ketching up
Feb. 16th, 2016 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
People at work have been sick, and I woke on Sun with a sore throat, so I was like, ohhhhhhh crap. But by Sun night I was okay, and I don't seem to have gotten full-blown sick, even though I do feel maybe a little run down and have some sinus issues.
I have a new spiralizer and made some zucchini pasta for the first time, which was fun (and yummy). Thanksleigh_adams for the rec!
Some ruminations on two of my favorite Food Network shows, Kids Baking Championship and The Worst Cooks in America...
I have gotten to the point with KBC that I get with books and shows, wherein I'm so invested that each episode is more like trying to avoid disaster than enjoyed for its own right. My two favorite bakers are Jane and Matthew, both of whom I didn't particularly care for at the beginning, but now who I love. Jane was eliminated the week before, which was annoying because I felt that it should have been Peggy. Once again this week, Peggy was up for elimination, but this time so was Matthew, and the nervousness he described feeling was exactly what *I* felt! Which I know is ridiculous, but I was soooooooo afraid of him being eliminated. I felt that would have been really unfair, because he was the one who helped Peggy with her dish -- she wouldn't even have finished otherwise -- and I thought Yashimabet didn't do that well. Not only was her savory cupcake sweet, her skewers were about 1/10th as complicated as everyone else's dishes! Not that it's her fault they came up with skewers... what were they thinking?! Nachos, lasagna, BLT and skewers?! Honestly... one of these is way less complex than the others.
Anyway, now it's two 13-year-olds and 11-year-old Matthew. I feel like they should max out the age at 12 for this competition... a 13-year-old imho has a level of skill and maturity that an 11-year-old can't really hope to match. I expect Rebecca to take the whole thing, but my mom and I are both rooting for Matthew. Adorable, funny little Matthew, who helps others! And genuinely likes his other competitors! He has such a great personality... he really seems to have perspective about the whole thing, which many of the others lack.
With WCiA, I was super surprised by who the two finalists were. I was expecting Anne to stick with Taylor, and Tyler to stick with Ginny. Instead they went with Nick and Lawrence, both of whom I like, don't get me wrong, but wasn't sure they were the stronger cooks. Anyway, I toldadelagia that I would laugh if the ultimate winner turned out to be the guy with the self-professed "one taste bud," and of course, HE WON. LOLOL. They both did amazing work in the finale (Nick's comments about cooking bunny cracked me UP), but unfortunately, the dessert did Lawrence in. I was still surprised that Nick won, though. It seemed like Lawrence had the edge in the appetizer, because Nick's squash blossoms were greasy, and Nick tanked the entree by making an amazing-looking but way-too-salty dish. Lawrence's dessert (basil ice cream) was definitely inferior to Nick's though (cherry brown butter crostata), since he couldn't get the peach upside-down cakes done in time. I think if Lawrence had been able to deliver on his dessert, he would have won. The judges LOVED his fried chicken! But I do wonder if Tyler did him an injustice by making it such a "homey" dish; it maybe wasn't upscale enough for the kind of cuisine they were trying to present. I thought Anne's menu planning was definitely superior to Tyler's; more obviously upscale. (Bearnaise deviled eggs not as fancy as goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms. Fried chicken and ratatouille not as fancy as proscuitto-wrapped rabbit.) It wasn't even like that kind of fried chicken was something Lawrence could take with him and make at home -- I mean, roasting it for two hours before deep frying?! Ain't no one got time for that.
I'm also starting to watch All-Star Academy, but I don't think it's as good as the others. Maybe because there isn't as much opportunity for humor, and the contestants take it way too seriously.
I am nearly done with unpacking. I have, as far as I know, maybe 4-5 boxes left. And yet I have still not seen hide nor hair of my super expensive boar bristle hairbrush, nor any of my curling irons. WTF??? I still have quite a bit of tidying to do, however, as a lot of my office stuff is just piled on my desk. My desk doesn't have drawers, which is a big pain. I might need to just keep things in boxes indefinitely. ><
I'm also at the same time trying to deal with taxes, finding the financial adviser, and now my cousin has thrown another spanner in the works by announcing that she and her family are going to go live in the wilderness of Wisconsin for 11 months. So they're trying to figure out what to do with their stuff. A lot of it involves storing it at my place, but I may also take some of their furniture, which means I'll need to figure out how to deal with the stuff THEIR stuff would replace (their furniture is nicer than mine). It's quite the ordeal.
