Top Chef Seattle's Restaurant Wars continue,Downton Abbey's wedding woes and Face Off returns for a royal rumble

The second half of Restaurant Wars played out on Top Chef Seattle last night,as Kirsten and Sheldon went head to head with their eateries. It was boys vs girls in the team make-ups and each set of contenders were given an empty space to work with,which meant that they had to create their own kitchens as well as dining space.

Sheldon's concept for his restaurant Urbano was modern Filipino cuisine,something that neither Stefan or Josh were familiar with. Stefan decided to take on front of the house duties and that seem to work well for him at the beginning.

As time went on,however,his charms wore out fast as tables from the first service were slow to leave. A backlog of customers had already formed by the time the judges arrived. Stefan managed to get them seated but was neglectful and terse with them at times,so not the smart thing to do there!

Lucky for him,the food was good enough to win. Josh did very well,even though some of his dishes didn't exactly have the true ethic flavor palate required.

One of his better dishes was the dessert,known as halo-halo. It was coconut sorbet with avocado mousse and bananas,which the judges loved a lot. Stefan also had a dessert offering of dark chocolate covered macadamia nuts and ginger tea but his sour mood spoiled the joys of that sweet.

Sheldon was pretty much all aces with his food and the judges' favorite dish of the night was his adobo. It was a plate of pork belly with mung bean puree and a pea shoots salad,which Stefan failed to describe properly when serving it. His attitude was beyond terrible there,seriously.

Sheldon is a sweet guy who treated everyone well,right down to the dishwasher who helped out with the food. I'm happy that he won but it's too bad that victory became an advantage for Stefan.

Speaking of advantage,Josie was able to use Kristen's good nature against her during judges' table and threw her right under the bus as fast as she could. True,Kristen should have been more take-charge in the kitchen when it came to getting Josie's dish done right and she did overextend herself by getting too ambitious with some of her concepts.

However,Josie was being slower than usual and insanely passive aggressive,which dragged down the whole service. Brooke was doing a lovely job as front of the house and the first couple of courses went out smoothly.

Josie's bouillabaisse was a traffic accident from hell. First off,she was supposed to have the broth ready the day before service but she didn't start it until the day of and about a half hour before customers arrived,it still wasn't done.

Then,she "forgot" to add the gelatin and didn't seem too concerned about that. Kristen told her to use cream instead to make a foam to be put on the plates but Josie didn't even bother to make sure the applicator worked properly!

The dish came out late and the fish was unevenly cooked,plus some people got a little bit of broth and others didn't. Josie kept insisting that she was just doing what Kristen told her to do,which was total bull but instead of calling her out,Kristen held her tongue which cost her a spot in the competition.

To be fair,the judges did find fault with some of Kristen's own dishes such as the beef bourguigon,that tasted great but didn't have the expected red wine sauce.

They also had trouble with her dessert,a deconstructed macaroon. Judge Gail was most insistent that it didn't possess the correct flavor profile associated with that classic French treat. Since Kristen's theme for Atelier Kwan was classic French with a twist,I guess that's fair.

For her to go home for Josie's subtle sabotage is not,in my opinion. Clearly the judges' table was divided on this decision but they did reach some sort of conscious and why they felt the need to keep Josie on with her streak of slow motion screw-ups while Kristen has become a frontrunner is beyond me,folks.

Well,what's done is done and hopefully,Kristen will be able to beat CJ in Last Chance Kitchen. One thing is for certain and that is that Stefan will probably take whatever opportunity he gets to bring Josie down,since Kristen was his girl,so to speak. I could be wrong about that,yet I won't be surprised if he plays a part in getting Josie kicked out at some point.

It was supposed to be Edith's day to shine at Downton Abbey,but her wedding to Sir Anthony ended in heartbreaking disaster. He jilted her cruelly at the altar and I do mean cruelly,folks.

What kind of a gentleman lets the lady arrive at the church in her wedding gown(which looked beautiful,btw)and walk down the aisle with her father in front of a full house,only to call the whole thing off just as the minister starts the show?

Edith's been bitchy at times,true,yet a good portion of that is due to competing with Mary for attention from all sides and here,she was really sweet and happy towards everyone. I know that Countess Violet meant well by telling Edith to just let him go but she could've at least smacked Sir Anthony for his hideous timing!

