"The scariest thing about failing is failing."

I’m noticing a trend with the weekly Top Chef New York opening scenes-one or two chefs are shown engaging in some sort of morning ritual (Dr. Chase working out, in this case) and then we’re given another shot of Ariane attempting to convince herself that things will get better. So far, I’ve assumed that the producers are pulling their usual editing tricks to constantly make us believe that Ariane will be going home at the end of the episode. They’ve fooled me every time!

Things quickly became emotional as Alex read a letter from Richard. Everyone cried. Team Rainbow is dead. Well, with the exception of Jamie and her rainbow bracelet and her arrogant profession that she is the strongest one of Team Rainbow. We shall see.

It was tough to decide what quote I would use as a heading for this post. Melissa said so many crazy things. I think it’s not at all impossible that she spends her down time at the house rolling joints and trying to figure out where she’ll next be able to show off those crazy Elaine-like dance moves. Case in point-as the chefs headed out for the quickfire challenge, you could hear Melissa say “Let’s roll like a doughnut down the hill.” Am I right?

The chefs were greeted in the kitchen by Padma and Rocco di Spirito. Now, Rocco has faced some opposition in the culinary world, but he continues to show up as a judge on the show, and all the chefs fawn over him and he usually takes every possible opportunity to spout off little criticisms in the hopes that his fifteen minutes of fame might be extended. Fabio immediately points out that Rocco is not really Italian. It’s hilarious to hear that declaration coming from him. Rocco mistakenly refers to Padma as Podma, and the two of them tell the chefs that they will be creating a breakfast amuse-bouche. Podma (sorry, Padma) makes it very clear to the chefs that an amuse-bouche (literally translated: amuse the mouth) is an “elegant mouthful”, one bite! Not a sprawling plateful! One bite! Can you tell that chefs of the past have had problems with this concept?

Rocco gives the chefs a huge advantage by actually telling them what he loves: bacon. Seriously, if you want to do well in this show, USE BACON. BACON IS THE KEY!

I’m wasn’t sure what to think as the chefs go about crafting their itsy bites. Jamie is not a breakfast person. Apparently she grew up eating Chef Boyardee for breakfast. Daniel surpasses Jamie in weirdness-he used to have his bowl o’ corn flakes accompanied with zucchini flowers. Dr. Chase admits he is “thinking too much”, and decides to make several components for his dish. Dude, LEARN YOUR LESSON. Stefan uses a nifty eggshell slicing tool and creates huevos rancheros, served inside of the egg. Too many people make French toast for my taste.



In the end, Rocco is torn between Leah and Jamie. Jamie’s breakfast actually sounded better-a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich with balsamic syrup and fresh basil. However, it was two bites. That is an important distinction. Leah’s bacon, quail egg, and cheese sandwich was a perfectly-sized amuse-bouche. And she certainly wasn’t afraid to point that out. I have to admit, while her comment was slightly catty, I have to give her credit for defending her dish. They aren’t there, after all, to make friends. Jamie’s dish was clearly not a true amuse-bouche (I don’t care what Rocco says), and Leah deserved to win the challenge. While I certainly admire Jamie’s talent, she has shown an edgy, defensive side of her nature over the past two episodes that leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Leah has a bit more humility, and I like her. So does Rocco-he pronounced her the winner of the challenge and presented her with a copy of his newest cookbook.

For the elimination challenge, we were treated to a speech by Padma about how important it is to “raise your profile” because the more people know you, the more they’ll come to your restaurant. The best way to do this, obviously, is to appear on the Today Show and give a 2 ½ minute presentation teaching a possibly inexperienced home cook how to make something. This is definitely going to be a challenge. Especially for Fabio-he knows how hard it will be to explain a dish in perfect English. Plus, Carla probably told him that “They will cut you,” if he does a bad job.

For this edition of shopping at Whole Foods, we were treated to a tuna-slicing competition between Hosea, Eugene, and Fabio. They all decided that they should slice their own tuna, behind the counter. I was worried about Eugene deciding to do sushi for a demo, but it is his specialty. Cooking what you cook best is usually a good bet.



Lots of juicy tidbits during the prep time! Jamie is apparently a television star, having performed a demo cooking lesson on live television before. I’m beginning to think she might have been slightly over-qualified for this kind of reality show, although hearing her worries about cooking her duck egg in the allotted time was at least a medium-sized red flag. Huge alarm bells went off as Alex’s sureproof plan to make a rose-infused crème brulee began to crumble. I was worried as I watched Ariane chop up a HUGE watermelon, but Tom seemed pleased with her, giving the camera a winning smile. Dr. Chase wasn’t worried about his Middle Eastern dish, because he has done a fair amount of television-we know, on House!

