Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[Grizzly]

I know Sumera is not to everyone's taste but gosh is she pretty in her talking heads with her hair down.

[JudgeyMcJudgyPants]

The right person definitely went home but that also means I’m stuck listening to Kristen for atleast another episode. Bummer!

[Guest]

I thought Kristen seemed more settled down this episode. I'm glad she stayed, though I had nothing against Antoine. I laughed when Jesse was trying to talk to her about her burned ladyfingers: "I have no time to talk!" *runs off*

Also had to laugh when Jesse asked Zakiya "and what dessert did you get?" at judges' table, and she has to say "Trifle" while there's this perfectly obvious trifle sitting right there next to her. I know they have to do that, but still...duh! 😆

Mark me down as one who doesn't mind Sumera. She's "on" for sure, but it doesn't bother me. Maybe it's the accent.

Edited November 15, 2022 by tracyscott76
Clarification

[CheshireCat]

I'm not a fan of Sumera. I think she's too fake, as in, a lot of what she does/how she is seems to be an act and that's not my cup of tea. But she does have great baking skills!

I chuckled when Aaron said it wouldn't be easy after receiving rosemary - which is not that unusual an ingredient for desserts - right after Bill had gotten mashed potatoes. I'd take rosemary over mashed potatoes any day.

I didn't catch what Duff said about what needs to be done to get clean, crisp lines on the outside. Did he say the cake/cream needs to be cooler?

I loved how Jesse seemed entirely content to be able to continue eating Zakiya's corn pudding while the judges had to comment on it.

So, they cut open cream puffs but fill eclairs with a piping tip from the inside? That's kind of backwards. 😂

What was Christine doing? Did she forget the cranberries or did she leave them out for later on purpose? That seemed weird.

I would love to know if the results had been reversed if Zakiya had gone last and Aaron first.
The judges seemed mostly enthusiastic about the look of Aaron's dessert and that he had made a good use of the rosemary whereas it sounded like they wanted to have seconds from Zakiya's.

I thought including carrots and cranberries was a bit unfair. While pastry chefs like to experiment with things like rosemary and thyme and I believe mashed potato is used in gluten-free cakes, carrots and cranberries appear to be a more common dessert ingredient. Cranberries especially. I don't think I've ever had them in a way where they weren't sweet.

You'd think that as much a culinary expert that Aaron is, he'd be a bit more creative when it comes to Tiramisu and realized that you don't have to make it with coffee. All you need is something to soak the ladyfingers in. My mom makes a strawberry tiramisu for which you're supposed to use strawberry liquor, my mom uses the strawberry juice. For this one, I'd probably have used hot cocoa.

I didn't like the twist for this one. I thought having to make a cookie dough and ice it was too much extra work. They already don't have that much time (and I seriously hope that he didn't announce the twist with less than an hour to go).

I'd really love to know why the gingerbread recipe changed from what it originally was in Europe into what it changed into in the US. Were honey and cinnamon and the other spices harder to come by than ginger and molasses? Although, I don't believe melting butter, sugar and honey together is all that common in the US either, so it's almost as if it's a different recipe.

Dru didn't need Glucose syrup, all he needed to do was make traditional gingerbread. That's always chewy 🤷‍♀️

I'd love to know how Antoine normally makes those cookies. They clearly had too much fat (not liquid, that would make the dough gummy-like). If he cools the cookies or the dough at any point when he makes them at home, that could be the difference.

Zakiya's piping was delicate? O-kay.

I thought the top of Sumera's cheesecake looked messy. Of course, the ground in the woods is always a but messy in fall but I don't think it works for a dessert.

I think Jessie went to a pretty good culinary school, right? It sounded like she did. If it is a school with a good reputation, I'd expect two things: I think she should be able to properly  taste her dishes without liking the ingredient she's using and I would expect her to have learned about German gingerbread which would have given her a less gingery alternative.

Aishia's Swiss Roll looked awesome and delicious! It could have been in a bakery display.