*Sigh* I hope that Edith can find real love and true happiness before this season is over. Maybe she should take a cue from Sybil and look below stairs,since that new footman Alfred was quick to come to her defense in the servant's quarters and he was right in that she could do much better than Sir Anthony(I think so,too):



Speaking of Sybil,the next episode seems to be her turn for trouble. Not sure what's going to happen but it looks as if Tom won't be as reliable as he should be,especially with a pregnant wife to take care of:

The SyFy series Face Off started a new season this week and the main challenge was for teams of two to create a goblin king. With Labyrinth being one of my favorite fantasy films,I was thrilled to see what they came up.

The goblin kings had to represent a particular region where their kingdoms were set,such as arctic cold,jungle and swamp. My personal pick for the win was the Desert Goblin King created by Eric Fox and Jenna. The coyote skull face with it's golden tumbleweed crown was truly effective in both close-up and distant viewings.

The look that did win belonged to the Mountain Goblin King from Meagan and Anthony. It also happen to be a double victory for Anthony,since he won the opening challenge for Fantasy Queen,so this was a nice way for him to begin the competition.

The concept was to show the king turning to stone due to his stony heart and the face application in particular showcased that idea exceptionally well. Congrats to both of them in pulling that off.

The losing look was put together by Troy and Michael,with Troy going home for it. Their Volcanic Goblin King was a hot mess,not to mention completely covered up in all of the wrong places. That crown looked more like a dunce cap than a sprout for exploding lava,in my opinion.

Next week,the make-up artists get the chance to create a superhero for DC Comics,which promises to be truly geek-tacular:



RANDOM NOTES:

SWEET GENIUS: Season 3 of this sweetly silly competition show is about to wrap up,due to Anne Burrell's return for another round of Chef Wanted. This won't be the last we see of Chef Ron Ben-Israel and his unique brand of baking fun,I'm sure:

Mixing up a batch of Oscar Nominee Substitute Salad

The film awards season kicked off last night,with the Golden Globes being a considerable hit with just about everyone. Hostesses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were in fine comedic form and amongst the worthy winners were Daniel Day-Lewis,Jennifer Lawrence,Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway(congrats to all).

The trophies handed out yesterday will affect the Oscar race,as Ben Affleck received many of the honors that he is not up for at the Academy Awards while the path is made clear for Day-Lewis and Hathaway to get their golden boys. This also increases the interest that folks have to see as many of the big movies before the big show,yet it may be hard for some of us to do so.

In that instance,let me offer this handy guide to acceptable alternatives for Oscar anticipation viewing. Whether a trip to the multiplex is not in your budget right now or the films you want to see are not playing at a theater near you,all of the flicks I am about to name are within your rental reach:

IF YOU CAN'T SEE LINCOLN....then check out Abraham Lincoln,Vampire Hunter based on Seth Grahame-Smith's monster mash-up novel. It's also a great pick for President's Day and certainly more entertaining than certain other stories about the Great Emancipator(not to mention is honest enough to be called entertainment)there.

Granted,Benjamin Walker's Lincoln may not have the eloquence of Daniel Day-Lewis but he does look awesome when swinging that ax and taking down those rebel vamps:

IF YOU CAN'T SEE ARGO.... try Wag The Dog,which has plenty of star power from Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro alone. It did receive two Oscar nominations(Best Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay)in some of the same categories as Argo but hopefully,the latter's luck in that regard will be better.

The entertainment exchange rate is pretty fair-instead of a political thriller that has Hollywood teaming up with government forces to provide a distraction to save hostages,you get a political satire that has government forces recruiting Hollywood to provide a distraction to save a presidential campaign:

IF YOU CAN'T SEE LES MISERABLES....another French flavored musical delight is Gigi,which won several Oscars in it's year of release. Both are based upon works by classic French authors and both were made into stage productions for Broadway. The main difference in that last part is that Gigi was turned into a film first and then a play a few years later(in 1973).

While Gigi is certainly far more cheerful than Le Miz,it has just as many memorable songs and Leslie Caron does share a similar look with Anne Hathaway. One huge advantage that Gigi has over Le Miz is that there are actually French folk in the cast(not that takes anything away from Le Miz there but still...):

IF YOU CAN'T SEE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK...Billy Wilder's The Apartment should satisfy you nicely. Both have troubled young men trying to sort out their lives by dealing with tricky mentors and falling in love with quirky young women.

