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Post by Kao on Mar 5, 2024 14:19:47 GMT
I agree! Everything that I didn't like in the last Holiday show seems nonexistent here. Lots of talented folks this season that seem to be nice, no obvious sucking up to the judges, the Pre- and Main heats were fun, and Kardea, Nancy, and Duff were relaxed. I love Kardea and how she always has something calming to say to the people that maybe didn't do so well. I felt badly for the person that went home because she stumbled in the Pre-Heat and never really recovered, plus it was bad luck with the cake flavoring in the Main Heat. She took it well, and seemed to have a good time regardless.
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Post by waywyrd on Mar 5, 2024 15:01:22 GMT
Nice premiere for the SBC. I really liked the French guy, the girl who did the amazing little coconuts in the preheat, and the chemistry guy who looks like Elon Musk's little brother. All were great decorators, hopefully they stick around long enough for me to learn names. Nancy didn't annoy me too much this time, even though she was looking kind of crazy.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 5, 2024 15:50:20 GMT
Nice premiere for the SBC. I really liked the French guy, the girl who did the amazing little coconuts in the preheat, and the chemistry guy who looks like Elon Musk's little brother. All were great decorators, hopefully they stick around long enough for me to learn names. Nancy didn't annoy me too much this time, even though she was looking kind of crazy. Those coconuts were gorgeous! And her cake could have been a disaster, instead, I agree with the judges, it did look like a painting.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 12, 2024 14:54:09 GMT
The right person went home last night. That dome cake was so poorly done and didn't taste that good. And again with conflicting critiques.... on person's use of the almonds was "inventive", the other person did the exact same thing and it got dinged.
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Post by Kao on Mar 12, 2024 18:54:59 GMT
The right person definitely went home (what happened to his filling? It just...disappeared! ) but damned if he wasn't a great sport going out. He's a lovely fellow, and I hope this show was just the beginning for him. This season has been a joy to watch. So many great bakes last night, it was amazing. I was happy for the guy who won the Main Heat because he had some troubles early on with the cake that he was able to course correct. I too noticed the conflicting crits and rewatched the judging part, and it seems like while both contestants used crushed almonds as decoration around the cake, the guy also put almonds in the actual cake filling, while the lady just used hers as a garnish.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 12, 2024 19:26:28 GMT
The right person definitely went home (what happened to his filling? It just...disappeared! ) but damned if he wasn't a great sport going out. He's a lovely fellow, and I hope this show was just the beginning for him. This season has been a joy to watch. So many great bakes last night, it was amazing. I was happy for the guy who won the Main Heat because he had some troubles early on with the cake that he was able to course correct. I too noticed the conflicting crits and rewatched the judging part, and it seems like while both contestants used crushed almonds as decoration around the cake, the guy also put almonds in the actual cake filling, while the lady just used hers as a garnish. Yes, I do believe he used it two ways. Gosh, maybe if the announced the twist a little sooner, she could have. I thought her cake was pretty much done. I could be wrong. Yes, he was a nice guy. It looked like the filling ended up squishing out to the sides?
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ccl
FORT Regular
Posts: 437
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Post by ccl on Mar 13, 2024 1:05:16 GMT
This season seems to be full of Canadians and Floridians (and, in one case, a Canadian who moved to Florida). Makes it difficult to choose who (Canadian) to root for though I’m going for Steven (as I’ve had his stuff before and it was good) and Zoe. Also Sandro. I don’t really like Robert and Anna is a good baker but she talks a lot (and very quickly) so she annoys me personally. Speaking of talking, I’m glad they’ve gotten rid of that corner camera that the contestants were using for impromptu commentary last season.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 13, 2024 11:20:23 GMT
This season seems to be full of Canadians and Floridians (and, in one case, a Canadian who moved to Florida). Makes it difficult to choose who (Canadian) to root for though I’m going for Steven (as I’ve had his stuff before and it was good) and Zoe. Also Sandro. I don’t really like Robert and Anna is a good baker but she talks a lot (and very quickly) so she annoys me personally. Speaking of talking, I’m glad they’ve gotten rid of that corner camera that the contestants were using for impromptu commentary last season. I think that camera either bombed miserably (not that many people used it) or it was just for the Holiday show. Either way, glad it isn't back.