Aaron's gingerbread men sweaters looked more like dresses 😂 But Carla has never decorated cookies with royal icing, has she? Aaron's royal icing looked like it was way too thick but, generally, if you iced on the sides, the icing would drip down.
If Aaron made a true Lebkuchen/used true Lebkuchen flavor then his dessert would taste like neither ginger or molasses. But the judges said they get gingerbread while they said they didn't get enough gingerbread with other desserts that didn't have enough of either? That seems weird.

I'm not surprised that Antoine went home. Generally, I'd always put gingerbread flavor into chocolate when I make something with spices and chocolate because yes, the chocolate eats up the flavor is the chocolate itself doesn't taste of the flavor. But, of course, it was much more than that with Antoine and I'm okay with him going home. I wouldn't have minded if Kristen had gone home right along with him, though.

[HyeChaps]

Could it be that Christine forgot to put in the cranberries because Jesse's talking was so distracting?

[Rammchick]

Oy, Nancy.  She served up all the annoying Greatest Hits tonight.  "It's just not gingerbread." She clearly has no imagination.  I love pomegranate molasses and thought that riff was brilliant. "It's not Thanksgiving, it looks like sunset at the beach." What, people who live at the beach don't have Thanksgiving?

And that conducting the orchestra thing makes me want to hurl... and hurl things at the TV!

[CrazyInAlabama]

1 hour ago, HyeChaps said:

Could it be that Christine forgot to put in the cranberries because Jesse's talking was so distracting?

There have been repeated incidents with too much of something (butter in the pie crust last week), and this week Christine forgetting to put the cranberries in., I think it's that they are rushed for time, and don't have a checklist for the recipe ingredients.     I wish they gave them more time.      I think that's Kristen's issue too, rushing to finish, and it was Antoine's too.       I wish they would give them 10 minutes to do a list of ingredients, and timing, so things wouldn't get missed.     

Antoine doing the same mistake on the twist twice was his downfall.   I really liked him, and I'll miss him.   

[dleighg]

Samira didn't bug me as much this episode. She was acting more like a human being and less like a performer.

I thought that Christine should not have tried to put the cranberries on the bottom. She should have just dabbed it in on top. And her caramel was not set enough when she flipped it. Either she did the caramel wrong, or she did it too early.

[Dirtybubble]

13 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I know Sumera is not to everyone's taste but gosh is she pretty in her talking heads with her hair down.

She is pretty and she seems to be a pretty decent chef but it's her "on" personality that bugs me.  It just comes across as really made for TV to me.  I watch way too much reality tv and you can always spot the try hards.

While Dru does come across a bit more authentic.  My gut is telling me that's who he is on a regular basis and he knocked it out of the park with his Tiramisu gingerbread with the super cute red button eyes--well done!  He's quickly becoming my favorite.  And he seems to have a sweet personality too.

Aaron is an early favorite as well.  To be so young and so talented and the piping decoration on his ginger mousse cake was PHENOMENAL!  It looks like a senior baker did it!

Oh lawd Kristen!  You got to go!  I can't with this hyperactive personality.  

I figure Antoine was going.  He screwed up last week and this week.  Enh he just seemed way in over his head.  Poor guy.

Oh and yeah to Jess; he's really knocking it out of the park with his hosting skills.  He's sunny, sweet disposition really mesh well with a Christmas baking challenge.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Dirtybubble
forgot something

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, Dirtybubble said:

While Dru does come across a bit more authentic.  My gut is telling me that's who he is on a regular basis and he knocked it out of the park with his Tiramisu gingerbread with the super cute red button eyes--well done!  He's quickly becoming my favorite.  And he seems to have a sweet personality too.

The way he smiled when he got best bake. You could so just how much it meant to him. I have to admit, he is becoming a favorite. I also think Herschal (spelling) could be a real dark horse in this. 

[RoxiP]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

The way he smiled when he got best bake. You could so just how much it meant to him. I have to admit, he is becoming a favorite. I also think Herschal (spelling) could be a real dark horse in this. 