Also,both stories are a blend of comedy and drama that received multiple Oscar nominations. The Apartment won five out of the ten it was up for,including Best Director,Best Screenplay and Best Picture. Like SLPB,the leading man and lady of The Apartment(Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine)were up for Best Actor and Actress,yet neither of them won. With Jennifer Lawrence landing a win at the Globes the other night,history might not repeat itself here:

Good luck with your Oscar themed home movie marathons,folks. If you're not in the mood for something fancy,you could load up on a few "mockbusters" such as I Am Omega or Age of the Hobbits(which has been retitled Clash of the Empires,due to a lawsuit)that should get you ready for the Razzies later this season:

Some observations about this year's Oscar nominees

Yesterday morning,many movie fans were wide awake at an early hour to watch the live announcement of the nominees for the 85th annual Academy Awards and I must say that host Seth McFarlane and actress Emma Stone were very amusing in their presentation.

There was the usual amount of expected contenders getting the nod but there were also a few surprises as well and for once,a decent amount of Best Song selections. With these cinematic choices still fresh in mind,here are my initial reactions to this year's Oscar hopefuls:

LINCOLN LOG ROLL: Steven Spielberg's tribute to the 16th president lead the way with twelve nominations,including Best Actor(Daniel Day-Lewis),Best Supporting Actor and Actress(Tommy Lee Jones & Sally Field),Best Adapted Screenplay(based on part of Doris Kerns Goodwin's "A Team of Rivals")and Best Picture.

While other films did scoop up a decent amount of nominations such as The Silver Linings Playbook(8)and Life of Pi(11),Lincoln is clearly the front runner and there is no doubt in my mind that Day-Lewis will be adding another Oscar to his collection of awards.

Part of the reason for the movie's strong connection with audiences,in my opinion,is the longing for strong leadership during turbulent times,something that many people don't feel is present in our modern day world at the moment. Perhaps the success of this silver screen history lesson will resonate beyond the multiplex with a few good wins on Oscar night:

LIVING THE DREAM: Speaking of front runners,Anne Hathaway's performance in Les Miserables was already getting Oscar consideration buzz before the film hit theaters and now her win in the Best Supporting Actress category appears to be inevitable.

Le Miz earned eight other noms,including a Best Actor for Hugh Jackman and Best Song,for "Suddenly",a song that is also up for a Golden Globe this weekend. While it does have a fair chance of winning a few of them,their biggest honor will probably go to Hathaway for her heartbreaking portrait of Fantine,which isn't leaving a dry eye in the house everywhere. At the end of the day,she'll be walking down the red carpet with some matching gold,a sure bet if there ever was one:

IN A STATE OF CINEMATIC SHOCK: A number of non-nominations made for some disappointment in a few quarters such as Ben Affleck's lack of placement in either Best Actor or Director for his acclaimed film Argo(which did get seven),Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson not being up for Best Supporting Actor for Django Unchained(co-star Christoph Waltz has that spot)or The Dark Knight Rises receiving none whatsoever.

What amazed me was The Master earning three prime acting nominations,with Joaquin Phoenix up for Best Actor,Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Best Supporting Actor and Amy Adams in the Best Supporting Actress section. The Paul Thomas Anderson film did get a lot of critical praise for it's provocative tale of a troubled WWII vet being drawn into a cult but the parallels in the plot to Scientology did seem to be a potential hindrance to any award show accolades.

While I haven't seen the film yet,it is good to see some positive attention attached to it and nice to know that playing it safe isn't the only road for an artist to take in order to achieve appreciation from their peers:

IN REEL AND REAL TIME: Certain categories at the Oscar I never do well with in guessing who is to win,such as Best Short Film,Animated or Live(although I am hearing some good word about a live action short,Diminished Chords,that's doing well on the film festival front lately).

With some of those Oscar areas,I tend to go along with the film that I have heard something about and there's been plenty of solid talk about How to Survive a Plague,which is up for Best Documentary.

The film chronicles the struggles of HIV/AIDS activists during the 1980s and 90s to raise public awareness about the disease and to get the government to pay some real attention to the growing epidemic. The Independent Spirit Awards also nominated HTSAP and the film has won honors from The Boston Society of Critics and the Gotham Independent Film Awards already.

This riveting look at the past efforts to prevent a critical illness from reaching mass proportions has current roots in the present day difficulties faced by those fighting for gay marriage rights and should provide encouragement for any group challenging the system for fair and equal treatment under the law:

SURPRISINGLY SWEET: The Best Song category has been sadly neglected by the Academy for awhile now,with only two songs being nominated last time around. That's all changed,as five tunes are filling that singalong section this year,with the theme from Skyfall,Le Miz's "Suddenly"(here's hoping that Adele and Hugh Jackman get to sing their nominated songs at the Kodak that night!),"Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi and "Before My Time" from Chasing Ice.

