In the guest judge spot this week on Top Chef:Just Desserts,we had a former Top Chef Masters contender,Hugh Acheson,start things off with a sticky Quickfire Challenge. The chefs had to create a new favor for Extra gum's line of Dessert Delights by whipping up a mini sweet treat that would fit into a tiny serving cup.
Much to his surprise,Craig won the challenge for his tiny pancakes with strawberry amaretto and mascarpone cream. Not only will his favors be added to a new pack of gum,he gets $25 grand and immunity for this round besides! Talk about cherry on top there,folks.
Craig also had the dubious honor of being a team leader for the Elimination Challenge,with Amanda heading up the other group. Each team has to create a special dessert table for Lisa Vanderpump,one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,for the second anniversary of her restaurant Villa Rosa.
Her husband stopped in,with their little dog in tow, to give the teams helpful hints on what would be most appreciated. The color scheme is pink and a centerpiece is expected.
Team Amanda did very well,despite their initial confusion on what to do in the beginning. Their table layout was charming and they were smart enough to make a special treat for the couple's dog as well.
Amongst the stand out sweets were Katzie's macaroon with strawberry jam and a mint pipette,Melissa's white chocolate creme(which had melted a bit yet still tasted great)and Amanda's cava gelee with buttermilk foam. They were declared the winning team,much to their mutual joy and delight.
Team Craig crashed and burned,starting with Craig's sour tasting pink lemonade served in sugar rimmed glasses. He was called on the carpet during judging for not contributing anything else but Rebecca spoke up and said he spent most of his time helping everyone else with their food. He had immunity,anyway,but Craig has been screwing up since Day One here and he needs to get some game mighty quick.
Sent home was Nelson,for his passion fruit lollipops adorned with cotton candy. They were bland and so was the pink chocolate side dish he added on at the last minute. Orlando got nasty with everyone afterward,insisting that they keep their "sob stories" to themselves. Way to make enemies there,pal!
Next week's big challenge is candy land themed,as the child stars from the cult classic version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory show up and an edible recreation of the infamous sugary wonderland from the film is on deck. Should be scrumdiddlyumptous!
The Final Three contenders on Design Star were charged with designing a whole house,a rather small house as it turns out. A trio of "tiny houses" were set up in Battery Park for each one of them to furnish and have their assigned carpenter build such needed sections as the kitchen and living room.
Meg decided to go with a cottage theme,smart considering that each house had less than a hundred square feet of space.
She had her carpenter built a storage closet and bathroom,which was set by the front door in order to create the illusion of a foyer and that worked out great. Some of her furniture finds added a extra dose of coziness to each particular area of the home,like the pair of rustic chairs and table for the dining room.
While some of the judges thought her color choices for the trim were repetitive and the floating shelves by the back window not properly showcased for storage,Meg's overall look and feel for the place was very user friendly(along with both of her camera presentations)and she won a spot in the finale for it.
Karl will be joining her,due to the well balanced elements that he arranged for the house. His selection of pinkish red for the walls was pleasing to the eye and the library ladder that he had his carpenter build for the loft bed was a savvy move.
He also chose a number of household items that could easily be re-purposed,like small cutting boards as place mats and decanters that could be vases when needed. Karl has gained some more confidence in his camera challenges,too and is a strong competitor for Meg to be up against here.
That made Mark the odd man out and the one going home. His charm and styling selections were enticing but his weakness for overly focusing on art projects pulled the welcome mat out from under him at this crucial point in the game.
The argyle stripes and belts that Mark applied to the walls of his house made no sense either visually or practically. Sorry,dude,but that just won't fly here. The finale is next week and both contenders are at their wit's end with shooting pilot episodes for their possible shows. I'm rooting for Meg but would be happy with Karl winning as well,so good luck to them both!:
Things were strange as usual on True Blood as Alcide and Sam got some payback while Andy got some funky fairy sex out in the woods.
Meanwhile,the battle royale at the Moon Goddess Emporium began,as Marnie/Antonia's protection spell provided to be lethal for vampires since it was made from sun energy.
During a failed negotiation that had Pam firing a rocket launcher at the witches,Marnie again had a tussle with Antonia who wanted to leave her body due to the killing of one of their witch allies.
Marnie reined her back in and while Jesus and Lafayette went into the back to apply first aid,she forced the others to form a power circle. The spell being cast,however,was drawing the vampires outside into the path of the solar force field. Sookie heard her brother's mental plea for help and delivered it but not without cost:
As Sookie was surrounded by flames,Jesus was working on a spell to separate Antonia from Marnie. Lafayette urged him to hurry things up and finally,the connection between Marnie and her now reluctant spiritual mentor was severed. King Bill and his crew stormed in and took Marnie out,which seemed to end the witch war once and for all.
That may be speaking too soon,as Marnie's restless spirit managed to possess Lafayette later that night and judging by the previews for next Sunday's finale,she's not ready to call it quits just yet. Stay tuned,folks,because it's hard to tell what cliff hangers we're going to be teetering over the edge on for next year:
RANDOM NOTES:
THE SECRET CIRCLE: Following the proven Vampire Diaries formula,the CW is presenting another supernatural soap opera for teens based on a popular book series. This time out,witches are front and center of the drama and with any luck,the story lines and acting will be just as spell binding as the ones for the other magical show on that network are:
No comments:
Post a Comment