I had the same thought - he was genuinely pleased to win.  Harshal (sp?) seems to be very competent but not sure he will make it far...but that's nothing personal against him.  

[mlp]

5 hours ago, Dirtybubble said:

While Dru does come across a bit more authentic.  My gut is telling me that's who he is on a regular basis and he knocked it out of the park with his Tiramisu gingerbread with the super cute red button eyes--well done!  He's quickly becoming my favorite.  And he seems to have a sweet personality too.

Aaron is an early favorite as well.  To be so young and so talented and the piping decoration on his ginger mousse cake was PHENOMENAL!  It looks like a senior baker did it!

Oh lawd Kristen!  You got to go!  I can't with this hyperactive personality.  

I figure Antoine was going.  He screwed up last week and this week.  Enh he just seemed way in over his head.  Poor guy.

Oh and yeah to Jess; he's really knocking it out of the park with his hosting skills.  He's sunny, sweet disposition really mesh well with a Christmas baking challenge.

I agree with all of the above except the part about Kristen.  She's cute and does seem a bit ditsy but I don't find her at all offensive.  I do wonder about her being an executive chef though.  Maybe she's the only chef wherever she works, hence the title.  She doesn't seem to be mature enough to be in charge of others.

Dru is cute if you ignore his ridiculous hair.  I like him.  I also like Aaron and Bill.  And the girl who makes puns (Jessica?).   Actually, there isn't anyone in the cast this year that I dislike.  

Edited November 15, 2022 by mlp
add to comment

[RoxiP]

Does it look like Duff has put back on a lot of weight?  

[mojoween]

Herschel’s first attempt with Jesse with offering him the rose was cute.  The second attempt with the gingerbread men was too much.

Kristen is also too much, for me.  Although her panicking gingerbread men were funny.

I hate puns.  LOATHE them.  So how come I find Jessica so charming?

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I hate puns.  LOATHE them.  So how come I find Jessica so charming?

I don't hate puns, though they're not my thing. She is charming though. I think maybe because I think she must be pretty sharp to be able to come up with them on the fly.

[MerBearHou]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Herschel’s first attempt with Jesse with offering him the rose was cute.  The second attempt with the gingerbread men was too much.

I actually thought both attempts were cute, but that's also because I really, really root for Herschel.

I find the puns tiresome and forced now.  Fun for the first couple of them, now I'm over them, but that's how I am generally, like "ok, funny at first, now annoying".  Even the laughs are a bit forced too.   

The only person whose puns I never seem to tire of is John Henson.  They flow very naturally from him and his delivery gets me every time.  

Edited November 16, 2022 by MerBearHou

[Ohmo]

On 11/15/2022 at 6:13 AM, Rammchick said:

Oy, Nancy.  She served up all the annoying Greatest Hits tonight.  "It's just not gingerbread." She clearly has no imagination.  I love pomegranate molasses and thought that riff was brilliant. "It's not Thanksgiving, it looks like sunset at the beach." What, people who live at the beach don't have Thanksgiving?

And that conducting the orchestra thing makes me want to hurl... and hurl things at the TV!

Agreed about Nancy. Kristin's dessert looked like a sunset, but it also looked like Thanksgiving colors to me.  And the orchestra thing bugs me, too.  I don't mind Sumera or Kristin.

One thing I do mind, though, is gingerbread.  I will drink the occasional gingerbread latte, but a gingerbread cookie?  Hard pass.  Glad this show is over with.

I was sorry to see Antoine continue to have issues with his gingerbread recipe.

[joanne3482]

On 11/15/2022 at 5:40 PM, MerBearHou said:

I actually thought both attempts were cute, but that's also because I really, really root for Herschel.

I do too! Which means he won't win. But there was something in the intro video that he did that I loved. I can't remember what, but it was fun. 

[TVbitch]

Sumera's accent seems artificially pronounced to me, like she REALLY wants us to know she is British. ...but I'm suspicious like that. 😁

I'm not complaining about anything mind you, cuz I am just grateful to have my show back in proper form. 