Believe it or not,the last song in this round up is from the surprise smash summer movie Ted and written by Oscar host Seth McFarlane,no less. "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" was sung by Norah Jones for the soundtrack and it's actually a nice number about the bonds of companion hood. Not what you might expect from the raunchy antics of Mr. Family Guy there but it tends to be the snarky ones who are the most sentimental:



Well,the fun begins and there will be tons of speculation before the big night on February 24. Some of that will fall on Seth McFarlane's hosting duties as well but as long as he takes tips from Ricky Gervais on what not to do,he should be fine:

Top Chef Seattle's twist on Restaurant Wars,changes for Downton Abbey and Bunheads dance again

Wolfgang Puck stopped by to judge the Quickfire on Top Chef Seattle this week,with more product placement fun as Canada Dry sponsored the theme of ginger.

The chefs had fifteen minutes to make a dish that highlighted ginger in either a sweet or savory way. They were encouraged to use real ginger as well as the soda,which is fine,I guess but I suspect the real ginger would work better for most of the food put out here.

Immunity was up for grabs and that honor went to Brooke,for her ginger and caramel glazed squid. Another nice win for Brooke,she's been on fire for quite some time now and good on her.

The Elimination Challenge was announced as Restaurant Wars yet there was a significant change to the usual proceedings. Everyone was working solo,to come up with a concept for a restaurant and to make one dish that represented the theme.

The food and idea would then be presented at a culinary food event in vendor booths and they even had some sous chef help from contenders in Last Chance Kitchen(didn't expect to see most of those folks before the reunion show again).

Three people were up for the win,including Joshua who went with a bistro named after his deceased father. The cuisine was rustic meat and potatoes and he made a seared rib eye steak with cauliflower puree and a red wine mushroom sauce.

Despite the meat not being seasoned enough,the home style flavors and look of the plate was another redemption moment for Joshua,who is starting to catch up on the competition there.

There were two winners of this challenge and one of them was Sheldon,for his sour tamarind soup served with pork belly and snapper. His theme was modern Filipino and Padma really admired how elegantly this dish turned out.

Since it was Sheldon's birthday,this was an especially nice win and he got some cash for it,plus a bit of extra responsibility for the next round.

Kristen was the other winner,thanks to her classic French with a twist take on onsen egg with buttered radishes and a Camembert mustard sauce. The judges adored her formal yet inviting approach to food.

With this part done,the second half of Restaurant Wars was ready to begin. Sheldon and Kristen were given two days to set up their ideal restaurant in an empty space,which we'll see next week. In the meantime,they had to pick their helpers from the remaining contestants but to keep in mind that someone was still going to pack their knives and go.

Landing in the Bottom Three was Lizzie,who chose a Northern Italian farmhouse approach and whipped up a mustard green canederli with crisped up speck and fonduta.

The concept was good but her execution of the dish was not. The dumpling came out gummy and the cheese sauce wasn't very flavorful. Lizzie got a little snippy with the judges during the panel session and I thought for sure she was in big trouble.

Josie was next to her,with another flop of a plate due to her poor time management skills. The pork in her pureco asado was tough and dry,plus the black bean chorizo cake served with it was soaked with that mojo sauce on the dish to the point of mush.

As much as I want to like Josie,she's making it hard for me to even want to see her continue with this competition. Josie,all the banter in the world won't make up for painfully slow food that's not worth the wait for,sorry.

Lucky for her,it was Micah's time to head off to Last Chance Kitchen. His concept was food in the raw and he offered up slices of uncooked fish such as salmon,snapper and scallops with raw veggies and a simple dressing. Not much cooking going on there,buddy and this is a cooking show,you know?

I think part of the reason that he was shipped off to LCK may have been the statement he made during the culinary event when Judge Tom asked him about the lightness of the dish and he said something along the lines of "ladies looking to watch their figures." Dude,with two women on the judging panel,that's not a smart or sensitive comment to make,just saying!

Next week,part two of Restaurant Wars and it's difficult for me to choose between Sheldon and Kristen for the win. Sheldon is down one team member but then again,Josie is on the other team,so it's sort of even.

Bunheads returned for another mini-season,with all of the players lost and confused as Fanny's dance studio is shut down and not just for the summer.

The Nutcracker macing incident caused Michelle to flee to her friend Talia's place in Henderson,NV and take a thankless job as a magician's second assistant,while the girls are either taking care of quirky family members(Boo,Ginny and Melanie) or hiding out(Sasha).