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Post by waywyrd on Mar 13, 2024 13:15:13 GMT
SBC - most of the pre-heat and main challenge desserts just looked incredible. Lots of talent this year. I hated to see the one guy go home this week, I know that mess of a dome cake wasn't indicative of his talent. And I do wish they wouldn't drop a twist in so late when it can be too hard to incorporate.
I'm glad that dumb corner cam is gone, too.
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Post by Kao on Mar 13, 2024 14:14:05 GMT
I never noticed the cameracam, but then again I've blocked a lot of the last Holiday show out of my head, lol!
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Post by Kao on Mar 13, 2024 14:32:30 GMT
Wildcard Kitchen: What even is this...lol?
Seriously though; what even is this show? A food competition, but let's add gambling to the mix? And alcohol as well so everyone's kinda trashed while cooking?
Those playing cards are like the Randomizer for TOC on steroids, and what's slaying me is that some top tier cooking talent like Jet Tila, Antonia Lofaso, Stephanie Izard, etc have signed on for this mess! Anyways, it's always great to see Eric Adjepong (African Prince, King of Tastys, would never beat his wife, etc) hosting things.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 13, 2024 17:16:47 GMT
Wildcard Kitchen: What even is this...lol? Seriously though; what even is this show? A food competition, but let's add gambling to the mix? And alcohol as well so everyone's kinda trashed while cooking? Those playing cards are like the Randomizer for TOC on steroids, and what's slaying me is that some top tier cooking talent like Jet Tila, Antonia Lofaso, Stephanie Izard, etc have signed on for this mess! Anyways, it's always great to see Eric Adjepong (African Prince, King of Tastys, would never beat his wife, etc) hosting things. I tuned in and tuned out rather quickly. Didn't care for it.
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Post by dagwood on Mar 14, 2024 19:13:11 GMT
The right person went home last night. That dome cake was so poorly done and didn't taste that good. And again with conflicting critiques.... on person's use of the almonds was "inventive", the other person did the exact same thing and it got dinged. Who went home? My recording cut off just as they were announcing the bottom two. Was it the one with the mostly white dome?
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Post by Kao on Mar 14, 2024 19:23:40 GMT
The right person went home last night. That dome cake was so poorly done and didn't taste that good. And again with conflicting critiques.... on person's use of the almonds was "inventive", the other person did the exact same thing and it got dinged. Who went home? My recording cut off just as they were announcing the bottom two. Was it the one with the mostly white dome? Yes. Not only was it sparsely decorated and kinda sloppy, the filling also disappeared in the cake as well. He took it all in stride though, and was an absolute sweetheart when he left. I hope he continues on his baking journey.
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Post by dagwood on Mar 14, 2024 19:27:21 GMT
Who went home? My recording cut off just as they were announcing the bottom two. Was it the one with the mostly white dome? Yes. Not only was it sparsely decorated and kinda sloppy, the filling also disappeared in the cake as well. He took it all in stride though, and was an absolute sweetheart when he left. I hope he continues on his baking journey. Thank you. That's who I figured was leaving. I hate it when the recordings cuts just before the end.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 14, 2024 20:23:32 GMT
Yes. Not only was it sparsely decorated and kinda sloppy, the filling also disappeared in the cake as well. He took it all in stride though, and was an absolute sweetheart when he left. I hope he continues on his baking journey. Thank you. That's who I figured was leaving. I hate it when the recordings cuts just before the end. That seemed to happen to a few people who were watching.
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Post by Kao on Mar 18, 2024 23:11:35 GMT
Tournament of Champions:
This post is going to be a double-header since I didn't post last week's results.
3/10 Results:
Michael Voltaggio vs Crista Luedtke. I've disliked Christa ever since she was a sore loser (and quite frankly, let her bigot flag fly) when she was defeated by Mei Lin on ToC4 last year, and I say that as someone who used to like her a lot. So I was happy to see Michael take all this round.
Karen Akunowicz vs Dale Talde. Dale has mellowed out considerably since his Top Chef days, and actually seems like a likable guy now. His food looked delicious so I was happy to see him take this round. Karen gave him a good run for his money, but Dale won by two points.
Carlos Anthony vs Shota Nakajima. It was extremely close (high scores with a one point difference) but Casey got the better of my bae Shota, and I was sad.