The chefs all performed the demo in the Top Chef kitchen with Tom, Padma, Gail, and Rocco. Several weren’t able to complete them in the given time. A few were terrified. Jamie’s egg was not cooked. Daniel smoked up the whole studio. Carla had a “nervous energy.” Melissa’s mountains of habanero peppers completely turned off the judges. Seriously, you need to use gloves when you handle them. What was she thinking? As we could easily have predicted, Alex’s crème brulee failed miserably.



On the winning side, Fabio was a huge success, a “dream guest” for a talk show. Ariane gave a perfect presentation, and Dr. Chase’s shrimp rolls were delicious. Thus, these were the three that were woken up, by Tom, at not even the crack of dawn to head over to 30 Rock where they would hopefully run into Jack Donaghy on their way to the Today Show. The hosts of the show would be tasting the dishes and choosing a favorite on live television. Of course, Bravo woke up the rest of the chefs and dragged them into the living room to watch the show together, awaiting the results.

I wanted to yell at Dr. Chase for saying the Today Show hosts have unsophisticated palates, but it is probably true, and I couldn’t help feeling a bit bad for him when Kathie Lee Gifford rudely spit his food out. It was bad, really bad. Ariane’s clean, fresh salad impressed the ladies, and she managed to pull out a win.

Judge’s table was intense. The bottom three, Alex, Melissa, and Jamie, trooped in to face the music. I noticed they were all wearing capris-is that a chef thing? Tom didn’t appreciate Alex’s defense, the ol’ “no one else was going to make a dessert so I thought I’d try it” thing, telling him that “The point of this competition is to win.” Melissa was a disaster, spouting off lines fed to her by Leah and saying that she loves spicy food. Rocco hates Jamie, and habeneros. He seems frightened by both. Despite his insistence that undercooked egg is a major problem, Alex was sent home.

Now that we’re getting a feel for the chefs and their personalities, the season is improving. I haven’t ever seen such obvious division among groups of chefs before, however, so I have a feeling there will be some fireworks. There is also love, or at least “sexual chemistry”, between Hosea and Leah.

Next week I’ll be writing my recap from the comfort of my own home! No more scrambling to watch the episode and seeking out various wireless hotspots…I can’t wait! I included a photo of Ariane's winning dish, because it did look delicious and I would order it if I ever happened upon her restaurant in New Jersey. It was a Jersey beefsteak tomato salad with watermelon and feta cheese.

I'm kind of addicted...

...can you blame me?!

In my defense, this is really a perfect Bella/Edward pose. It fits them. It's really not because of the breathtaking beauty that I saved this photo. I'm just being a loyal reader, seeking out faithful depictions of the much-loved characters. Really!

At home...

I have a "home for the holidays" routine that inevitably exasperates my mother. I always find my way back to what we call "the reloading room"-a spot where my dad used to actually reload the bullets for his rifle-which has since become a storeroom of sorts, in the same way one would use an attic. There are countless boxes of keepsakes, books, letters, and other odd items that have belonged to me at some point. I try my very best not to be a pack rat, and I have improved in the past few years, but I do struggle with determining exactly how valuable or memorable an object really is, and I've probably stored much more than necessary. Needless to say, I decided to try to help my mom out by sorting through a few of my boxes, and I was delighted by some of the things I found. Most of the happy surprises were books, which I piled surreptitiously in a corner of my old bedroom, knowing my mom wouldn't be that thrilled to see that I had indeed brought out a pile of books that certainly won't fit in my luggage. I also found an old notebook of mine, the first one to contain handwritten quotes and passages from books I'd read. A secret thrill always overcomes me when I reread words that have touched my heart, and I couldn't resist writing a post about them. After all, my blog is a very neat and tidy way to document memorable things, right?

The first, and best, passage comes from The Quotable Lewis, a wonderful selection of C.S. Lewis quotes that I received many Christmases ago. I love C.S. Lewis-not only was he an incredible man of faith, he was extremely intelligent, a combination of qualities that I value very much. The book has quotes referencing all sorts of topics, but of course the one that I remember most is about love.



To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless-it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

What I found in my notebook were a few hastily scribbled lines from Love in the Time of Cholera, the famous Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that I have actually not finished. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I actually don't remember at all what might have kept me from it. Thus, I cannot truly speak for the story and whether or not it is quite all it's supposed to be. I've heard mixed reviews. All I know is that this speech, declared by Florentino to Fermina, made a strong and immediate impression on me.