What brings them all out of hiding is a viral video that highlights their awful dance recital moment,one of those clips taken from local TV news coverage and turned into a song. The tune's actually pretty catchy there:



This lead to Michelle coming back to Paradise and Fanny opening the studio again,which was a no brainer but still delightful to watch. The show seems a little steadier on it's feet so let's give it a fair shot,folks this time around. Plus,at some point we may see Sasha's parents together in one room,giving Michelle a break from catching Sasha with her sly secret boyfriend:

The long awaited third season of Downton Abbey arrived,bringing many new developments and characters,such as Martha Levinson,Cora's American mother who had plenty of opinions but not much money to give to save the estate(more on that in a moment).

Mary and Matthew finally got married,which gave her sister Sybil a chance to come home with her new husband and O'Brian an opportunity to have her nephew hired on as footman. Meanwhile,Anna is busy trying to overthrow Mr. Bates' conviction and Daisy was miffed about not getting the promotion she was promised by Mrs. Padmore.

Amid all of these and many more doings,the biggest challenge to everyone is the financial trouble that the estate is in,due to Lord Grantham's heavy railroad investment that took a bad turn.

What this may mean is that the family might have to retrench by giving up the big house,which would suit some of them fine. Cora is being very supportive of her husband and the realities of the situation,I have to say.

Mary,however,is not ready to downscale and nearly called off her wedding to Matthew,since he didn't want to accept an inheritance from his former fiancee Lavinia's family. Granted,I admire his morals but this change will also affect the staff as well and it would be good to think of their needs,too. Change is inevitable in life,fictional and otherwise,and it's a good opportunity to display depth of character(or lack there of):



This upcoming episode,Edith is stepping into the spotlight as her love life may actually come to something. I hope things work out for her,that girl would be so much nicer with a little bit of true happiness of her own. Then again,things are tough all over,even at Downton:



RANDOM NOTES:

RACHAEL VS. GUY: This first round went well enough,but word to the wise for future celeb contestants:if you're going to enter a cooking competition,it helps to be able to actually cook. Peanut butter sandwiches are not going to cut the mustard at all:

A Darcy Disciple's extra credit reads

This is becoming a very Jane Austen year for me, indeed. In addition to taking up Austenprose's P&P Bicentenary Challenge and planning to write another Austen themed e-book, there was a sweet sale on Darcy related e-books over this past weekend.

With eleven titles to choose from at 99 cents each,my options were overflowing. I took control,however,and purchased a lovely little quartet of novels that, while they are not officially part of my reading list for the P&P challenge,could be easily considered as extra credit(much as viewing the Lizzie Bennet Diaries already is for me). In the interest of spreading more of the Darcy love around,here are my bonus set of P&P connected books:

MR. DARCY,VAMPYRE: I have resisted the urge long enough to check out Amanda Grange's vision of our favorite Austen leading man as a blood sucking gentleman. While I don't find him to be the ideal vampire from this particular imaginary realm,he does possess the broodiness that such mournful immortals as Stefan Salvatore,Edward Cullen and Buffy's first nighttime lover Angel have had to make themselves most memorable to the ladies.

I am very willing to give this book a fair shot but I know that I would love it unconditionally if Darcy happens to snack on a few annoying supporting characters(Mr. Collins or Caroline Bingley,to name just two)in between bouts of wooing Lizzy-we shall see!:

LOVING MR. DARCY: Granted,this is the second volume in Sharon Lathan's Darcy saga but I may be able to borrow the first one from another source.

In the meanwhile,it is nice to have part of this delightful series in my digital library and this book takes place during the Darcy's honeymoon trip across England, as they meet with new friends and old,plus having a little romantic fun along the way:

A WEEKEND WITH MR. DARCY: Victoria Connelly brings the P&P passion into modern day chick lit times,as her leading lady Professor Katherine Roberts is determined to find a little peace of mind from her hectic professional life at a Jane Austen conference set in the quiet countryside.

That hoped for tranquility is shattered by a tall,dark and handsome stranger who could be the Darcy of her dreams. Connelly has two follow-up novels to this story and I'm looking forward to taking a mini-break with them all sometime soon before the year is out:

MR. DARCY'S SECRET: Last but I suspect far from the least of my purchases was Jane Owide's mystery laced tale that starts up not too long after Elizabeth and Darcy are married.