Chris Scott vs Tiffani Faison. I'm beginning to feel some sort of way about the champs going up against people who are the 8th seeds because it's like cannon fodder and really not fair. With the exception of Kevin Lee (who only beat former champ Brooke Williamson by a single point) every single one has been bested and tonight it wasn't even close; Tiffani won by a margin of 8 points.
High Scorer: Tiffani Faison (I forgot which restaurant she gave her 5k bonus to).
3/17 Results: We are past the initial stage now and into the Sweet 16 bracket. The Randomizer is harder now, and instead of a Wildcard Ingredient at the end there's a pick of options the contestants can use from good things like a complete respin to not so good where the higher ranking chef can opt to respin 1 section.
Antonia Lofaso vs Michael Voltaggio. It was close, but did anyone honestly think that Michael was gonna best the Italian Mama? I don't think so, as she whipped up a poached egg on mushroom parmesan cream toast with smoked scallop dish that had the judges singing. Michael's good, but he shot himself in the foot by making two dishes.
Shirley Chung vs Kevin Lee. Well dang. I love Shirley, but Kevin is out here slaying everyone with no signs of stopping. The judges mentioned that her dish was a little bit too refined for a home meal, while Kevin scored a 90! I've got my eye on him, because he's a beast in the kitchen.
Tobias Dorzon vs Dale Talde: As a fellow anxiety sufferer I wanted to cry for Tobias as once again his anxiety started to get the best of him, but fortunately he was able to course correct in time and put out a wonderful dish with the surprise element of using pineapple in the butter that gave him the edge. Dale gave it a good shot, but there were soime issues with his potatoes.
Eric Adjepong vs Maneet Chauhan: As a fan of both, Mein Gott this round was hard to watch. I loved their camaraderie backstage cheering on Tobias when he was faltering in the kitchen, and their friendly respectful approach to competing against each other. Both cooked great dishes (with Maneet presenting tandoori pork chops with green tomato curry béchamel and deep-fried green tomatoes, while Eric presenting double bone in pork chops with veal demi and green tomato salad) but ultimately The Spice Queen prevailed by 3 points.
High Scorer: Kevin Lee (with a score of 90). He opted to give his 5k bonus to an oyster restaurant in his native OK.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 19, 2024 16:02:07 GMT
SBC, two episodes last night. I would have preferred a 2 hour as there are still quite a few bakers and things felt rushed at times. That said, the right two people went home.
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Post by Kao on Mar 19, 2024 16:59:14 GMT
OK, so you guys on cable/streaming services did see 2 episodes last night! I watch on Discover+ and wasn't sure, so I didn't want to comment on something that maybe not everyone has seen. I agree with your assessment that once again, the right people went home because the talent is really, really stacked this year, and with the baked Alaska I would rather eat something that maybe looked crazy but tasted delicious over something that looked better but didn't taste too good. I loved a lot of those bubble cakes, and even the ones that didn't turn out as good as the others still weren't bad. The "bug" desserts in the preheat were super cute!
I like Steven, but I want some of the other bakers to take it up a notch as a show becomes less fun from a viewer's perspective if one person is dominating.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 19, 2024 18:44:24 GMT
OK, so you guys on cable/streaming services did see 2 episodes last night! I watch on Discover+ and wasn't sure, so I didn't want to comment on something that maybe not everyone has seen. I agree with your assessment that once again, the right people went home because the talent is really, really stacked this year, and with the baked Alaska I would rather eat something that maybe looked crazy but tasted delicious over something that looked better but didn't taste too good. I loved a lot of those bubble cakes, and even the ones that didn't turn out as good as the others still weren't bad. The "bug" desserts in the preheat were super cute! I like Steven, but I want some of the other bakers to take it up a notch as a show becomes less fun from a viewer's perspective if one person is dominating. I like Steven too but I don't want to see it turn into the "Steven Show". It is so much more exciting when it is anybody's game. I like Nicky a lot. I also notice that there doesn't seem to be any baker "mugging" or playing up an accent or auditioning for their own show this season. That mimosa bubble cake was stunning.
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Post by waywyrd on Mar 19, 2024 19:00:00 GMT
I thought I had missed something last week when two new SBC episodes showed up on Max, too. I agree that the right two went home, they'd both been kind of mid/struggling. Several of those bubble cakes were just incredible, though, and the little bug desserts were really cute.
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Post by Kao on Mar 25, 2024 14:00:27 GMT
Tournament of Champions:
We're in the second half of the Sweet Sixteen brackets. Lots of Surprises tonight, and a tie!
