Tag Archives: MasterChef

Aug27

August 26, 2015 — GH, LA & Too Many Cooks Spoiling the Pasta

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

The Haves & the Have Nots

For some reason, I thought yesterday was Monday and forgot to watch it. Once again, those reruns came in handy.

I love me some Tyler Perry drama! I’ve always been a fan of him as a person, but sitcoms and Medea just aren’t my thing. When he created this show, I could tell by the previews it was up my alley. If you like the old nighttime dramas like Dallas and Dynasty, and you’re not watching this (and its counterpart, If Loving You is Wrong) you’re missing out. It’s basically about a rich guy named Jim Cryer (John Schneider, a long way from Dukes of Hazzard) who is running for governor, and trying to run away from his problems. The show hit the ground running, with married Jim being blackmailed by escort Candace, who is also the daughter of one of his maids, Hanna, and friends with his own daughter. Hilarity intense drama ensues.

My favorite character is Veronica, the wife of Jim’s business partner, David, who’s also involved in Jim’s campaign. And she ain’t like Archie’s Veronica. She’s probably about the most evil character in a soap ever. And Angela Robinson plays the hell out of the part. Veronica is under the misconceived impression that she can force her gay son to be straight, but since ruining his life isn’t enough, she ends up burning down the house with David in it. I told you this was a fun show!

This week, while Jim is being interviewed live on television, he’s hit with the bombshell that one of the other maids, Celine, has had two sons by him. DUN-DUN-DUUUN!!!

General Hospital

Oooh, first commercial is for Oreo Thins. I seriously want to try those.

Morgan needs to confess to something soon before he gives himself a heart attack. Besides, going to jail isn’t too bad in Port Charles. Pretty soon, the guards will be taking McDonald’s orders from the prisoners. And here comes Sonny – known mob boss – allowed to visit whoever he pleases, unattended. While I’ve never been in jail, I don’t think it works that way. I am so glad that it’s finally dawning on Nina that she only hears that baby crying when Rick the weasel or Madelyn are around. That’s been bugging me for a while. Where’s that cry coming from? Oh, your phone. Case closed.

I understand that it’s just a show, but they could try just a little bit to make it believable. I can’t wait for them to drag Rick and Madelyn off to the country club jail.

I’m not sure what Kiki (or Ava) see in that cranky Morgan anyway, especially since he got that haircut. That’s when I remember who Kiki is. Why they had to make her so blond after Kristen Alderson left is beyond me. Like that whole character switcheroo thing wasn’t difficult enough. I’d just finally stopped thinking Kiki was Starr. I did love her final scene with Roger Howarth though. She pretty much grew up with him as her second father, so it must have been heart-wrenching for both of them. It was sweet how the dialogue wasn’t just about Franco and Kiki, but about the real actors.

Nathan, I don’t think Dante is the best guy to be helping you solve anything. His decision making skills have been pretty poor lately.

Oh, that’s a good one Sonny. You always put your children first? When did that happen?

MasterChef

Let me confess now. I hate to cook, but I love watching cooking shows. It’s not that I’m a bad cook – ask anyone who’s had my lasagna – and it’s not that I can’t be creative in the kitchen – ditto – but I’m an impatient cook (when I want to eat, I want to eat now, not 2 hours from now) who’s always had a kitchen the size of a postage stamp. Other than a one semester home ec class in 8th grade, I’m fairly uneducated in this department as well. When Gordon Ramsey says, “You tell me,” I have no clue. As we always say, my husband didn’t marry me for my cooking in the kitchen. For some reason though, I like to watch other people cook. And of course there’s the food porn aspect.

I’m not sure what’s up with risotto, but it seems to be very telling as far as cooking goes. I can’t count the times I’ve heard Gordon go insane about it.

I stink with names, so I’m glad the contestants have theirs on their aprons. I wish Survivor would do the same. As a matter-of-fact, I wish everyone would go around wearing name tags. It would make life far less embarrassing for me.

If tuna tartar is involved, I’m in. I never said my palate was uneducated.

It’s a blue team (Derrick)/red team (Stephen) thing tonight. The red team wins, so Derrick, Katrina and Hetel have to face tonight’s pressure test – 3 pasta dishes in one hour. “Impossible,” says Nick. The dishes are manicotti, scallops and clams with pasta, and egg yolk ravioli, which I’ve never heard of, but sounds really good.

OMG – one of the clams just moved! I’ve cooked them several times, but thank God they’ve stayed still. I admit to being squeamish about certain food items. One time, I bought what I thought was a nice square of frozen fish. The instructions said to soak it in water before cooking. When I did, the tail that had been heretofore stuck hidden to the underside, unfurled. I had to throw it out.

Katrina is “sweating biscuits?” Did I hear that right? At least she lost the hair bow this week. Today she has some sparkly thing on her head.

Why is the guy on the Bud Lite commercial trying to channel Will Ferrell? Was Will not available?

I love how Graham Elliot holds the scallop up like it’s a diamond.  Ooh, Gordon just said Derrick’s garnish was like eating an air freshener. Not exactly a compliment. Katrina put ricotta in the ravioli and apparently this is a really bad thing. Hetel’s ravioli looks good to me, and ground pepper always gets my vote, but Gordon said it was “heresy.” No one is looking good here. Hetel’s out. She kind of flew under the radar anyway. Being a vegetarian, it was rough for her. I don’t know how you can cook something without tasting it at some point either. Although it’s to her credit that she’s gotten this far.

Geez, could they spare the vegetables in the spring onion rice noodle soup bowl I’m having for dinner?

Little Women LA

Brittney has a new boyfriend and Tonya’s talking about moving in with her boyfriend, John, and is also wearing some amazing earrings. Too bad John doesn’t exactly feel the same way. He’s obviously not the husband material you want, Tonya. Move on. Ha-ha! Terra is talking about how nice it would be if everyone got along. This is reality TV, so not bloody likely. Lots of goings on in the romance department tonight. Briana’s boyfriend, Matt, is moving in with her. This dude has been a bone of contention since he came on the scene – with both her family and her friends. My jury is out about him. I’m hearing the same stories they are, but so far he’s been on good behavior.

Ugh! What a shame that Christy allowed her mother to influence her decision about the IVF. I’m not saying she should or shouldn’t do it, but it’s obvious that mean old woman was huge factor here. The ending is happy though. Christy and Todd make the decision to go for artificial insemination while picking strawberries next to a field of sunflowers. Nice!

Beach party! Elena is so gorgeous, I can never take my eyes off of her when she’s on screen. She’s also insecure about her appearance, so what hope is there for the rest of us? The last time they had a bonfire on the beach, the outcome was not positive. Already there’s tension between Elena and Brittney, and Tonya and Jasmine, and Matt and everyone. Same sh*t, different day. Time to roast marshmallows.

“Short arms, short sticks, someone’s weave is definitely going up in flames tonight. I’m glad I’m no longer packing.” Terra cracks me up!

Brittney’s sparkly purple eye shadow is really distracting!

Ha! For a moment there, I thought we were ending on a good note. Brittney confessed to being an idiot and Elena was okay with it. But Jasmine brings up the “other elephant in the room,” Tonya. Wait, that didn’t sound right. She wants to know what the blip Tonya’s annoyed about (and so do I), but instead it ends up being a rehash of the last argument about the same vague thing. That didn’t even make sense to me and I wrote it.

Terra’s Little Family

Someone please explain why, instead of an hour long episode, Lifetime decided to show two back-to-back half hour episodes? Anybody? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

I would laugh uncontrollably at Terra’s hair the morning after her bachelorette party, but I’m sure mine looks no better the morning after the night before.  Terra is going to check out the bridesmaids’ dresses for the first time, their only instructions having been to get beige dresses and cobalt blue shoes, which looks better than it sounds. Not an easy task to critique their choices with a hangover though. Elena says it will be like “50 shades of beige.”

Joe had to jet the day before for a gig (he’s a drummer) and missed the rehearsal, but swore he’d be back in time for the pre-wedding dinner. No surprise his plane is late. If this was Bravo, I’d say Andy Cohen probably threw his body in front of the plane.  Her mom still hasn’t gotten there either.