While getting used to being the mistress of such a large estate as Pemberley,Lizzie begins to hear rumors about her new husband's past that could threaten their future happiness,as well as his sister Georgiana's. I have heard good things about this book and am intrigued by this dark twist on Darcy's life with his beloved Bennet girl:



Now,don't go thinking that I have abandoned my darling print books for e-book mania there,folks. I will always adore a solid format for reading and am planning to add more to my physical library as well.

However,I do have a Nook in need of fresh books and when the perfect opportunity comes along for remedying such a deficiency, it would be foolhardy to purposely avoid it.

I really shouldn't feel the need to defend my fresh crop of Darcy delights but some might say it's internet law to show loyalty to the tried and true media while engaging in the new(kudos to The New Dork Review of Books for showcasing this funky little singalong first):

Getting into the Downton Abbey spirits with some spirited laughs

With a new season of Downton Abbey about to begin,many fans will be having viewing parties both on and offline.

Since I,like most DA followers,will be enjoying the show solo and intend to wait until Monday to see what everyone else thinks on the internet,this parade of Downton Abbey parodies is my small yet silly way of celebrating.

First up is a British skit that imagines Simon Cowell taking over the estate and bringing a few rather unsuitable staff members along with him. Granted,I'm not that familiar with Cheryl Cole but that part was pretty funny to me,nonetheless:



Next,we have Jimmy Fallon re-imagining his late night show as a Downton like saga,complete with heirs old and new,plus a scheming footman looking to rise in the ranks. Wonder if he'll do a part three sometime soon there?:



Speaking of late night,Stephen Colbert was so miffed that the First Lady got an advanced copy of DA that he treated his audience to a preview of Breaking Bad as performed by the gents of Downton.

The language may be a touch on the rough side but the humor is spanking fresh,indeed:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Uncensored - Breaking Abbey
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

With the Super Bowl due to arrive soon,it seems fitting to replay the "Super Proper Bowl", The snacks may not be as filling but the wit is certainly sharper and the joy upon victory as strongly felt in any football stadium:



See you all next week,when our Downton delights will be fully engaged. My take on the new season will appear in the usual LRG TV Thursday posts and I will endeavor not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't caught up just yet.

Speculations abound about what is to occur at Downton this season but one thing is for certain and this is that the Dowager Countess Violet will have something most memorable to say on every occasion:

Top Chef Seattle makes some memories,Downton Abbey's eminent arrival and a taste of Rachael Vs. Guy

Top Chef Seattle started off the new year with quite a bang,as the first of many twists to come was announced during the Quickfire. A bladesmith was brought out to judge the first ever Knife Skills Relay Race.

I find the amazing dexterity that chefs have with that particular piece of kitchen equipment to be appealing,so this challenge was a welcome change-up from the usual.

The nine contenders formed three teams for the first two challenges,with the last group standing to compete against one another. Task One was to sharpen their knives to the point where they could easily slice through paper.

Next,they had to "tourne" potatoes,which meant slicing fifty spuds into small football style shapes. For the win,the remaining team(Sheldon,Micah and Josh)had to break down a pair of rabbits. For some strange reason,Josh kept saying that it was no different than carving up a cat-so not funny,dude,especially to cat owners,okay?

Anyway,Micah finished first and his work was good enough that he won the challenge. His rewards were immunity and a $500 dollar knife. Those knives must be as sharp as a Hanzu sword to be worth that much or at least I hope so.

Plenty of product placement went into the Elimination Challenge,as the chefs were handed Kindle Fires to see a memorable moment from Top Chef past in order to make a healthier version of the dish connected to that particular clip and season.

The winner would have their revamped dish become a Healthy Choice entree,plus get fifteen grand to boot. Padma also waved around a tenth Kindle,saying there was one extra TC moment to be revealed later on.

The meal was served to a pack of TC super fans and some special guest judges such as Wolfgang Puck and Jonathan Waxman. Judge Tom was also on board,along with Wylie Dufresne and recent Top Chef Master's champion Chris Cosentino.

Another twist came when the dinner was over and the chefs were waiting to hear their fate. Five people were called in to see the judges all at the same time,which threw everyone's game off for a minute there.

Three of the five were up for the win,one of them being Brooke. She got the infamous pea puree incident from Season 7 and made that edible item accompanied by smoked salmon and forbidden black rice.

The judges and the super fans both loved it,finding the flavors to be spot on and her adding some parsnip to the puree a nice touch.

Josh has been having trouble with pork this season,so his placement in the Top Three here had a sweet redemption ring to it. He was given the Air Force return dinner moment from Season 6 and made a soy glazed pork tenderloin with peaches and smoked cashew puree.