Round 1:
Amanda Freitag vs Tiffani Faison. Amanda made a duck breast burger, roasted and pickled banana peppers and a side of potato chips, while Tiffani made a rice bowl with sliced duck breast, fried banana pepper salad and roasted banana peppers. Amanda had more of an edge because her meal was more of a guilty pleasure (one of the randomizer items) than Tiffani's, and with her defeat there's only two former champions left in this year's competition. EDIT: Tiffani is still a sore loser. Yes, you got beat by a burger, and that's because burgers and chips are a guilty pleasure to a lot of people while a rice bowl is not. Go be bitter somewhere else. :/
Round 2:
Carlos Anthony vs Jet Tila. Carlos made a peppercorn-crusted ribeye with potato and kale hash, while Jet created something called a Thai crying tiger persimmon salad. Both chefs wre tied with a score of 79, so rather than have them cook another meal (which has happened in the past) the judges decided that the person who scored higher on taste should win, and that was Jet. Honestly, I wasn't fussed about this because justice for my bae Shota, lol.
Round 3:
Britt Rescigno vs Marc Murphy. Little Britt-Britt is still puttering along, creating great food and leaving dragons in her wake. Britt made butter-braised halibut cheeks, pumpkin puree and braised kale, while Marc made pumpkin and black truffle bucatini with poached halibut cheeks. While both meals were good, Britt had a 4 point lead over Marc.
Round 4:
Lee Anne Wong vs. Mei Lin: Lee Anne did her best but damn, Mei is a beast in the kitchen and at 89-83 the final score wasn't even close. With that said, Lee Anne still scored high with her seared red snapper, poblano salsa verde, tomato poblano ragu, and queso popover. Mai made red snapper crudo, poblano leche de tigre, and red snapper belly in avocado, and it made the judges swoon.
High Scorer: Mei Lin (with a score of 89). She opted to give her 5k winnings to a restaurant in her area called Needle that had been struggling since the pandemic.
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Post by waywyrd on Mar 26, 2024 13:28:08 GMT
SBC - it's a shame about that elephant cake, her other cakes that they showed were very realistic and well done. I guess the time thing got her.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 26, 2024 13:32:46 GMT
SBC - it's a shame about that elephant cake, her other cakes that they showed were very realistic and well done. I guess the time thing got her. Her other cakes were very good, but I think she bit off more than she could chew with this one. And it seemed that it was HER idea and thus she was the one that left. The talent level is pretty good here and one mistake and you are out.
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Post by Kao on Mar 27, 2024 1:34:52 GMT
I love the fact that unlike certain other baking shows the Baking Championships have always treated customs from other countries as an opportunity to educate, and are treated with respect. I loved the fact that this show was about Asian holiday customs like Holi and the Songkran Water Festival because both of those celebrations are a good time! I loved their versions of the Holi desserts; so festive and (in most cases) colorful, and they looked tasty too. I noticed that for the pairing off for the Main Heat everyone chose the person they worked with before, lol.
The elephant cakes were super cute! I felt really bad for the person who went home because she made a rookie mistake; she's not the first person on the show to build a foundation/body/major element out of Rice Crispies only to have it collapse because it was too heavy, and the foundation and head of the elephant was her responsibility; her partner worked on the cake portion (which was light and delicious and the judges loved it). I think they also take what they do in the preheat under consideration for elimination as well and out of all the bakers she did the worst; her Holi treat not only was colorless, it also had a consistency like bread instead of a doughnut.
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Post by libgirl2 on Mar 27, 2024 23:20:54 GMT
I was on another board and there was conversation about "twists" in SBC. Last week, the bake Alaskas had flags, something we didn't hear mentioned. This week, the elephant cakes also had something extra we didn't hear about. WE saw one elephant holding up cakes and I remember a bucket of what looked like peanuts on the losing cake. Are they cutting out the twists?
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ccl
FORT Regular
Posts: 437
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Post by ccl on Mar 28, 2024 1:06:17 GMT
Yes I was wondering about the twists as well. Weird they haven’t included them. I liked Team Rolex’s cake the best. It was so cute. I liked the bottom two lawyers or Steven and Anna’s cake but I didn’t feel the top layer - the white elephant - was very good. But coconut brown butter cake….i would be all over it. For the team that lost, Sabrina totally crumbled so it was right that she went home. I felt bad for her. You could see by the examples that she is really good at carving and decorating cakes but she just had a bad day. Her partner (Kate?) kept her head and really worked to take charge and find a solution.
