticky buns too often & we had two of them doing it. Plus that layer bar was different than the usual 5 or 7 layer bars.

I don't mind Nancy feeding Jesse. Chances are he's asking for a bite, since most of the time the hosts don't eat anything. Occasionally we'll see a bite here or there.

8 hours ago, Rammchick said:

But just realized, if that had been the case, then all of them would have tasted like corn, not just Devon's.  I suspect he grabbed the wrong container.

Possible. Or he used far more than anyone else.  Since they don't show everything available, it's hard to know. 

[Popples]

That bourbon whiskey must have been 100 proof since Nancy could actually taste it.

[theatremouse]

10 hours ago, Rammchick said:

But just realized, if that had been the case, then all of them would have tasted like corn, not just Devon's.  I suspect he grabbed the wrong container.

There was a pretty conspicuous shot of him grabbing the container with a big ol' "Semolina" label on it. It wasn't continuous so I suppose he might have grabbed/had access to both at some point and actually used the wrong one, but I think the issue was probably just that he used too much and it gave a "cornmeal on bottom of pizza" sensation.

[Rammchick]

10 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

It looked like a spoon to me. How do you know there isn’t an extra piece of cutlery there for him.

Even if there is, Nancy should stop feeding him with it.  It's not cute and it doesn't become either of them.

[libgirl2]

Almost all of the pies looked so good last night. Poor Maria, she had plums! I think her concept was good but it didn't work out. Too bad. 

13 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

It looked like a spoon to me. How do you know there isn’t an extra piece of cutlery there for him.

I couldn’t believe some of the big bites Lorraine was taking! About time she used those big teeth!

She seems to be eating with more gusto this season, I mean really digging in. 

Edited November 12, 2019 by libgirl2

[mlp]

I wonder if someone has been reading viewers' comments and actually taking them into consideration.  Lorraine is tasting the food, Nancy seems less obnoxious and the twist didn't involve incorporating rutabaga at the last minute.  One can hope.

I like all the bakers.  My least favorite is Melissa but that's because of her gross tattoos.  She seems nice enough.  I really liked the woman from Hawaii and was sorry to see her leave but I didn't want Kobe to be eliminated either, especially after he did so well in the first challenge.  

I enjoyed the "Best of..." show that came on afterward - can't remember the correct title.  I still think Bill should have beat Erin.  And I still can't stand Cheryl and Maeve.

[ruffy666]

This season is pretty good so far.  I think Jesse Palmer has really grown into this gig and is second only to my beloved John Henson as the best host for this type of show on FN.

Seems to me... most of the very best bakers just do not have scintillating personalities.  There's a level of perfectionism that doesn't lend itself well to the jolly, carefree baker that we might hope for.  And I include myself in that group (not one of the very best bakers, oh no, just that I'm not good at having helpers in the kitchen because I like to do things MY WAY!)  😎

[mojoween]

I just cannot with Sarah.  It comes across like she finds herself incredibly precious.

As a heavily arm-tatted person that’s probably part of why I like Melissa so much, heh.  Also those plum pies looked divine.

I’m really surprised Sarah’s pumpkin hole was not called out by the judges.  They usually get all up on stuff like that.

[MerBearHou]

7 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I just cannot with Sarah.  It comes across like she finds herself incredibly precious.

As a heavily arm-tatted person that’s probably part of why I like Melissa so much, heh.  Also those plum pies looked divine.

I’m really surprised Sarah’s pumpkin hole was not called out by the judges.  They usually get all up on stuff like that.

I completely agree about Sarah.  I mean, she drives me nuts when she is doing her "I'm so cute and acting like a teenager" bit.  That's a personal pet peeve of mine.  And I don't think it's an act -- she's gotten validation by acting young and cutesy and overly perky.  I literally have to look away or mute the TV when she's doing it.  When she's just baking and having normal interactions, I don't mind her a bit.  Totally concur -- how did the concave section covered up with dough leaves not get called out as such an obvious issue?  

Last week, I absolutely thought Melissa should have gone with her mushy, collapsing cake.  But I like her fine and was pleased for her wins this week.  She seems very genuine and kind. 

So glad Kobe wasn't eliminated.  

[littlebennysmom]

22 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

It looked like a spoon to me. How do you know there isn’t an extra piece of cutlery there for him.

😂😂😂 Whether it's a spoon, a fork, etc is meaningless.  Is he in a high chair or somehow unable to feed himself?  No, it's ridiculously cringey, same as if Mario Batali were spoon/fork/spork feeding the on set eye candy.

[Irlandesa]

I want a recipe to the top layer that the judges were raving about in Melissa's six layer bar. 

[Spunkygal]

5 hours ago, littlebennysmom said:

😂😂😂 Whether it's a spoon, a fork, etc is meaningless.  Is he in a high chair or somehow unable to feed himself?  No, it's ridiculously cringey, same as if Mario Batali were spoon/fork/spork feeding the on set eye candy.

Exactly! It’s one thing for folks to have their own utensils and share a dessert as you would in a restaurant. I have no problem with that. It’s just icky for Nancy to feed Jesse with her own fork. 

[suebee12]

3 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I have no problem with that. It’s just icky for Nancy to feed Jesse with her own fork. 

Well, we aren't sure it is her fork but if Jesse doesn't mind, why should we? Seems he is enjoying tasting!

[Dirtybubble]

2 hours ago, suebee12 said:

Well, we aren't sure it is her fork but if Jesse doesn't mind, why should we? Seems he is enjoying tasting!

Wow I didn't even notice this.  I adore all the judges and the host which is odd for me because I usually can't stand at least one judge or host on these types of reality shows.

18 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I completely agree about Sarah.  I mean, she drives me nuts when she is doing her "I'm so cute and acting like a teenager" bit.  That's a personal pet peeve of mine.  And I don't think it's an act -- she's gotten validation by acting young and cutesy and overly perky.  I literally have to look away or mute the TV when she's doing it.

Ok I'm glad it's not just me.  That overly perky, cutesy personality is just so frigging annoying to me.  She was waaay too excited over those stupid gingerbread men hugging each walnut.  Good grief girl you managed to get their little arms around a nut that's all--calm the F down!

[TVbitch]

Just got caught up! On Sweet Revenge, I thought the one guy (Steve?) was robbed. He obviously did too, cuz he went from stunned to seething as the winner celebrated.

I thought maybe Lorraine was taking bigger bites cuz the bakes were tasting really good this season.  

I also was wondering if they were able to use recipies. Does anybody know?

Also, the bakers know their final challenge ahead of time, don't they? 

[kj4ever]

41 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Just got caught up! On Sweet Revenge, I thought the one guy (Steve?) was robbed. He obviously did too, cuz he went from stunned to seething as the winner celebrated.

I thought maybe Lorraine was taking bigger bites cuz the bakes were tasting really good this season.  

I also was wondering if they were able to use recipies. Does anybody know?

Also, the bakers know their final challenge ahead of time, don't they? 

You know what's really funny?  They had a best of show on the other night, and Lorraine took at least regular sized bites of all of those.  Who knows maybe she takes a regular bite at first and then does her little bites of each of the components.  These shows are all what they want us to see.

[luvapickle]

Thanksgiving Cake Spectacular is on Sunday in case anyone wants to watch0with Maureen McCormick this year. Be careful looking at the guide, because they have these episodes really screwed up.

[mojoween]

I finally finished the special that was on after the regular show last Monday and I realized season four was the first season I watched.

Now I thought Douglas from last season was a very good baker, but when they showed all five winning cakes...oof.  His looked very...lacking from the first three seasons.  And Jennifer’s was also not quite up to the first three either, although those geese were very cute, especially since they were done freehand.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Sarah's over the top performance reminds me so much of Erin from Season 1.   I'm muting the sound when she starts her cringy presentations.    And I think we all saw how Erin was on FNS, so I'm wondering if Sarah's not really like that either.    

Was it Sarah that had the giant rolled cake that has dishes and silverware on the surface, and it cracked badly?    That was terrible, and I think she should have gone home.  

Edited November 22, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[rlc]

I really wish they would let people pick first as an advantage rather than switch with another contestant so they don’t look like dicks.

Canadian Janet and her objectification of Jesse is hysterical.

Also, sounds like I’m in the minority, but I really like Melissa and believe that flavor should always be more important than presentation.

[omgtv]

4 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Sarah's over the top performance reminds me so much of Erin from Season 1.   I'm muting the sound when she starts her cringy presentations.    And I think we all saw how Erin was on FNS, so I'm wondering is Sarah's not really like that either.    

I found Erin pretty annoying on HBC, but I didn't watch FNS. What happened with her on that show?

I wish they would put Jason's season on repeat.  I LOVED his final cake so much!

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, omgtv said:

I found Erin pretty annoying on HBC, but I didn't watch FNS. What happened with her on that show?

I wish they would put Jason's season on repeat.  I LOVED his final cake so much!

FYI, Cooking Channel is showing Jason’s season on Nov. 22.