He also felt the need to add his two cents during John's portion of the presentation at the judge's table,which I will overlook this time due to John being extra jerky this round(more on that later). I still don't like this trend of underhanded comments during the judging and hope it will stop soon.

On to pleasanter things,Kristen won the challenge for a creatively healthy approach to chicken pot pie. She had to make a more calorie conscious version of Carla's chicken pot pie for Jimmy Fallon during the All Star season and that's not an easy thing to do.

What Kristen did was focus on the insides of the pie and do away with the crust completely. Her poached chicken breast and carrot puree with a garlic and tofu emulsion was both home style delicious as well as nutritious. Good going,Kristen!

On the bottom was Lizzie,who had to whip up some scallops in honor of Jamie from Season 5. Unfortunately,those suckers weren't fresh enough to be cooked and despite the orange and olive salad along side it,the whole plate was a fest of funk.

I personally thought she was going to go straight home,since serving bad fish is a major faux pas there. To her credit,Lizzie made no excuses about the poor quality of her food,unlike her partner in bad cooking standing next to her there.

John was tasked with risotto(from Season 3's bad batch served to Anthony Bourdain,who John happens to know and only mentioned several thousand times there)and kept griping about the "risotto curse" of Top Chef. If you knew that this was a tricky dish to pull off,John,maybe you should have taken more care with it.

He also whined a lot about not finding the right pan to cook the rice in,which inspired Josh to mention how he had no trouble in finding a proper pan to cook with in the same kitchen. John's risotto was both over and undercooked,bringing to mind that saying about what it means when a musician blames his instrument for a bad concert.

Padma then brought out that tenth Kindle(serious product placement alert!)and showed both Lizzie and John the memorable moment of the current season. It was CJ and his pathetic pork burger with pickle. The two of them had to make a better burger in order to stay in the game.

Lizzie chose to prepare a chicken burger that turned out very moist and juicy,which isn't as simple as it seems. Poultry burgers can come out drier than bone,so kudos to her,plus the goat cheese ricotta and roasted red pepper salad with dill pickle on the plate accented it well.

John gave her a hard time in the kitchen,being quick to grab the pickles first and then act like he was doing her a favor by "sharing" them. He also hogged the fresh dill and bitched in the aside section about he shouldn't have to cook again,since her fish was bad. Hey,buddy,if you didn't know a last minute cook-off was coming when Padma mentioned that tenth Kindle early on,you are too unaware to be in a competition like this.

Plus,this was supposed to be a healthy burger and even one of the judges asked him why he thought placing a fried egg on top of his lamb burger would qualify for that requirement of the dish.

John tried to do a little side step on that,but his burger was dry despite the spicy pickle sauce poured over it. He was sent off to pack his knives and good riddance,in my opinion. John loved bragging about being so hated,which is an achievement that gets really old real fast and tends to stink worse than those scallops that Lizzie served.

Hopefully,he won't last long in Last Chance Kitchen,where he ironically has to defend himself against CJ(who is on a winning streak there). See ya,John,so don't want to be ya!

After what felt like forever,Downton Abbey will return for it's third and sadly final season this Sunday. In addition to the Matthew and Mary romance along with the fate of unjustly imprisoned Bates,we are being presented with a number of new and interesting characters to the series.

Haughty ladies' maid O'Brien has managed to get a very tall nephew of hers hired on as the new footman,which should stir up some trouble between her and Thomas. Also,Cora's mother arrives from America to give her opinion on everything,whether it's asked for or not. So looking forward to seeing her spar with Dowager Countess Violet there!

Other earth shaking changes involve the possible financial ruin of the estate due to the stock market crash and Sybil bringing her former chauffeur husband into the family fold. This chilling winter will be much warmer with all of this Downton discussion to come in the weeks ahead:

Also starting on Sunday is Season Two of Rachael Vs. Guy:Celebrity Cook-Off,which is pretty self explanatory in the title there. Guy's team had Chili from the girl group TLC,Dean McDermott aka Mr. Tori Spelling,Cornelia Guest and ice skating superstar Johnny Weir.

I totally adore Johnny Weir and love to see what he does on this show. Cornelia Guest plans to cook vegetarian style only,something that tends to do a lot of professional chefs in on shows like this,so we'll see how far she gets with that.

Team Rachael has a bit of double trouble with two comedians on board,Kathy Najimy and Gilbert Gottfried. Rounding out that side is singer Carnie Wilson and sports star Hines Ward.