But before she could thank him for the visit, he placed his hat over his heart, tremulous and dignified, and the abscess that had sustained his life finally burst. "Fermina," he said, "I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love."

My last find was a mere scrap of paper, stuck in one of my notebooks from school. It was from a class on American Literature, and we had been reading the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. I vaguely remember "Rappaccini's Daughter"-I have a foggy sense that it might be about a strange Italian scientist and some sort of venomous plant he created-so I'm not sure of the context of the small quote I'll include here. There is something about the way that Hawthorne pinpointed that unwavering, sometimes nonsensical quality of love.

Oh, how stubbornly does love-or even that cunning semblance of love which flourishes in the imagination, but strikes no depth of root into the heart-how stubbornly does it hold its faith, until the moment comes, when it is doomed to vanish into thin mist!

Clearly, I'm all about the love tonight! What I should really be focusing on is the Aeneid and wondering how I'll be able to churn out a successful paper in one day, but I just can't stay away from the blog. Hopefully, more cooking and pleasure reading will be coming up for me soon-I clearly need more material.

"I hate, hate, hate white asparagus."

My recap this week is shamefully late, as I well know. Yes, I can imagine my 4 or so loyal readers have been fraught with anxiety, wondering when they were going to hear of the latest goings-on in Bravo’s culinary world. I must use the holiday weekend as my excuse-I just didn’t feel it was the proper time to be blogging, when there is so little time usually to be spent with my family.

I was excited about this episode, even though I haven’t listened to much of the “Foos”, as everyone on the show kept referring to the band. Is that really what the hardcore fans call them, by the way? I just always enjoy celebrity guests-seeing normal, non-celebrity reactions to famous people is usually quite entertaining.

For the quickfire challenge, the chefs learned that the guest judge of the week would be Grant Achatz, yet another “superstar of the culinary world.” Grant’s specialty is apparently molecular gastronomy. I’m not quite clear why a molecular gastronomist is usually selected every season to be a guest judge-it’s not as though the chefs are ever expected to make foams. Marcel and Richard erroneously believed it would get them ahead. Another thing I’m curious about is how the cheftestants always seem to know every obscure guest judge. I mean, it would be ridiculous for them to be unaware of the big shots, like Anthony Bourdain, Daniel Bouloud, or even Ming Tsai. But are people like Grant Achatz and Maria Frumkin (Season 3) really that commonly spoken of in chef’s social circles?

On to the challenge-the chefs were told to draw knives, which is always slightly terrifying in a quickfire. One never knows what that might mean, and I myself was a little nervous when I saw that each knife was plastered with a number. Would the chefs have to use 125 ingredients? Would they have to design a meal in the shape of 63?

As it turns out, the numbers corresponded to pages in the Top Chef Cookbook-each chef would have 1 hour to put their own spin on a recipe created by a previous contestant. The chefs were remarkably calm about this, although I was having nightmares of Sam’s (Season 2) sweetbreads and Hung’s geoduck. The inevitable twist? Padma cheerfully announced, a mere fifteen minutes into the challenge, that she and Grant were “in the mood for soup.” The chefs would have to use the recipes and ingredients to create a soup. Leah, whose dish was a tuna tartare, was panicked, and I shared her feelings. Tartare, by definition, is raw. How could she pull this off? Jamie was blissfully confident, sure that the deconstructed falafel recipe the drew would easily translate into a soup. Richard rightfully panicked that he neglected the “acid”, in the form of lime juice, in his disgusting looking black bean soup. In the end, Leah scored a big win. Padma and Grant really liked her soup, and she was complimented on her ability to use that loathed ingredient, white asparagus. Now I am left to wonder what white asparagus tastes like-how can it be so different from the traditional and delectable green? I would have had to dip my spoon into Jamie’s chickpea soup with crispy shallots and pickled chiles, although she is revealing a mean edge this week, stating that the “world revolves around Stefan” and giving Daniel a hard time later in the episode.