FYI, I saw Lorraine guest judging on Rupaul's Drag Race UK last week and she looked gorgeous with big hair and flawless skin. Great to see her! 

[AZChristian]

15 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Sumera's accent seems artificially pronounced to me, like she REALLY wants us to know she is British. ...but I'm suspicious like that. 😁

You are not alone.  That was my first "read" as well.

[ShelleySue]

On 11/19/2022 at 7:13 PM, TVbitch said:

Sumera's accent seems artificially pronounced to me, like she REALLY wants us to know she is British. ...but I'm suspicious like that.

I have family in York.  If you've ever heard a Yorkshire accent you would know that it's somewhat distinctive.  My family members do not have that accent because they all went to a a posh public school (in the UK a public school is what we in the US call a private school -- very confusing). Those schools go out of their way to make certain that their students do not sound like they come from York. My family members sound like every other poshly educated person in the UK regardless of where they live. Sumera reminds me of someone who went to a school that teaches a certain way to speak, but instead of her just speaking that way by habit, she seems to be working on it. I wonder if she grew up in a household with people who had an accent of their native country and she doesn't want to slip into that accent. Does that make sense?

My DVR cut out the last two minutes last week.  Did anyone else have that issue? I reset mine to record extra time, but I'm wondering if I'm going to have to do that for other Food Network shows.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ShelleySue said:

My DVR cut out the last two minutes last week.  Did anyone else have that issue? I reset mine to record extra time, but I'm wondering if I'm going to have to do that for other Food Network shows.

I don't have a DVR, but now that you mention it, I do seem to recall it bleeding into the next hour a couple of minutes. Like Jesse was getting ready to announce the week's winner and the clock on my cable box already said 10:00.

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, ShelleySue said:

My DVR cut out the last two minutes last week.  Did anyone else have that issue? I reset mine to record extra time, but I'm wondering if I'm going to have to do that for other Food Network shows.

I always add 3 minutes to all my FN recordings for this reason.

[tennisgurl]

I actually thought that Sumera toned herself down a bit compared to last week, but I guess for her that just means going from an eleven to a ten. She's a great baker but she is my least favorite so far, mostly because she seems to be auditioning for her own show all of the time, it feels like she's performing. At least with other more quirky contestants like Kristen I buy that this is just their personality. 

I thought Kristen did really well, I agreed with her on her colors looking more like Thanksgiving than a beach. I also really like Herschel, his rose bit was so cute! However my early money is on Aaron, he's such a baby faced cutie and such a talented baker. Plus, baking shows do love an angle to take with their winners. something extra inspirational. 

Jessie is so warm and happy, like a big golden retriever. He's a great choice to host a holiday baking show. 

Sad to see Antoine go, even if I saw it coming. He seems like a really nice guy but he seems in over his head. 

[LexieLily]

Earlier today I was watching television and saw Nancy Fuller hawking/promoting something called the Six-Hour Bowl. It's an insulated bowl that keeps food at the preferred temperature for up to six hours. And it has a locking lid so even if it rolls off the backseat it won't spill anything! 

[Frost]

I'm so glad Sumera left and not Jessica!  Jessica had a bad bake but overall her food has been wonderful.

[Guest]

Yeah, I had no real problem with Sumera, but I'm glad Jessica stayed over her.

Happy for Kristen and Zakiya! I would have rioted (quietly, from my chair) if they hadn't gotten overall best. They were the only ones who got no negative critiques.

Some cute moments in this episode, including Christine's reaction to Jessica's "pearfect" pun in their double talking head, and Aishia when Jesse was getting ready to announce the twist: "Oh yeah, I forgot this fun part where we cry" 😆 

Overall, I was very impressed with all of their inventiveness in both heats. Yeah, apples seemed to come up a lot, but they all did some very interesting things.

[Grizzly]

Bill is now my favorite contestant. Just the aw shucks attitude. Not sure he realizes how good he is. Hope he picked up some of Aaron's confidence. Dru and Harshal had great looking pies. Was the pie round the first time Kristin didn't have to remake anything? At least this time the meat didn't cause anyone to go home.