Kathy is also planning to go vegan with her cooking, for her daughter's sake,which is nice but could also trip her up there. Oh well,this is all for charity to begin with,so best of luck to all:



RANDOM NOTES:

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: New episodes start to appear on January 17 and so will returning Original sister Rebekah,out to stir up more sinister shenanigans.

Then again,Rebekah's return isn't as troublesome as the continuing love triangle between Stefan,Damon and Elena,plus Jeremy and his Hunter's Mark issues and what ever evil scheme Professor Shane is up to. *Sigh* Can't help loving those crazy vampire blues:

Becoming a Darcy Disciple for 2013

One of the many distinctions that 2013 holds is that it is the two hundredth anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice,Jane Austen's best known and beloved novel.

In honor of such an auspicious occasion,Laurel Ann Nattress of Austenprose is hosting a Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge ,that encourages new and old Austenites alike to celebrate by enjoying the various books and films based on this timeless tale of love and misunderstandings.

I've decided to join in the fun,at the Disciple level(which allows 5-8 selections)since I do have quite a few reading and writing projects ahead of me this year,including another Austen themed e-book(no,it's not P&P based,but more on that at another time). Also want some time to do a few book reviews for LRG,including one for a new Jane Austen biography coming out this season. In the meantime,here are my choices for the challenge:

THE BOOKS:

With so many P&P options out there,I whittled it down to five books and three films,the first one to read of course being the original Austen classic. While I do have a nice annotated edition and a BOMC copy that has the lovely Hugh Thomson illustrations,I thought it would be best to just go with a basic,no frills version of P&P.

No frills,except a Colin Firth cover and an intro from Anna Quindlen,that is. Hey,a girl's gotta have some sizzle with her steak,right? After all, the best way to really appreciate the whole Lizzy Bennet/Mr.Darcy deal is to dive into the book itself and enjoy the romantic twists and satirical turns of the plot:

In addition to rereading Jane Austen in Boca by Paula Marantz Cohen,my reading list will have a double dose of Linda Berdoll's infamous works.

Full confession:despite having both Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife and it's follow-up,Darcy and Elizabeth:Days and Nights at Pemberley(as well as mentioning them online quite a bit),I have not fully read either of them*hanging head in shame*

It's not for complete lack of trying,I assure you. Perhaps my hesitation comes from first learning about them when the first book was known as The Bar Sinister. I even had a customer in my book store inquire about it but I was unable to get it for her at the time. Upon asking around,I found out how "naughty" it was supposed to be.

When it was retitled and made available through a reputable publisher,I did want to give the book(and it's later sequel)a fair chance. I still do and more likely than not,they'll turn out to be not quite the 50 Shades of Grey of the Austenesque world as I and others once imagined these spicy P&P continuations to be:

To round this out with a fresh take on the story,Amanda Grange's Dear Mr. Darcy is on my list as well. As the title suggests,this book is from Mr. Darcy's point of view and is told through a series of letters.

That approach is very much like Austen,since she originally wrote her first novel,Sense and Sensibility in epistolary form(she revised it some time later before submitting it to publication). I plan to tackle this style myself for my next e-book project(which mixes Mansfield Park with vampires,I shall say no more for now!)and would like to see how well it works in the hands of a modern day talent like Grange.

Letters do play a pivotal part in P&P,especially the one that Mr. Darcy wrote to Elizabeth regarding the truth about Wickam and other related matters. It should be interesting to find out that fits in with an all Darcy narrative:



THE FILMS

Two of my P&P movies here are already part of my home video library-Lost In Austen and the essential BBC miniseries from 1995,starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. The third one,however,will be borrowed from Netflix and is fortunately in a newly vamped DVD format.

The 1980 BBC miniseries,which cast David Rintoul as our dear Darcy and Elizabeth Gravie as Miss Elizabeth Bennet,has many fans and a nice compare and comparison with the Andrew Davies scripted version will be amusing to watch.

Novelist Fay Weldon adapted the screenplay for this production and I wonder how many little sociopolitical zingers she managed to slip in here(Aldous Huxley made a few sly ones for the 1940 Hollywood adaptation).

It will also be entertaining to see the different takes on the other notable characters in the cast such as Lady Catherine,Mrs. Bennet,Lydia and the indomitable Mr. Collins:



So,do join in and check in with Laurel Ann's P&P coverage,the first review starts on
January 9th. I'll be posting my thoughts on each of my Pride and Prejudice picks throughout the year as part of the challenge and here's to a merry time in Meryton with the Bennet sisters in their Darcy costume theater: