Top Chef Chicago - April 23

Last night was Top Chef night, and boy did I need my Top Chef fix! It was great, in fact I even watched the re-run of it right after the original, two hours of Top Chef, what could be better? Well, blogging about it of course.

Okay, so the Quickfire Challenge is to make a dessert. Now to preface this challenge Padma even says if you have watched in the past you know that dessert has been the downfall of many a chef. So explain to me why we have people who have no idea what to do going into this? Antonia says she has never mae a dessert? Excuse me? Once you knew you were going to be on Top Chef, and espically her who said she practiced for the palette challenge, wouldn't you be learning at least one or two desserts that you could do when the challenge came? Why are you not prepared? I was floored!

To be honest though, I was surprised, all the dishes were pretty well received. Antonia, Mark and Spike (or Andrew, they are beginning to look alike to me) were in the bottom. Dale, Richard and Lisa were in the top, with Richard winning for his Bananna Scallops. I actually thought his dish looked good and I would want to try it. I liked Dale's too.

Elimination Challenge, after a trip to Second City they get a five course menu. The audience at Improv throw out a color, and feeling and a food, and that was what each course was to be. This time, they were allowed to pick their own teams, and so Richard and Dale teamed up, and I thought ok, this will be good. Those two cook alot alike and they get along well, so there can be nothing bad come out of this one, and I was right as they ended up winning for their "Green Preplexed Tofu".

Andrew and Spike teamed up and made a squash soup, which during the PI's Antonia says during the last team challenge he wanted to make soup and she said no, so if he wins with this she is going to throw up....Eat your words girl, he is a better chef than you, because he ended up in the top two, and Antonia was once again in the bottom. Andrew and Spike were "Yellow Vanilla Love" and they made a Squash soup with a Vanilla Creme Fresh. It actually looked good and the comments were all good.

Now that being said, and before I move on to the bottom two, I have to say that the comments from the judges and people eating the dinner, were once again all good. The food has stepped it up a notice, and even the bottom two were good dishes, so it came down to technicalities for the bottom two. This is awesome! i can't remember a season where the quality of the dishes were this high throughout, where all the dishes were good, no on bombed and they have to knit-pick to get to the bottom. I loved it! I am so pumped for the rest of the season!

Antonia and Lisa teamed up and were suppose to make Polish sausage but they added a little Chrizo at the end to the dish instead. Okay, wait....you were given a theme, stick to it. And at the end, judges table, shut up and listen! I wanted to just smack Lisa, but then we all know she is not my favorite. She just wouldn't listen to what they were saying. It was nuts.

Jen and Stephanie were in the bottom too, and I don't think Jen understood that she was to listen to what they had to say either, she was surprised, well. Let's just get to it, in the end they sent jen packing and you know what, I am not sorry. I would have been happy to see Jen, Lisa or Antonia either one go.

Now I just have to say about Lisa, wash your motuh out with soap girl! I am over it! Every time she opens her mouth it is f*&%ing this and f*&%ing that and I am tired of it! I know in the first episode they were all cursing, but once the nerves settled, you hardly ever hear any of them saying anything except when warranted, and then there is Lisa who adds it to every sentence whether it needs it or not. I am done with her, she is negative and doesn't listen. Proven by last week when Dale told her her negative attitude was wearing on people, and she told him to f*&% himself, that right there is an example of the negative attitude, you can't take criticism. I am more than ready to see her go home!

As to who I think might win this? It's between Dale and Richard. They are hands down the best chefs out there this season, and they can cook circles around the others, proven by the fact that no matter who Dale is paired with he ends up in the top, and although Richard had the one bad turn in the bottom with Andrew and Mark, other than that he ends up in the top all the time too. I think it will be exciting to see them continue to cook and wow us throughout.

I think Mark might be in over his head, and I am wondering if he might be going home next week, he does pretty well in the team challenges, as he works well with people, as long as he is with someone strong, he is good, but by himself or with a weak teammate he falters.

Only time will tell.....

Top Chef Chicago - April 9th

Okay, so I am a couple days in getting this up, sue me! I'm sorry, but it's tax deadlines and I am tired!