Whew! They both make it and the yacht sets sail for the dinner. Interesting note: Terra’s mom is one of those crazy cat ladies that you always hear about. She’s like an old hippie and really cool. Unlike Christy’s mom.

The earrings on this show are just fabulous!

Terra says Joe is like her missing puzzle piece. So much better than “you complete me” or “my soulmate.” These two are just precious!  We’re on shaky ground by the end of the episode, with Terra being a bit of a Bridezilla to Joe, but I have no doubt they’ll make up since they’re both at the wedding in the previews.

Aug22

Wednesday, August 19, 2015 – GH, LA & a Chef

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

General Hospital

Rick looks like the weasel he is, but at least he got rid of the Anton LaVey beard.  I’m enjoying the sense-of-fun chemistry between Nina and Franco, and Franco and Scotty.  If Dr. Obrecht is on screen, it’s even better.  What a shame Faison made an exit just when he & Obrecht were getting warmed up.

I’m guessing Morgan killed Silas, since he now looks like a member of the Hitler youth with his new haircut.  Speaking of Silas, I miss Michael Easton, but not the character.   The first time I saw him (in the 90s show, VR5), I knew Easton was going places, but his characters on the soaps have tended to be the brooding types, and I feel his acting talents have been limited with that.  The last time I really enjoyed him was when he played vampire Caleb on Port Charles, so it was fun at the beginning when GH had everyone wondering if he still was.  And Sonny, Sonny, Sonny.  Another instance where I love the actor, but not the character.  While I think it’s wonderful that Maurice Benard incorporated his own diagnosis into the character, Sonny often seems one-dimensional, cracking only an annual smile.  He had some great scenes with Nathan & Spinelli at the gym a while back, and I would love to see more of that.  And just what is Sonny’s business anyway? Yes, I understand he’s a mob boss who uses coffee importation as a beard, but whenever the actual business is discussed, it’s always “the product,” “the goods,” or some other vague wording.  Although I’ve never actually attended a meeting of mob bosses, I have the feeling they’re probably a little more clear than that while discussing it amongst themselves.

I’m actually glad to see both Dante and Nicholas turning into Dark & Darker.  Up until now, they were akin to pieces of scenery for me.  Now that job is relegated to Michael.  Although it’s a shame that Dante chose Valerie to go rogue with, since we’ve heard no end of how she was raised by such a wonderful mother.  Did all that go out the window when Pat died?  That was another disappointment.  Dee Wallace left us all too soon.  I’ve loved her ever since The Howling. Patricia Spencer, we hardly knew ye.

Donna Mills looks so fantastic, I don’t even have the words.  When Madelyn arrived in Port Charles, I thought, Wow, she’s barely changed since Knot’s Landing.  Then it dawned on me how long ago Knot’s Landing was.  Then I started thinking that she’s been around since I was a kid.  Then I looked up her age.  She’s almost 75!  We should all look half as good at 75.  I realize she’s most likely had work done, but usually there’s a dead giveaway between the face and the neck, and she looks amazingly natural.  Unlike those actresses (ahem, Leslie Charleson) who go overboard with fillers and look like they have human faced balloon heads.  Who tells them that this looks good?  Probably the same type of people who tell their kids they sound like Maria Carey when they sing, only to have them embarrass themselves at American Idol auditions.  Although that amusement was taken away from us when they decided on a kinder, gentler Idol.  And where are they now?  That’s right, canceled.

That being said, what a shame that Luke left Port Charles not with a bang, or even a whimper.  He just left.  All we got was one, measly, blink-and-you-missed-it flashback.

Since BRAVO is all reruns tonight (why?), a tad about last night’s viewing.

Master Chef

What a shame to see Tommy go.  He was alternately charming and annoying to me, but always fun to watch.  I’m thinking Stephen is going to win, but I’ve been wrong before.  He can also be pretty irritating, but has a definite passion for cooking, which is unfathomable to me since I am an impatient cook whose best friend in the kitchen is the microwave.  I also wish Katrina would ditch the giant hair bows.  It’s distracting and borders on a Baby Jane look.  By the way, if you ever see me dressing age inappropriate, please let me know.

