Had it with the Food Channel...

[cassiesmom]

I'm surprised that xxxxxxxxxxx (won't put the name in case anyone hadn't seen it) got eliminated last night. This person got mowed down by their team's stronger personalities. I thought xxxxxxxxx had a really good thing going and I'm sorry about their elimination.

I'd love to try making Vic Vegas's Philly cheese steak burrito or Penny's middle Eastern steak wrap. And Jeff's meatball sandwich - well, he's from the Chicago area, so I think I might have a chance to actually get my hands on one of those. Why did Mary Beth bring up the onion chopping thing in the eval room? I thought that was a bad decision.

Edited to ask: What's on a Philly cheese steak sandwich besides the steak? (Bell pepper? Onion? Tomato? I think I'd like it with a slice of tomato under the melted cheese.) What kind of cheese do you usually find on the sandwich, and do you toast the roll first? Is it on a hoagie roll, or can I make it with good Chicago Italian bread? Vic Vegas's wrap looked gooey and yummy to me and I think it would be easy to prepare, but I'd also like to have it as a traditional sandwich some time.

[Karen]

I was not surprised, it seemed like she was giving up, she just didn't have the energy she had when she first came into the competition.

Mary Beth brought up the onion chopping, because Penny was claiming she had no help from her teammates, and listing everything she did by herself, and when she listed chopping all the onions, Mary Beth spoke up.

[cassiesmom]

So I was thinking... If Penny and Mary Beth ran at each other at high speed and collided -- together they'd probably be a contender for the NFNS. Penny's food has ranked high with the judges; Mary Beth's hasn't but the camera likes her. It's a good thing they can't, because I'm rooting for Jeff from Chicago (and Vic Vegas, but don't tell Jeff).

[Karen]

It's funny, because Mary Beth seems much more likable as a person, whereas Penny mistakes being petty, self-centered and vicious for being "strong" - and appears to have no understanding that this alienates people of both genders. It's kinda sad, really but I wouldn't want to watch a show of hers.

[cassiesmom]

I missed it last night :-( What did I miss?

My mom had the whole family over for my dad's birthday, and my dad decided he wanted us all to look at old family slides from about 1965-1975. So much plaid and polyester! My dad enjoyed having the whole family around, especially his grandchildren. They're good about calling or sending him an e-mail to say hello from time to time, which is nice.

[Karen]

I missed it last night :-( What did I miss?

My mom had the whole family over for my dad's birthday, and my dad decided he wanted us all to look at old family slides from about 1965-1975. So much plaid and polyester! My dad enjoyed having the whole family around, especially his grandchildren. They're good about calling or sending him an e-mail to say hello from time to time, which is nice.

They sent two people home, basically the first camera challenge they had to make and demonstrate their signature dish, and they had two minutes. Bob Tuschman gave each contestant some specific aspect of their on-screen presence to work on, and some people did better than others. Vick Vegas, sadly took so much time giving a thorough description that he never demonstrated any cooking, Penny did great food, but even though she tried to be more likeable, didn't pull it off at all, Mary Beth did great on camera, of course, but her food was poorly seasoned, Jyll was told to "surprise" them, but came of as too rehearsed in her "surprising' line, Chris, as usual, had a much, much too complicated dish and ran pout of time, Jeff tried not to be too crazy, and be warm, but just came off as slow and kinda lackluster, Susie was a little scattered in her presentation, but pretty good ... Whitney worked on likeability and was happier and friendlier and talked about making gazpacho for her sorority sisters, and won that one.

When they cooked for Wolfgang Puck ion the dinner party, it was pretty obvious where the flaws were. Jeff did a salad - not a sandwich, for the first course, and presented it well, Mary Beth, reacting to being told her previous dish was underseasoned, put so much cayenne in her butternut squash soup that the judges couldn't taste anything else, everybody else did well, but the worst two were Jyll and Chris. Jyll's "Risotto" was "too stiff" - in other words, it just looked like a pile of rice with stuff in it. As soon as she presented it, too everyone's surprise, Wolfgang Puck said "this is not a risotto," and took her by the arm into the kitchen to show her how to make a real rissotto, and what it should look like in terms of consistency. Bobby Flay was appalled, Jyll was mortified but managed not to dissolve into tears, and the show went on. But Chris, who ended up with dessert (Whitney got to assign courses) apologized three times, said he was not comfortable making dessert, etc., before they even got to try his food.

So it was obvious he was going home. Susie won the evening, and most of them were told they were safe. At the end, it was Mary Beth, Jyll, and Penny standing, and then MB - to her shock was told she was safe, an they sent Penny home, as her food was still great, but she just was never getting any better on camera.

[cassiesmom]

I missed it last night :-( What did I miss?

I forgot to DVR the re-broadcast -- stupid me :-( BUT I can view it directly off their Web site. I am still rooting for Jeff from Chicago and for Vic Vegas.

[cassiesmom]

I felt bad for Vic last night-- he started out so strong and just couldn't sustain the momentum. I'm not surprised about the person who was eliminated.