So this week starts with the Palate challenge, you know the one they are blindfolded and have to taste test things and identify something. Great! They only told us who was the lowest and who had the top three scores, I really wanted to know everyone's numbers!!
Antonia won, getting 12 of the 15 tastes correct, not bad. Ryan and Jen tied with 11 or the 15 correct. You may be saying Ryan? Jen? Yeah, that is what I thought. Ryan is the forgetable guy that was paired with Mark last week and Jen is the mohawked girl in the relationship. yeah, I know they are both forgetable. i really wanted to know where Spike landed in those numbers....hum, I'm thinking maybe 7 or 8, maybe a 9. Then there is Zoi, and I am thinking she probably didn't do too good, 7.

Another team challenge. okay, enough already, I want to see them cook and fall flat on their faces themselves, no more team challenges, please!! So we have four teams, Earth, Water, Air and Fire.....let's see what they can do.

Fire:
This team is Dale, Lisa and Stephanie. Okay, Stephanie deserves a gold medal for dealing with Lisa, and I personally though Dale did a good job of not going off on Lisa, until the last two minutes of the show, but still. They fought tooth and nail on the menu, a first course for 80 people on a $500 budget. The finally decided that Stephanie would do a chile rubbed shrimp, dale a chile salad and Lisa bacon.
Let me move on as say that this team rocked it. The food was good, loved by all and they ended up your winners. Now, of course only one can win the prize and Ming, the guest judge decides to award it to Lisa for the bacon, becuase it was something he had never seen? Excuse me? Come to my house, I have been cooking bacon in the oven, weighted to lie flat for years!! Okay, so I don't add the miso, but still, something new? Do you not get out much Ming? What's the deal?

Air:
Well this team is forgetable. Ryan and Jen and whats-her-face, the one that does pasta all the time. Yep, they do duck, and it ends up being decent. It's not the top and not the bottom. It was funny, there were four teams, and this was the first time they only called one team in the top and then two in the bottom, so this team was just there. They weren't good enough for the top, not bad enough for the bottom, which is about all I can say for the people or the meal, I remember the duck and that is about it.

Water:
Richard, Mark and Andrew. Boil-in-the-bag salmon was their main dish. Fish swim in the water, cooked in water, was Richard's reasoning, and I am thinking, ugh. I am not a big fan of the bag cooking thing he did, I was thinking is would make it have the texture of mashed potatoes. I have never really liked the boil-in-the-bag meals anyway. And then Tom said it was mushy. Andrew went back a round and made the fake cavier again, okay, it might get a good review one time, but leave it alone, it can be over done if you do it over and over again. Really. Poor Mark, I think he was completely out of his element with Richard and Andrew, they are not his style of cooks, and I just don't think he had any idea what they food was going to be and what to do with them.
So they end up in the bottom two, and worse than the food.....scales! Yep, Richard either didn't clean the fish, or didn't clean the fish very well. Ming got a mouthful of scales! UGH! Bad, bad team!

Earth:
Antonia, who has immunity, Zoi and Spike, can you say conflict? Spike wants to make soup and Antonia and Zoi don't think that is a good first course? Excuse me? wasn't soup the traditional first course in history? How can you not want to do soup or not think it was a good first course choice? So they go with something more "earthy", mushrooms and beef....whatever.
Can we say bottom two!! This time is was about flavor, no seasoning, which is one reason I am thinking that Zoi did not do well on the palatte challenge, she claims that she is a heavy-handed seasoner, and Gail admitted that the Rosemary was overpowering, but that it was a bd choice to go with the mushrooms, as is you just shouldn't put the two together, but then what did we expect from Zoi....when the chocolate and wasbi won last week she promised us that is doesn't taste good, and since she knows what does and doesn't taste good better than the judges, why does it surprise me about her mixing mushrooms and rosemary, even I don't think that sounds good.

At round table, they decide since the dinners voted Earth the lowest that they are the bottom, and one of them will go, and since Antonia has immunity it is down to Spike and Zoi. Tom says I would like to send them both home and I about wet my pants, thinking please, please, please send them both home! But alas, my dream was not to be and only Zoi went home.

