Hi Trashies!
Christmas is coming, so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.
In fact I’ve already celebrated my Christmas Day as everyone else in my family are all off on holiday over Christmas, ski-ing or off to Venice or something like that. Experience has taught us all that the only safe person to cook and organize the day is me. Not due to me being the best cook, as I’m not, but because I’m the only person grumpy enough to instill the harsh discipline needed to make everyone put away their cell phones and play nicely with each other, doing activities that everyone can join in with. Boring, and me and my niece both wanted to play ‘Diplomacy’ – but we were the only ones willing to spend eight hours negotiating over access to the Baltic Sea for Russia. On the plus side, her mum has finally let her get Skyrim so we could have a sensible discussion over character builds for that.
I’m also the only one who has a list of the various religous/morally enforced dietary requirements of the whole family. You might expect that role to be taken by one of my parents, but no, they’re usually starting the arguments or serving pork to the Muslims. This year it went off very well, bar my sister getting a bit drunk and crying on my shoulder in the kitchen. That answered the question ‘where did my bottle of Madeira go that I needed for the mushroom strudel?’ So after all that, I get my Christmas present – I get to spend the actual Christmas Day alone with my cats, nursing the largest bottle of Vodka I’ve ever seen. Bliss.
So this weeks ep is called ‘Blind Ambition’. Its a mystery box challenge though first. Zac claims he wants to be both a professional chef and a professional tennis player. The twelve to sixteen hour shifts many professional chefs put in might put a crimp in the tennis practice mate, better to pick one to do.
Putting aside Zac’s goals, in the mystery box is a blindfold. The sprogs have to line up at the front with them where they find out they shall be blindtasting a dish the judges have cooked, then recreating it. Addison, who is a bit of a reaction monkey immediately starts gurning to the camera, but Avery for once is genuinely a bit shocked.
I want to speak to my agent right now
So after all my whining that they get fun challenges that are bugger all to do with cooking, this challenge is going to be very hard. The dish is pan seared chicken with rosemary mashed potatoes, baby carrots, what look like runner beans, and turnips. I’d be impressed if any of them get anywhere the right ingredients – Ian is already complaining he’s a picky eater who needs to see what he’s eating.
A lot of the kids start homing in on the fact its white meat, although Zac is veering off towards pork. Amaya eats the whole dish which is good going in five minutes.
I don’t remember the show being this hard on adult contestants, so I actually feel sorry for them this week. Gordy says the smart thing to do would be to get several possible proteins and cook them all, then picking the one that is closest. I don’t think I’dve been smart enough to do that, and I suspect many of the mini’s will be plumping for the one they decide it is at the ‘shopping’ stage’. Its good to know I’m about to be outsmarted by a child.
Ian has identified the Chicken correctly, unlike many of them. Kya has also got it right, and the beans and potatoes.
Kya the sink is not a well, can you get out of it please?
Kaitlyn has mis-stepped with sweet potatoes and molasses. She claims she tasted something sweet, but I don’t think it was that sweet.
Kya meantime has set fire to her pan, and instead of screaming just turns the heat off.
I summon forth Hellfire to burn my enemies. And Ian.
It is impressive that she doesn’t turn a hair at this and is very calm.
Plating up begins and there’s a wide variety of dishes being made. Addison’s in particular looks a bit odd.
Very saucy, or she has an ill pet cat
Addison is now not sure she can win. Lets make this easier for her – You can’t. So far Kaitlyns and Kya’s looks very similar. Zac, despite using pork, thinks he can still win. He seems to be even more deluded than Addison – there has to be a time when self-confidence gives way to actual reality.
Everyone but Kaitlyn, Kya, Corey and Ian are sent back to their stations. Zac looks visibly shocked to go.