The chefs then learned, much to their delight and shock, that they would be preparing (in the middle of the summer) Thanksgiving dinner for the Foo Fighters and their 60+, vegan and vegetarian-speckled entourage. They all seemed thrilled. Interestingly, as an additional bonus for winning the quickfire, Leah was able to select the chefs for her team, setting up a painfully obvious “have” and “have-nots”, “popular kids vs. social outcasts” dynamic. Her team was comprised of Hosea, Jamie, Stefan, Melissa, Fabio, and Radhika, who, with the exception of Melissa, have proved their exceptional prowess in the kitchen thus far in the season. This winning team dubbed themselves Team Sexy Pants upon arriving at the grocery story-who knows where that ridiculous moniker came from- while the “last picked in the schoolyard” team decided to honor Ariane by calling themselves Team Cougar.



Right away we were treated to a slew of potential problems with Team Sexy Pants, which should have been a huge indication that everything that the eventually made would turn out perfectly. They did not handle the news that they’d be cooking with microwaves and toaster ovens well at all, while over at Team Cougar Eugene devised his own homemade grill. They panicked over having to use only one burner, while Dr. Chase determined that organizing the dishes was the best plan. Leah looked on sternly as her team argued, while Ariane assured the camera that her catering experience would make the turkey a sure hit. It looked like Team Cougar might have it in the bag.

Alas, it all comes down to the food, so both teams anxiously awaited their judges. This was the most hilarious/enjoyable part of the episode, for we were treated to a fabulous, VERY Hollywood slow-mo entrance of Tom and Dave Grohl. If I had been at home with the comfort of my trusty DVR, I would have definitely rewound it several times. Hilarious. The judges would pile up the requisite turkey, sides, and desserts and then proclaim a favorite team, who would, incidentally, attend the concert which took place that evening. The losing team? They would clean up Thanksgiving dinner, all while hearing the revelry going on above them. Definitely a cruel move by the producers.

Unfortunately, dessert decided the winner. It didn’t matter that Ariane finally scored with a moist, delicious turkey, or that Eugene made a delicious maple-smoked pork loin (homemade grill, remember?). Dr. Chase and Richard absolutely choked on dessert, while Fabio’s pumpkin tiramisu, while potentially rain-spattered (“It start to rain on my tiramisu!”) was a big favorite, and Hosea’s fruit crumble got a huge thumbs-up.



This is when I got irritated with the show. It shouldn’t come down to dessert, particularly in a Thanksgiving challenge. I’m not saying that lackluster or even bad desserts shouldn’t affect a team, because the chefs absolutely need to be able to make a decent dessert. It just seems shameful for that to be what the final decision is based on. I guess I’m a bit of a softie, but I felt bad for Ariane, after finally making a good meal, and I was more than a little upset that Eugene wasn’t recognized for his ingenuity. Team Cougar was a team of misfits and underdogs, but that’s exactly why I was hoping they would pull out a win, and the wicked producers edited the episode in such a way as to let the viewers think they had a chance. The absolute worst part of it all was that Team Sexy Pants were the furthest thing from gracious-they trooped into the deliberation room full of enthusiasm from the concert, and Jamie immediately started trading barbs with disgraced-potatoes Daniel. I think it’s possible that Melissa was a tad inebriated or possibly high, based on what we saw of her crazy dancing at the concert, so I might give her a pass for her insensitive behavior.

Of course, Dr. Chase was smacked face down on the proverbial chopping block, which we could have all predicted considering he made a critical Top Chef error-taking on too many dishes. I was desperately fearful that he’d be eliminated, not because he’s a favorite of mine, but because he really had tried so hard throughout the episode to make things go well for his team. Thankfully, the judges recognized that, and Richard was sent home for bad s’mores with a vanilla cream that looked like “spit.” It was a truly sad moment-he’d tried out three times for Top Chef, and it’s just such a bad way to go. His tears tugged at my heart strings! I’m really hoping we can stay away from dessert eliminations after this.

I’ve got a busy week coming up, and I’m a little worried I’ll miss Wednesday’s episode-what a terrible thought! I’ll just have to purchase it on I-Tunes if that’s the case.

I can't tell you how much leftover guacamole I've eaten.

Today was spent, as most of our weekends have been (and will be, for the foreseeable future) on further preparing our house for real living! Most of the kitchen cabinet doors have been attached, and I have found almost all of our dishes. Thus far, there has been only one Fiestaware casualty-one of my peacock coffee mugs. I wanted to take a picture of how lovely all of the plates, bowls, mugs, and various serving ware items look in the white cabinets, but I figured the effect would be even better once the kitchen is completely finished.