[CheshireCat]

For once, I agree with Nancy, Bill's pound cake from the first round did look magazine cover worthy. Until they cut it open. It looked like it was a lot of dry dough but, apparently, it wasn't dry?

I thought Zakiya's doughnut, Christine's tart, Aishia's churros and Jessica's pie looked magazine cover worthy as well.

Zakiya's doughnut wasn't very creative with regards to a fried dessert (neither are churros but what are you going to do, really?) but I thought the colors worked really well together. Why didn't she use another spoon to help her get the caramel sauce on the plate?

Jessica's bacon pie had a bit too much bacon on it for me to want to taste it but it still looked good.

While I thought there were better-looking desserts, Kristen's actually looked pretty good this time around!

I thought that both Dru's and Arron's desserts looked very yellow and not very Thanksgiving-like, like Nancy said. Others looked far better in that regard.

I really liked the second challenge. I felt it gave us a lot of flavors and/or creations we normally wouldn't get to see, like a banana cream pie.

I was surprised that Bill and Aaron chose the flavor profiles that they chose. When I saw that, I was like, okay, buttery makes sense but what are you going to do with the rest? But when they said what they were going to make, it made sense.

I thought it was interesting that Aaron is good with herbal flavors. He was the one who said that it wasn't going to be easy when he got basil or something like that in the first? episode.
Not sure I would have used Jasmine Tea as an herbal flavor. Tea yes, but Jasmine is very floral/perfurm-ish. But the judges seemed to have liked it.

The pies looked good. I thought it was a pity that they were in those brown-glass glasses as I liked the see-through effect with Kristen and Zakiya much better. I also understood the criticism about the filling-pie crust ratio for Bill's pie.

Yes, an apple is crisp but a cooked apple is not. So, apple pie would not be the first thing I'd think of when crisp comes to mind.
If they wanted to use apples, they should have coated them in (melted) sugar or chocolate. But something like a pecan pie or something with almonds would probably have been the better choice.

I would not consider pear "earthy". It's a fruit that grows on trees and I don't think it has an earthy flavor. Strangely enough, even though it was falling apart, the pear pie looked like something that I would have liked to try. The crumble just looked very crunchy and delicious as did the filling.

That did not seem to be Jessica's challenge. Although, I think "sharp" was probably the most difficult flavor profile. I mean, how do you translate "sharp" into a bake? What is a sharp flavor? Aside from the fact that crust was really underbaked, like really underbaked (I wonder what happened) and she used too much gelatine, I think she did the best you could do.

I did not like the "cool" pie. Why was it so green? It looked a bit messy, too, the crust looked patched up and the filling was spilling over.

Sumera's pie crust really was a but too thick; she didn't push it in well enough.

Harshal's floral pie was among my least favorite. I don't know what it was but it did not look appealing to me at all.
Hibiscus is a fall flower? Okay. I always considered it an almost tropical flavor since it seems to be native to those warm regions.
And that was a rose that Harshal had on his pie, wasn't it?

I don't like Kristen but those three pies looked like perfection! I would have loved to taste all of them.
I think she and Zakiya were the rightful winners. Well-deserved!

If the judges judged the remaining bakers on their individual pies only, why did they bake a joined pie? Seems almost unnecessary. Couldn't they have asked each baker what each one did for the joined pie and then judged that as well?

I also agreed with the elimination. While I know that only this bake counts, I would have felt really sad if Jessica had gone home because of one bad bake.
 

[mlp]

2 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Bill is now my favorite contestant.

Bill is my favorite too.  I also like Dru, Aaron and Harshal (whose name they all keep mispronouncing).  I don't dislike any of the others but they haven't made my favorites list.  There are so many good bakers this year that I will hate seeing many of them leave.

I am sooooooooo glad that Jesse is hosting.  He's perfect for this show.  

[littlebennysmom]

6 hours ago, mlp said:

Bill is my favorite too.  I also like Dru, Aaron and Harshal (whose name they all keep mispronouncing).  I don't dislike any of the others but they haven't made my favorites list.  There are so many good bakers this year that I will hate seeing many of them leave.