Okay, I am not sorry that she went home. She was in the bottom last week and really seemed to have no clue as to why and so she is defensive and mean when she gets up the next morning, and I am thinking did you even listen to what they are trying to tell you? Two weeks in a row in the bottom, and I am thinking that she was in the bottom in the first week or so too...so really, no surprise.

Spike, you can just go on home next week, although Lisa is going to give you a run for your money on that one. I can't stand her at this point anymore. She was running around the kitchen complain, slamming things, cursing and whatnot, and I am like, see ya! People were complaining about Dale, but I think she is worse. I haven't seen that much from Dale that bothers me yet, yea he thinks he is good, but you know what, so far he has been able to back up hie thinking that with his food, so I have no problem with him, unlike Lisa who is all talk and Spike who is even more talk.

So....what did you think? Did the right person go home?

Top Chef Chicago - April 2nd

Last night was another episode of Top Chef Chicago, and I actually stayed up to watch it, although I was tired, this stupid tax season is realyl taking it out of me this year, and Top Chef isn't on in my area until 10pm.

So the Quickfire is on technique, and you know I think some of them got it and others have no idea what he meant by technique. I liked Dale's, which ended up winning and I like Richard's, but knowing that Richard and one of the other guys whose name completely is lost to me at this moment, have worked for the guest chef before, well I didn't like that, and I was glad that the challenge was won by someone other than someone who had worked for the guest chef before.

The Elimination Challenge was to base one course of a meal on a movie. Well....I had a ton of ideas for that, and I think some of them were great! I was not sure about the first course...Willy Wonka, okay so chocolate and wasbi? But the judges all claimed that it worked at tasted good, although some of the other chefs claimed that it did not. I think they need to taste it before they complain so loudly. Most of the dishes were not that memorable. I think the one I like the best was the one that when teams were picked they thought they wouldn't have a clue together...the one with Mark and the other guy that worked at one time for the guest chef, they ended up picking a Christmas Story, which I personally just can't stand as a movie, sorry, I have just never liked it, but not only did they pick that movie, but they picked a specfic scene, and built the course around that, and it looked good! Ted Allen was even heard saying, I have a never favorite dish, after eating their dish. I was a little surprised that they were not called in the top dishes, I kinda wish they could have known who well they actually did, I think that would benefit them both and encourage them a little.

Yeah, that is an issue for me. I wish that all the teams would get called to judges table and that they would all get comments from the judges on what was good, what was bad and why they were in the top, bottom or middle. I think it would make it easier on them to understand what they are or are not doing. But I know that time doesn't allow them to show that, but I realyl hope that even though we don't see it on the show, that the judges are actually talking to them all.

Anyway, Spike and Manuel end up in the bottom. Okay, so Spike over-rules Manuel and says his style of cooking, well Manuel being a good guy say, hum, I don't know this sytle, but this is a good change for me to learn something about it and so okay....well, Spike can't cook worth crap, the course tanks. In the end, the judges sent Manuel home, but I really think they should have sent Spike. They claimed the Manuel should have stood up to Spike more, but Manuel was very up front about using this as a chance to learn something new, and I think he should be appauled for that. Spike knew how to cook it, and does it all the time, and it failed, so I think the blame should have fallen squarely on him and he should have went home, not Manuel who confessed to not knowing the style.

Sorry, but I think I am over Spike. He can just move on to something else, because he is not as good as he thinks he is and he doesn't take repsonsiblity for the meal. When asked who should go home, he refused to stand up and say, me, it was my idea and my style. He insted said I don't play that game, which meant that he wanted to throw Manuel under the bus and save himself, that alone should have gotten him booted. Oh well, maybe next week!

There are still just too many of them for me to really be able to tell anything about them right now, although I am not liking the couple in the kitchen anymore. I think it is distracting to the others and in poor taste. Just my humble opinion, I would like to hear yours!!! Leave me a comment, let me know what you think and who is your favorite!

Make Me A Supermodel

Last night was the next to last show in Make Me A Supermodel. You know I was watching, espically since I really wanted Shannon to be gone after last weeks vote, so I had to watch and see what happened.

The one thing I don't like about http://www.bravotv.com/ is that I can't paste any of the pictures onto this blog from there. I can do it with any of the pictures on the network tv sites, which you have seen me do for the last couple of blogs on Dancing with the Stars and Biggest Loser, and I like doing that. I think it makes it more fun to read that just all words.

Anyway, we start off with the vote, who was going home Shannon or Ronnie.....easy, Shannon. Thank you voters! I was really tired of her and her attitude, and you know, last week i said that I was sure we would see a different Holly if Shannon was gone, and you know what? We did! She actually seemed to be having fun with the guys and joking around, and you know I think if Shannon had left a long time ago, Holly might not have gotten so bitchy and cocky, and took the time to get to know the guys and she might just have grown even more. I think this week was one of the better for her, just because she lost all that bitchness. Still, although I think she is thin for the real world, when I was watching the catwalk, I did notice that she had some flab going around the middle, and they did meantion that they hold models to a different standard, and it was more about being toned that flabby, apparentaly she has not been hittign the gym and it shows. Which makes me doubt her as the winner a little.

Ronnie, I was surprised by last night. You know, everyone has said he was too catalog, that was the only place you would see him, and I can picture him in a catalog easily, but the photo shoot last night was as far from catalog as you can get and he rocked it! I loved the comments by the photographer, he really like Ronnie, in fact he really like all the guys alot, and that says alot for how far they have all come.

Perry, even in a photo shoot meant to make him look creepy, he rocked it! I was so loving it, it was great, and he looked good, and the photographer even mentioned it. Yes, he still looks funny in asuit, and you know, I think that the suit they put on him on the catwalk was not fit just right, I think there are better lookign suits out there for him, and although the one judge mentioned the square shoulders, I think like in the goth photoshoot, the way that suit was tailored fit his body better and looked good. I don;t think the problem is him is a suit, but in that particular suit.

Ben, you know i love him. He just reminds me of my brother, and I was blown away by this photo shoot! He rocked it and the photographer enve said so. He has come such a long way, and sometimes I think he is my favorite just because of how far he has come, and in other times I think he just still looks so innocent that I want him to win.

I was really glad to hear the judges say that no matter what, all four of them would work and be well-paid in this industry. That they would book Ben for a fragrance shoot right then. That goes to prove that the vote has been right all along, that these four deserved to be there and that they will work in the industry and make a good living at it. In the end, who do I want to win and who do I think will win? You know, I have no idea how the vote will go, but I really think it is between Ben and Perry, and in fact those are the two it is between for me.

Top Chef Chicago

Welcome to another season of Top Chef. This time around, we are starting in and set in Chicago, the heart of the midwest, and only about four hours from me!

So, we meet the constestants as they arrive in Chicago at Uno for lunch. I have to say I was excited by this because I have actually been there for lunch, long, long ago! Hubby took me there not long after we were married one weekend on my first visit to Chicago. There is something unqiue and wholesome about Chicago pizza, it is a meal in and of itself, and in fact it's usually two meals!

Okay...the two gals that revealed they are actually partners? What? Wait a minute, this is Top Chef, not Big Brother, leave the relationships out of the show, I want to see cooking, not relationships! That being said, when we get to the house and everyone is making nice and getting to know each other, two people annoyed me with their behavior, Nimia, who refused to get to know the others and went to bed while they were all talking and Dale, who played pool with himself and said that he had to think he was better than everyone else or he never would be, he didn't mingle either.
Yes, it's a competetion, but you are going to be with these people for awhile, get to know them. The old saying, "keep your friends close but your enemies even closer", haven't they realized that they need to make nice and get to know people or they will have no clue when it comes to group challenges and what the other chefs are able to do.

Okay....now on the quickfire they made Chicago pizza, and I have to say that alot of them left something to be desired. Too much crust, not enough crust, Chicago is a blend of just enough crust filled with wonderful flavors and fillings. That being said, I was okay with the way the top and bottom went and was ready for the challenge, which we all knew would be a team challenge, I mean, really, with that mean people, what did you expect.
Now, you notice that I haven't mentioned anything about the dishes in the challenge, well, I just don't know what to say. Some of them, I just didn't get. I mean, what were they suppose to be making, and then others, like the desert souffle, well I can't make a souffle, so who am I to judge, but it didn't sound bad, and I really think Eric would have been better served to have tried a dessert type souffle too. Oh, and was it Ryan that Rocco called as dense as his nochio? Well, I just think he had no idea what Chicken Piccata was, it was probably not something his mama served, and so he made what he thought it was, which went over like a lead balloon, What gets me, if you aren't sure of something why not ask? Oh yeah, right you don't want the competition to know you have no clue what you are doing?!

All I can really say, Nimia, well girl, you deserved your exit, and from the minute that you refused to getto know the rest of the cast of players and went to bed, I knew your weren't going to be here long. The other problem I had with her....she was so thin! I mean she looked model-sickly thin, and she is suppose to be a chef, if you brought me somethign to eat, looking that thin, I would be worried about eating it, because if you can't cook enough to keep yourself looking healthy then why would I think you could cook for me.

So, on to next week. So far, I have not picked a favorite or even any that I really like, other than the Australian, and that is just because I like listening to his accent.

Project Runway Season 4 Finale

So last night was the finale of Season Four on Project Runway. Did you watch? Or are you just waiting for me to tell you what I thought?

First off, you should know that I was really excited to see the collections, I liked what I saw of Rami's collection when Tim visited and I wanted to see where Jillian went, then I wanted to see Christian for the pure laughter of the whole thing. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a surprise additional item like last season and the season before, when they had to create another item or the collection.

Now, if I was ranking the collections, it would have been 1) Rami, 2) Jillian and 3) Christian. Why? Well, let me tell you....

Rami: I just love his clothes. I loved the whole line, they fit and look good on a woman's body. Now, I did question the long black dress that he showed on the walk-off, the circles over the hips, but when I saw it the second time around I thought, she actually looks like she has hips in that dress. So I can see where it would work. There wasn't a dress I didn't like. Although I have to say that I am disappointed that he cut some items based on Tim's opinions. That Yellow coat and short dress he showed Tim were gone, I think if he had left them he might have been able to win. And where does Michael kors get off on saying that he doesn't like Rami's color choices? All he ever wears is black. I like color and I love that turquoise color that he used. Too bad, I think he was the best!!!

Jillian: Ok, this was probably the second best collection on the runway. I loved the sweaters, the skirts and the jackets weren't bad. There were only three items I think she should have axed, the short gold lame dress, that was just awlful, then the short black dress with the sheer overskirt layer, it was ok, but it just, I don;t know, it didn't work for me. The last one, that black and navy blue corset thing with the plazzo pants, ugh! Plazzo pants are the worst things in the world, either make a real pair of pants or make a skirt, I just hated that whole think, and the pleating on the pants? What was she thinking.

Christian: Are we sure this was Christian's line or was this Chris's costume line? I am sorry, but I felt the whole line was costume pieces, and they go and kick Chris off telling him he is too costume?!?!? What are we doing here? There was nothing I liked about Christian's line, I guess I could say that at least he lost the bird pants, but then he turned them into that end dress, which I hated! I thought no one in their right mind would wear that, and then Victoria Beckham siad she would wear it, and I thought right, no one in their right mind!! I am sorry, but Victoria Beckham is the LAST person I would look to for fashion advice!!

I didn't like Christian from the get-go. I thought he was a spoiled brat that needed a spanking at times and other times he needed his mouth washed out with soap.....then last night when he told his models notto eat before the show! I wanted to smack that silly little smile off his face! He is the reason we have so many eating disorders in fashion! Attitudes like his, and then they rewarded him for it! UGH! This is just so wrong!!!

On to other things.... did catch a glimsp of Jack with Dale (Top Chef runner-up (he should have won!!)), which does a heart good, and a number of former runway vets. You know, I think if you wanted to reward the kid...Daniel from season 2 would have been a much better choice than Christian, at least he had good designs and was modest and humble enough about his talent, unlike the cocky and spoiled Christian.
I'm disappointed, and mad and I said last night I would not watch another season after this, but by the time Top Chef is over, I will probably be back to watching the next season of Project Runway.

Tuesday Night's The Biggest Loser

So I've been admitting to my tv-watching habit lately, and today is another. I love watching The Biggest Loser. Have watched it since the beginning and enjoy it.

Now that being said, I knew from the get go that the big shocker tonight at the weigh in woul be that the teams were no more, I mean, really, they were down to 3 to 4, what else could it have been. I have also loved the guys of the blue team all along, now I had issues with Dan and his mom there for a couple weeks, espically when she loaded up and didn't drop what she needed to, to try to eliminate and specfic team, but now that she is gone, I think Dan has grown so much more with those guys to help him. I also think that Jay proved more to himself this week with Mark gone than he ever did in all the weeks before that. All that being said, I was actually glad that it went to singles, because it meant that with the normal weight loss these guys on the blue team pull in, they would all be safe, and we were definetly lossing a black team member.
I was surprised at Maggie's weight last night. I am sorry, but I really think that she has been skating along. This week you could actually tell a little more that she has lost weight, but she just doesn't seem to be dropping it as fast as the other, or even looking like she is losing, so I would have been happy to see her go home already. Sending Bernie home was defintely game play for the boys on the former blue team, and if you think the three of them are going to turn on each other now, I have a bridge in California to sell you! Those guys are going to stick together, and with Bob until the end, and I applaud them for it! Bernie was the only one that could challenge their numbers, so they needed to get rid of him, and I think Bernie knew that all along.

It was good to see Bernie had made it past the 100 pound make at home and was looking good. I am looking forward to seeing the finale.

Well....now you know my tv habits.....Sunday night is Extreme Home Makeover, Tuesday night is Biggest Loser and Wednesday night is Project Runway, or Top Chef next week. What's your tv habit? Guilty pleasures?

Project Runaway, Part One of the Finale

So Project Runway is one of my guilty pleasures. I did not watch Season One, but have seen Seasons Two, Three and now Four. I love it!

Last night was the first part of the season finale, and if you haven't seen it and don't want to know what happens, stop reading right now and move on to another blog, because I am going to talk about last night and my thoughts.

So this year, there was a "walk-off" between two designers, Rami and Chris. They each made full collections for fashion Week, but thy showed three to the judges and then only one actually made it to be judged at Fashion Week. Now if you know anything about this, you know that the final five all actually showed collections at fashion Week, because fashion Week actually occured before the shows were shown, and at the point when Fashion Week occured there were still five contestants, so they all showed to prevent spoilers. You know, I kinda like that, but like it or not, even the two that aren't being judged at Fashion Week, showed and got some exposure, which I am all for.

So we got to see Tim visit all four see where they were at. I loved the pictures of Chirs's collection, although we never got to see many of the actually garments. At Rami's we didn't really see the drawings but the actually garments and I am so looking forward to seeing more of them. At Jillian's we saw alot of the garments and they seemed to be stuck in that awesome jacket line. I mean she worked the one challenge and won with that jacket and she just keeps going back to it on every challenge since (expect the Diva's). Then there is Christian, and all I will say is what was he thinking with those feather pants!

Okay, so I know so many people like Christian, but the kid is 21 and so cocky and self-assured, I just want to spank him (as a mom), I keep thinking if I heard my kids acting that way i would ground them! UGH! What must his poor mother be thinking seeing this! I am sorry, he is good, but he needs to learn a little humality and reserve. Personally, I think he needsto be taken down a peg or two!

I really would have rather seen Jillian, Rami and Chris at Fashion Week, than Christian, but I don't get a vote. So they do the walk off, and I love both collections. Rami actually has a draped dress, which Nina has ragged on him all season about, and that one ended up being her favorite! UGH! Make up your mind! I loved his jacket. Then there was Chris! I loved it!! I loved the first look, and before you complain about human hair as the fringe, they all thought it was goat hair before he told them, it's been done! It looked great! I liked all three of the things he showed, and there is nothing I can find to say bad about them. But, like I said before I don't get to vote, so Chris is out and Rami is in.

I am looking forward to seeing Rami's full collection, kinda looking forward to Jillians, and well, Christian is just Christian, I suffer through him if I have to. Next week if the final, and then the next week......TOP CHEF! Okay, that is another guilty pleasure of mine! I love Top Chef!!! Thought it has been great, although I still think Dale should have beat ung last season, but that is another blog!