I prepared my first official meal (grilled cheese sandwiches and beans and rice do not count!) on Thursday night. For the inaugural meal, I selected cold chicken satay noodles, one of my most favorite dishes. It's a very simple dish, mostly because it calls for a rotisserie chicken. I've really come to appreciate rotisserie chickens-flavorful, relatively inexpensive, and very little preparation involved! The chicken is tossed with whole wheat spaghetti, thinly sliced spinach and carrots, and an absolutely heavenly AND addictive peanut and soy sauce. I could eat buckets of these noodles, and I've even been known to sneak a small bowl in the morning! They are also the only dish that I make with whole wheat pasta that my fairly non-discriminating husband will eat. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get him to really enjoy whole wheat pasta. Needless to say, we had the nicest little meal together at our own dining room table, and I was bursting with happiness at having been able to cook in my own house.



We spent the morning raking leaves and mowing the lawn. Actually, my husband mowed the lawn, and I followed along behind, picking up the 1000's of tiny avocados that have been tumbling from the tree in our front yard. I'm going to have to read up on avocado trees and make sure I'm doing everything I can to make ours healthy. As you can see,



the tree in the front is certainly producing a plentiful amount of fruit, but they are immature. Imagine how much money that blue bucket would be worth if it was full of ripe, mature avocados? It's mind-boggling! By the way, I don't know why my hand is so freakishly swollen-looking here. It's the angle, I promise!

We set up a little table in the kitchen, a breakfast nook of sorts, and I couldn't resist including this picture:



Look at that beautiful bowl of Meyer lemons! From my own tree! For the non-cookbook obsessed crowd, Meyer lemons are a highly coveted, expensive variety of lemon. They have a more spicy aroma and taste than a conventional lemon. Lucky us.

By far the highlight of the day, however, was using my new avocado picker (a long pole with a hook and basket attached to the end) to pluck a slew of avocados from my healthy tree in the backyard. It was a delightful feeling to yank the avocados down! We're still not sure about the ripening process, so we're just going to try putting them in a brown paper bag to see if that helps. Of course, I had to photograph them first.

It doesn't matter how many dragon you kill, it's who take home the princess.

Well, the second episode of Top Chef was certainly a tremendous departure from the first, at least as far as the food was concerned. In episode 1, there was nary a dish (besides Ariane's poorly cooked farro risotto) that inspired a negative reaction from Tom and the judges. Apparently, it's one step forward, approximately 25 steps back, because the dishes this week were almost across the board either unimaginative, boring, or plain awful. But that's mostly in the elimination challenge, so let's get back to the beginning of the episode.

Nothing extraordinary occurred in the house after Patrick's departure, other than Ariane feeling emotionally depleted from her trip to the judge's table, Stefan and Fabio each determining that the other is their greatest competition, and the viewers being treated to a gratuitous shot of Dr. Chase's chest. By the way, I would like to mention that I have an inherent distrust of any rail-thin or exceptionally toned chef. There's just something not right about that. It's one of the reasons (besides her strangely large head and penchant for selectively using an Italian accent in an annoying fashion) that I can't quite warm up to Giada DeLaurentiis.

The quickfire was much more successful than the elimination in this challenge. Padma and guest judge Donatella Arpaia (David Burke and Donatella fame) informed the chefs that they would be working to produce an original take on a classic New York dish, which (I found this shocking) New Yorkers spend over 100 million dollars on each year. I was not at all surprised to see Angelina D'Angelo rolling in a hot dog cart, straight from Queens. The chefs seemed a mixture of panic and pleasure. Melissa reeled from her assumption that a real classic New York dish is cheesecake- oh dear Melissa, you have so much to learn. Fabio loves hot dog, but determined you "cannot beat American hot dog playing his own game." Daniel was unfazed, because he is from Long Island, and he has his "New York flavorings" to help him beat the hot dog lady "of all times." Ariane worried, as expected, because she has not made a hot dog since charcuterie class in 1989. I'm beginning to lose respect for culinary school-surely they don't actually have courses where hot dog preparation is a part of training?

As for the final products, I thought that many of them looked delicious. Radhika, the eventual winner (who is still not doing much to break through the Indian barrier) made a most delicious looking lamb/pork/beef dog, kebab-style, with caramelized onions, cucumber, and tomato jam. Hosea's squatty dogs, which looked terrible, nonetheless tasted great. How could they not have tasted great? They were comprised of pork, roasted poblanos, jalepenos, a bit of red wine vinegar, and most crucial of all ingredients, smoked bacon! My mouth is watering as I write! Interestingly, Stefan and Fabio both went for a "panini dog", though Stefan's global dog, a horrific-sounding mixture of Wisconsin cheddar and Irish tartar sauce (what IS Irish tartar sauce, anyway?) did not please Donatella, while she enjoyed the Mediterranean flavors of Fabio's dog. Radhika, Fabio, and Hosea ended up on top, while Jill and Stefan were stuck firmly in the bottom. Jill made the fatal error of not making her own sausage, which does not spell a good future for her in the competition. Not making your own sausage on Top Chef usually leaves you plummeting in the judge's estimation, but actually using a hot dog instead? Her dish looked like a disaster, and probably tasted worse.