I am sooooooooo glad that Jesse is hosting.  He's perfect for this show.  

It really highlights the contrast between his hosting style and what's-her-face on Spring Baking Championship last season.  Fyi, Food Network, this is how you host a show.  

[Dirtybubble]

8 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I also agreed with the elimination. While I know that only this bake counts, I would have felt really sad if Jessica had gone home because of one bad bake

My gut is telling me that is why Jessica stayed.  She stole the show with the first challenge and her mom's favorite pecan pie while Sumera was always middle of the pack.  Enh kinda glad she's gone, I don't know how much longer I could have taken her....she was just too extra.

8 hours ago, mlp said:

I am sooooooooo glad that Jesse is hosting.  He's perfect for this show.

Isn't he just a doll?!  It's been many moons ago but I seem to remember when he was on The Bachelorette and Bachelor he was well liked as well.  Just an all-around good sort of guy.

[mojoween]

Oh my god judges do you know that four different people can eat the SAME JALAPEÑO and have four different reactions to the heat?  Do you know that heat doesn’t have the same effect on everyone?  OBVIOUSLY Carla reacts differently to heat than Duff does, and UNEVEN HEAT is not a reason a bake is bad.  Sorry.  That just really annoyed me.

As did Kristen’s vegetarianism.  We get it.  You don’t eat sawsage or bacon (yes I know that’s spelled wrong but her New Yawk accent is very thick).

I am sorry to see Sumera go even if it felt like she turned it up to 20 when Bill was announced the winner of the preheat.

[joanne3482]

38 minutes ago, mojoween said:

(yes I know that’s spelled wrong but her New Yawk accent is very thick).

Is her accent New York? I've been trying to figure it out every episode. 

9 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Zakiya's doughnut wasn't very creative with regards to a fried dessert (neither are churros but what are you going to do, really?)

My first thought was fried apple hand pie like you used to be able to get at McDonalds. 😂

I never knew I needed a pie flight in my life, but now I totally do. 

Harshal's purple pie was beautiful. I loved how it looked. I'm not convinced on the flavor. 

[Dibs]

Sumera was actually starting to grow on me.  Did you know she's hot (or was it spicy)???  She sure looked shocked to be going home!

I find Jesse rather "Ken Doll" dull, but I'm enjoying the judges with their big personalities.

Kristin just seems to me to be hanging on by the skin of her teeth.  Maybe it's all that giggling!

Aaron is the clear stand-out, with Hershel (his work is pure art) and Dru not far behind.

Jessica's okay, but enough with the puns already!  We get it; you're punny...

[Frost]

12 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

My first thought was fried apple hand pie like you used to be able to get at McDonalds.

That would have been a great idea for the "crispy" pie!

Jessica's bacon lattice looked amazing, BUT.  Did she put that lattice work on raw?  Or did she pre-bake the bacon?  The thought of all that bacon grease flowing down into the pie as it cooked freaked me out! 😃 

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, Frost said:

That would have been a great idea for the "crispy" pie!

Jessica's bacon lattice looked amazing, BUT.  Did she put that lattice work on raw?  Or did she pre-bake the bacon?  The thought of all that bacon grease flowing down into the pie as it cooked freaked me out! 😃 

Ugh, yea, that would get greasy. 

[mojoween]

18 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Is her accent New York? I've been trying to figure it out every episode. 

She either lives there now, or is originally from one of the boroughs.

Edited November 22, 2022 by mojoween

[libgirl2]

11 minutes ago, Dibs said:

Sumera was actually starting to grow on me.  Did you know she's hot (or was it spicy)???  She sure looked shocked to be going home!

She didn't really grow on me but I didn't think she would go home yet because she is a "personality". I really think the level is very high this season though. 

[Dirtybubble]

12 minutes ago, Dibs said:

Kristin just seems to me to be hanging on by the skin of her teeth.  Maybe it's all that giggling!

Yeah for me it's that laugh she does.  Is it mean of me to be bummed when she and her partner won this week's challenge?  I was like UGH another week of her.  I checked the Food Network website and she was born and raised in NY (not sure if it's state or city) so that does explain the accent.  And she's 25 (!!)

[AZChristian]

At one point in her last episode, Sumera was being all perky and swinging her ponytail as she was almost skipping through the door after waving good-bye to the judges after showing her bake.

I looked at Mr. AZC and opined, "Are we still watching the Kids Baking Championship?"  She was THAT over-the-top.

Edited November 22, 2022 by AZChristian

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Dirtybubble said:

Yeah for me it's that laugh she does.  Is it mean of me to be bummed when she and her partner won this week's challenge?  I was like UGH another week of her.  I checked the Food Network website and she was born and raised in NY (not sure if it's state or city) so that does explain the accent.  And she's 25 (!!)

To me, Kristen's laugh is the laugh of someone who is nervous and still not used to talking on camera (at least not while in the middle of baking or presenting). Doesn't bother me in the slightest, especially since it's something she can't help (any more than her accent, which I hadn't even noticed).

[tennisgurl]

I'm surprised that Sumera left so early, she seems like a good baker and she has that "television" personality, but she had rough bakes this week and that's all it takes. I'm really glad that Jessica stayed, she seems really sweet and the rest of her food except for this pie has been excellent. 

Zakiya and Kristin were the well deserved winners, their pies were so lovely and the judges didn't have one bad thing to say about them. I don't mind Kristin, even if the frantic energy can be a bit off-putting. I feel bad that she keeps getting meat products, it must be rough being on a cooking contest like this while having food restrictions. 

Christine teasing Jessica about her puns in the talking heads segment was really cute. a lot of fun interactions between the partners in general, this seasons cast has a generally good vibe. Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun and everyone is clearly talented, even the people who are leaving early. 

I thought both rounds were full of really creative bakes, I liked both ideas for both rounds. The Thanksgiving round sure did get me psyched for the upcoming festivities! Hmmmm cinnamon sweet potato pie...

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, Dibs said:

I find Jesse rather "Ken Doll" dull, but I'm enjoying the judges with their big personalities.

I like that Jesse knows he isn’t the star and his role is to let everyone else shine while keeping things moving along.   

[joanne3482]

1 hour ago, Frost said:

Jessica's bacon lattice looked amazing, BUT.  Did she put that lattice work on raw?  Or did she pre-bake the bacon?  The thought of all that bacon grease flowing down into the pie as it cooked freaked me out! 😃 

I assumed she cooked it first. When she was laying it out she was doing so on a cooling rack which is how I bake my bacon, on a cooling rack in a jelly roll pan.

[Jillybean]

11 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I did not like the "cool" pie. Why was it so green? It looked a bit messy, too, the crust looked patched up and the filling was spilling over.

They inexplicably added food coloring (I think) to make it more green. It looked disgusting to me. I would have used peppermint for a cool pie, even though that was done last week. They could have put a different twist on it.

[libgirl2]

15 minutes ago, Jillybean said:

They inexplicably added food coloring (I think) to make it more green. It looked disgusting to me. I would have used peppermint for a cool pie, even though that was done last week. They could have put a different twist on it.

Wouldn't all that green give it a "fake" taste? 

[AZChristian]

48 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I like that Jesse knows he isn’t the star and his role is to let everyone else shine while keeping things moving along.   

He should give lessons to Tyra Banks.

[dleighg]

I know it was clearly allowed, and two teams chose to go that route, but those little "jars" stretched the idea of pie WAY too far in my opinion. That ain't a pie!

[libgirl2]

9 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I know it was clearly allowed, and two teams chose to go that route, but those little "jars" stretched the idea of pie WAY too far in my opinion. That ain't a pie!

Those are popular in my area. There is even a cheesecake place that has them in jars but he does sell slices and half/whole cakes. Some of the best cheesecake I have ever had and a controlled portion! But it is only one portion. Weren't these from last night meant to be shared? 

Edited November 22, 2022 by libgirl2