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Post by Kao on Apr 1, 2024 22:42:35 GMT
Tournament of Champions:
We are getting closer to the finish line as tonight is the semi-finals with the Elite Eight! This was also apparently the night of tears as a lot of people were crying, lol.
Round 1 Jet Tila vs Mei Lin: The upset of all upsets. Jet prepared lamb and plantain massaman curry with plantain fritters and plantain chips, while Mei made jerk lamb patties, plantain pineapple puree, plantain chips & lamb fat rice. Jet won by 3 points and broke down and cried in front of everyone while Mei remained stoic, saying “it is what it is.”
Round 2 Amanda Freitag vs Britt Rescigno. Thankfully the Randomizer gave them a “protein or produce respin” and they were able to swap that lingcod collar with guinea hen. Amanda made a fried guinea hen with mac & cheese balls and quince puree. “Big and Small” was one of the Randomizer options and the judges said thy couldn’t see it in her meal. Britt prepared guinea hen ravioli with caramelized quince, and made pasta from scratch, plus made the pasta two different sizes to fulfill the “big and small” requirement. Britt also got extremely weepy over her win.
Round 3 Antonia Lofaso vs Kevin Lee. The Randomizer gave them the “move protein one item up” so they opted to do so and got the lingcod collar instead of frog legs. Antonio prepared crispy lingcod collar with tomatillo salsa, avocado mash, and pickled sweet potato, while Kevin prepared miso-glazed collar with sweet potato rice porridge and kimchi slaw. Antonia wins by a 4 point spread and just like that, Kevin’s Cinderella story comes to an close. He put up a good fight thoughout the competition so we’ll probably see him again.
Round 4 Tobias Dorzon vs Maneet Chauhan. This battle was especially frustrating as both made mistakes; Maneet by not making sure her steamer was operating correctly for her pork belly and having to improvise, while Tobias didn’t get enough “sweet” for the “sweet and sour” Randomizer requirement. Tobias prepared pork belly coconut lime curry, while Maneet prepared stuffed chickpea crepe with sweet & sour pork belly and pickled chickpeas & pomegranate. Tobias kept it together while cooking but when in his trailer he broke down and cried, talking about how far he’s come. Both got the highest scores of the night but Maneet prevailed with a 2 point difference and is the last Champion standing in the competition. It’s a shame because had Tobias put more sweet in his curry he probably would have won because the judges loved his dish otherwise.
High Scorer: Maneet (with a score of 86). She opted to give her 5k donation to Tio Fun! In Nashville.
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Post by libgirl2 on Apr 2, 2024 13:53:14 GMT
SBC---- The macaron "corsages" were not great. They were all just piles of cookies, though some were pretty. Some of the tsunami cakes were stunning, others not so much. Sadly, the right person went home.
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Post by Kao on Apr 2, 2024 19:51:13 GMT
Spring Baking Championship:
This episode made me mad for a host of reasons. First of all, I don't like it when they don't give enough time to complete a heat so people have to rush. Macarons can be notoriously tricky for even people with lots of experience baking them, and then they wanted them decorated like corsages as well? Quite frankly, I'm surprised that some people did as well as they did, but it didn't surprise me that some people simply ran out of time. With that said, some of the flavor combinations (especially that blackberry/violet combination Nickey made as well as the olive oil, tangerine, and white chocolate combo Alex used) sounded delicious!
While I like Tsunami Prom cakes I don't like twists that make some bakers have a much harder time over others, and I think a fairer thing to do would be to have something that everyone can use. Fruit Punch is not a universal flavor, which meant people like Nickey (who was working with dark chocolate and caramel), Anna (Lemon) and Steven (Honey) were pretty much [censored]. Nickey was able to make it work because she hadn't added the caramel yet to her dessert and substituted the fruit punch instead. Loved the top 2 and was especially happy for the person who won because they had a hard go of it in the Preheat. Angry and disgusted over who went home because I sense some producer intervention at play here; that person's cake wasn't perfect but at least it was edible, plus they won the Preheat? The person they saved made a cake that was mushy and unappetizing. Ugh.
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