I have a new spiralizer and made some zucchini pasta for the first time, which was fun (and yummy). Thanks
leigh_adams for the rec!Some ruminations on two of my favorite Food Network shows, Kids Baking Championship and The Worst Cooks in America...
I have gotten to the point with KBC that I get with books and shows, wherein I'm so invested that each episode is more like trying to avoid disaster than enjoyed for its own right. My two favorite bakers are Jane and Matthew, both of whom I didn't particularly care for at the beginning, but now who I love. Jane was eliminated the week before, which was annoying because I felt that it should have been Peggy. Once again this week, Peggy was up for elimination, but this time so was Matthew, and the nervousness he described feeling was exactly what *I* felt! Which I know is ridiculous, but I was soooooooo afraid of him being eliminated. I felt that would have been really unfair, because he was the one who helped Peggy with her dish -- she wouldn't even have finished otherwise -- and I thought Yashimabet didn't do that well. Not only was her savory cupcake sweet, her skewers were about 1/10th as complicated as everyone else's dishes! Not that it's her fault they came up with skewers... what were they thinking?! Nachos, lasagna, BLT and skewers?! Honestly... one of these is way less complex than the others.
Anyway, now it's two 13-year-olds and 11-year-old Matthew. I feel like they should max out the age at 12 for this competition... a 13-year-old imho has a level of skill and maturity that an 11-year-old can't really hope to match. I expect Rebecca to take the whole thing, but my mom and I are both rooting for Matthew. Adorable, funny little Matthew, who helps others! And genuinely likes his other competitors! He has such a great personality... he really seems to have perspective about the whole thing, which many of the others lack.
With WCiA, I was super surprised by who the two finalists were. I was expecting Anne to stick with Taylor, and Tyler to stick with Ginny. Instead they went with Nick and Lawrence, both of whom I like, don't get me wrong, but wasn't sure they were the stronger cooks. Anyway, I told
adelagia that I would laugh if the ultimate winner turned out to be the guy with the self-professed "one taste bud," and of course, HE WON. LOLOL. They both did amazing work in the finale (Nick's comments about cooking bunny cracked me UP), but unfortunately, the dessert did Lawrence in. I was still surprised that Nick won, though. It seemed like Lawrence had the edge in the appetizer, because Nick's squash blossoms were greasy, and Nick tanked the entree by making an amazing-looking but way-too-salty dish. Lawrence's dessert (basil ice cream) was definitely inferior to Nick's though (cherry brown butter crostata), since he couldn't get the peach upside-down cakes done in time. I think if Lawrence had been able to deliver on his dessert, he would have won. The judges LOVED his fried chicken! But I do wonder if Tyler did him an injustice by making it such a "homey" dish; it maybe wasn't upscale enough for the kind of cuisine they were trying to present. I thought Anne's menu planning was definitely superior to Tyler's; more obviously upscale. (Bearnaise deviled eggs not as fancy as goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms. Fried chicken and ratatouille not as fancy as proscuitto-wrapped rabbit.) It wasn't even like that kind of fried chicken was something Lawrence could take with him and make at home -- I mean, roasting it for two hours before deep frying?! Ain't no one got time for that.I'm also starting to watch All-Star Academy, but I don't think it's as good as the others. Maybe because there isn't as much opportunity for humor, and the contestants take it way too seriously.
I am nearly done with unpacking. I have, as far as I know, maybe 4-5 boxes left. And yet I have still not seen hide nor hair of my super expensive boar bristle hairbrush, nor any of my curling irons. WTF??? I still have quite a bit of tidying to do, however, as a lot of my office stuff is just piled on my desk. My desk doesn't have drawers, which is a big pain. I might need to just keep things in boxes indefinitely. ><
I'm also at the same time trying to deal with taxes, finding the financial adviser, and now my cousin has thrown another spanner in the works by announcing that she and her family are going to go live in the wilderness of Wisconsin for 11 months. So they're trying to figure out what to do with their stuff. A lot of it involves storing it at my place, but I may also take some of their furniture, which means I'll need to figure out how to deal with the stuff THEIR stuff would replace (their furniture is nicer than mine). It's quite the ordeal.