The chefs then learned of the elimination challenge: they would be required to create a dish for a three-course New American lunch, which they would be serving to 50 New York chefs in Tom's restaurant, Craft. The twist? The 50 guest judges of sorts were all Top Chef applicant rejects. Immediately, Crazy Carla is concerned. Mean judges, plus she also has to learn a "new kitchen", just when she was getting used to the first new kitchen. How did Carla make it onto this show? Just because of her craziness?

Speaking of crazy, I have never seen bedlam ensue on the show like it did as soon as Padma announced the challenge. The chefs immediately began screaming out the courses they wanted. I believe I heard "I'll do dessert!" and "I want dessert!" several times, which I found alarming. Everyone knows that chefs do not actually specialize in desserts. On this show, if we're lucky, each chef has one or maybe two decent dessert recipes up their sleeve, and none of them are relishing the idea of actually having to use those recipes. Although Dr. Chase had to step aside to calm his own panic, he eventually rallied the forces, and 5 chefs each were assigned to appetizer, entree, and dessert.

Warning signs abounded as the chefs prowled the aisles of Whole Foods. Jill lit upon a ginormous ostrich egg and determined that she would make an ostrich egg quiche, thus scoring points for using an unusual product. I had to agree with Jamie, who felt Jill was "playing it ridiculous." Plus, quiches never go over well on this show. Absolutely never. It's not really the kind of dish that does well with advance preparation.

Hosea made the mistake of purchasing canned crab meat. He felt confident in his dish (always another red flag), so he was willing to go without fresh Dungeness crab. Major faux pas-not only was the flavor from the tin evident in the final product, it just didn't taste (or look) that great. Ariane decided to make a lemon meringue martini dessert. What is a lemon meringue martini, by the way? It looked dreadful, and sent her straight, and deservedly, to the judge's table.



As for the rest of the dishes, they simply weren't spectacular. Eugene's dish had something freakishly yellow, Alex's pork looked undercooked, Leah's presentation was so "80's" and Radhika used an avocado with dessert. Padma actually spit out Ariane's overly sweet lemon meringue. One can only wonder if the sweetness of the dish was due to Richard's snarky unwillingness to tell Ariane that it was too sweet. I couldn't blame the guest judges for not loving any of the dishes, though I was highly annoyed by the footage of the chef who uses neither animal fat nor butter. Seriously? This is why you didn't get to be on Top Chef. I'm just saying...

Only Fabio's really and truly stood out to the judges, and that was mostly because of his strange chemical treatment of the olives (hard to understand with his accent), where he caused them to be liquid on the inside and frozen on the outside. Dr. Chase's chicken and chorizo actually looked delicious, but the judges weren't wowed by it. I shouldn't forget Jamie, who made a chilled corn soup and did manage, along with Carla and Fabio to have a top three dish. I'll go ahead and reiterate that I think Jamie is going to go far. There is a sophistication and professionalism to her cooking and presentation that is unique and interesting. Of all the chefs, she is the only one that really seemed to understand the New American concept.



In the end, it was Jill that was sent crying to her bag o' knives. She gave the "lamest explanation" the judges had ever heard, according to Gail, on five seasons of the show, for why her dish wasn't good. In fact, her inability to speak about her dish and what she would do to change it is the only reason that Ariane wasn't the one to go. Not to be cruel, but Ariane is actually absolutely right in her self-assessment-she doesn't deserve to be there. Thankfully, we know that Jill has plenty of cookin' years ahead of her. I won't be at all surprised to see Ariane back at judge's table next week.

The accent has continued to work its charm on me...I think Fabio might be my favorite. I wouldn't mind hearing the dragon story a few more times.

A feast for the eyes!

Okay, so these photos aren't even movie stills. They are, in fact, taken from this month's issue of In Style. Which I do subscribe to, conveniently. What can I say? I'm quite taken with the chemistry that seems to exude out of these two...



And here they are at the premiere. Quite fashionable, as you'll notice.





I fear it is now totally evident why I'm having difficulty getting anything done around here. Back to work!