Little Ladies of L.A. & Terra’s Little Family

While I’m basically a reality TV junkie, who will watch almost anything at least once, the only show I’ve ever turned off mid-episode was The Littlest Groom.  The show was also focused on a little person – a man trying to find love, much like The Bachelor – but it was heavily focused on sexuality.  While I’m not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, this show gave me a creepy, voyeuristic feeling, like it was geared to people with a fetish.  As it was canceled pretty quickly, I’m guessing other people felt the same way.

Not so these little ladies.  I loved them from the minute I saw them and have learned tons about the little people community in the time I’ve watched.  Many of the things those of us who are average sized take for granted – buying clothing, driving, having a baby – are real challenges to our shorter counterparts.  But these girls don’t let anything slow them down.  This isn’t to say the pot isn’t stirred at least once a week – it wouldn’t be reality TV if it was all rainbows and unicorns.  This season, two new little ladies, Brittney and Jasmine have been added to the cast, and were immediately handed soup spoons, and have already been busy mixing things up.

Last night, Christy and husband Todd, were celebrating their anniversary, while behind the party scene, Brittney was busy back-peddling on the story she told about Elena having an affair with Brittney’s father, David – while she was married.  Admittedly, David (who only Terra calls “Davide” – question mark over my head) is good looking and suave, but Elena swears it isn’t true, and I want to believe that because I really like her.  The other newbie, Jasmine, walked in with baggage, bad blood between her and Tonya.  Tonya keeps demanding an apology for some past slight, but it’s unclear to me exactly what the problem is, and nobody else seems to understand what it’s about either, including Jasmine.

Christy’s mother, who was also at the party, came off as a controlling, bitter old woman, and made me wonder how Christy has gotten as far as she has in life, growing up with this witch.  Christy and Todd want to have a baby.  Several years prior, Christy had a miscarriage of twins, and they have decided to go the in vitro route if it doesn’t work out the natural way.  For a good portion of the episode, Christy’s mother wasn’t just being discouraging, she was downright nasty.  Even my husband, who barely pays attention to what I’m watching (“Is this show still on?” he’ll ask midday of a marathon), said, “This lady is mean.”  She droned on about the possibility of dwarfism (even though Christy explained that they could choose an embryo without that genetic component): she brought up the past miscarriage, wondering why Christy would want to put herself through this again; she questioned the probability of the procedure working out at all (the odds are 50/50), questioned the couple’s ability to even care for a child; and generally focused on anything negative she could find.  Eventually, she said she’d love her grandchild no matter what, but she didn’t think it was a good idea in the least.  Geez, tell us how you really feel.  The worst part was that she made Christy question her own decision.  I wouldn’t even want my child around this woman.  Run, Christy!  Run!

These girls are all beautiful, intelligent and definitely a group I’d love to party with, especially Terra, who was the first to become pregnant and now has a spin-off show with her soon-to-be husband, Joe, called Terra’s Little Family.

Terra and Joe are super smart and funny.  Not a show goes by where I don’t literally LOL, but they’ve also made me tear up as well.  Going through a pregnancy is no laughing matter for a little person, especially wondering whether your child will have a genetic disposition toward dwarfism, of which there are different kinds.  The biggest concern was that she would be “double dominant,” meaning she inherited both types: Terra’s achondraplasia and Joe’s pseudoachondroplasia. Baby Penelope Charlevoix (I love that name!) was born with achondraplasia, but was also born blessed with a set of wonderful parents who will guide her lovingly through every challenge.  After Penny’s birth, Joe proposed to Terra, and I’m so looking forward to the wedding.  Last night, we were invited to the bachelor and bachelorette parties in Las Vegas.  From blow-up man dolls to boobie shots, hopefully the hangovers will go away by ceremony time.  Hopefully too, Terra will get her dress before then, as the custom-made piece was still being worked on when she left for Vegas.  I’m almost as nervous as she is, wondering if it will get there in time for the wedding.

Regardless of the difficulties, if any couple can make a go of it, these two can.  While they do have arguments, they also have the ability to resolve conflicts in a mature and loving manner.  It’s a breath of fresh air, unlike the Housewives of any city you want to insert here.