More Harry Potter news: Tales of Beedle the Bard will get an actual publication later this year. This is the book that Rowling wrote and sold as a limited edition for charity last year. Now you'll be able to get either the "wow, that's amazingly cool but ouch look at the price" special edition for $100 or the regular version (w/ a few lesso illos) for around $12.
I don't remember if I've ever mentioned previously but I realized at some point in the last year that the experience of reading the Harry Potter books that future readers have will be very different from the one that those of us who've been reading the series as it was published had. The series has ended and some of the information about what happens is going to adhere to the books. Even if the future kid or adult reader comes in rrelatively "spoiler-free" they're sure to know more than we did when reading them as they were published. Sorta like the way most people at least vaguely know what happens at the end of Lord of the Rings. That's not a good or a bad thing, just something different.

Here ya go... for all your pastry-based schadenfreude needs. Share and enjoy.

I took a mental health day off today, mostly to get my car repaired. Only to find out that they couldn't fix it but needed to order an expensive part. Feh!
Lots of thunder but no rain. Meh!
On the upside, the Super Sweet and Sungold tomatoes are coming in like crazy. We've probably picked a couple dozen and there's at least that many on the plants.

Woohoo!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer is online. It looks amazing. You can check it out here or there's a link on Mugglenet.

One last observation about NFNS -- it still amazes me that, after so many years of reality TV, so many people are unable to grasp the basic fact of all reality television. The shows are edited and assembled after the fact. The people putting things together know how the story ends and they know everything that happened getting there. Every single thing you see on a reality TV show has been put there to tell the story. It might be foreshadowing (as always, your guide to quality entertainment). It might be misdirection. You are not uncovering secret evidence of a conspiracy against your favorite contestant. It's not a fucking documentary. Why is that so hard to figure out?

(please note that this rant is not directed at any of my small but dedicated readership)

So as was probably apparent from my previous NFNS recaps, I somehow got hold of the wrong end of the stick (and proceeded to beat around the bush with it). The winner of Next Food Network Star was NOT decided by fan phone/internet voting. I assume I must have had reality show transference from Design Star. The judges made the call after last night's final challenge. Which was to shoot a demo pilot w/ production help from Gordon Elliott. Who I have, in the past, found rather annoying. But he has calmed way the fuck down since moving over to the other side of the camera. Each of the contestants got a sitdown w/ Elliott to pitch their idea. Lisagarza was first. Oh and I gotta say, they did an intro and backgrounder segment on each of them at the start of the show. Over the last few weeks, I'd if not warmed up to her at least come to respect her game. But that intro made me hate her all over again. And the smugness and arrogance she projected going into her meeting w/ Elliott was infuriating. She actually had three different pitches; food & fashion (rejected out of hand as "a episode, not a series"), pure & simple (the way she described it came out sounding like Emeril: Green) and we don't actually know what Elliott thought of it cos he gravitated immediately to her other pitch, which was beautiful basics. He got that as a great title. It's shows that Lisa understands branding. But, he asked, what's the show about? This, I think, has always been at the core of Lisa's problem. As seen on the show, she's all style, no substance, all form, no content. Obviously she can cook but what does she want to say? She clearly wants to host a show on FN but what would it be about? The fact that she did two ridiculously trendoid pitches (and kept Elliott waiting long enough for them to film and air he's peevish reminder to her that he didn't have all day) along with the Beautiful Basics pitch suggests that she may not have as much to say as she thinks she does.
Fascinating to watch Elliott work all three of them, in different ways, in the pitch meetings. With Lisa it seemed all about supporting a delicate star and basically creating a show out of a title, but in a way that made it seem like it was her idea (altho from what aired, it seemed more like it was mostly his concept). Where Lisa was all branding and high concept, No Longer Boring Aaron is whole show himself. Much like Paula Deen, Aaron's show is about Aaron so Elliot's job was to draw him out enough so that his personality would come across on TV. Smokey Joe continues to kinda split the difference between Lisa and Aaron. He's the best on-camera presence of the final three so clearly any pilot he shoots will rise and fall on his performance. But he's almost as enamored of high concepts as Lisa. Except he's not as good at it as she it. Or at least when she's at her best (Beautiful Basics). I've lost track of how many concepts Adam's tossed around. it's always roughly centered around barbecue in some way. But the idea he pitches is Hungry in Philadelphia, where he'll take questions from the internets and use that as a springboard to put his spin on a classic dish and help someone solve a food problem. If that sounds familiar, well, more on that after the jump. Anyway, here Elliott seems mostly to be about trying to get Adam to focus and stick to his idea and make it work.
I have to say that all three of them did really well. Don't know how many takes it took but the results were all solid, well done pilots.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 27 jul 08)

Amor, Dolor y Lagrimas :: Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano
Nine Heavens :: Niyaz
Wild Animals :: the Pinker Tones
Friend for Life :: Ersi Arvizu
Merengue Tipico from the Dominican Republic :: la India Canela
Sidiki :: Sidiki Conde
Made in Dakar :: Orchestra Baobab
Bokoor Beats :: various
Soul Science :: Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
Sonantes :: Sonantes

this week's video feature: Niyaz

Here's an absolutely brilliant rant by John Scalzi. In which he discusses the First Amendment, the Internets, blogging, comment moderation and generally goes mosquito hunting with a howitzer. Sheer fucking genius. Seriously, this is why the internet was invented...
Go. Read. Now.

Went back to Rockwood Filling Station last night, this time w/ a party of favorites. The place was mobbed. I think it finally started to thin out a bit after 9pm. But even as busy as they were, the service was good. They have their liquor license. Beers on tap include Bell's Two-Hearted and Duck Rabbit Porter. They'd run out of Magic Hat and something else (which I've forgotten). The tomato & mozzarella appetizer was excellent. The caramelized onions were a nice addition. Recommended as long as 'maters are in season. The antipasto plate was also quite good. Huge amount of food (prosciutto, deviled eggs, roasted peppers, roasted garlic, bruschetta, white bean salad, cheese, olives); good for sharing. Other salads were also enjoyed, altho I did hear some concerns expressed about the anchovies (or lack thereof) in the Caesar salad. Pizzas ordered were: eggplant, meatball, marinara, and ham & egg. Toppings met w/ general approval from the groop. And the restaurant seems to be getting their oven timing under control. I didn't see any excessive charring and no one reported the crust being underdone. The ham & egg I'd rate slightly ahead of the Pop's version because the Rockwood version does not include black olives. I do think their tomato sauce is maybe still a bit undersalted. And I definitely agree with everyone else at the table last night (and several other bloggers) that they should slice the pizzas. Hey, if anyone from Rockwood sees this: just two passes w/ a pizza cutter would quarter the pies and make them much easier to eat. I'm just saying.
We were all way too full for dessert but the ice cream looked amazing. Definitely planning to go back and eat less so there's room for dessert.

One of my fellow XDU DJs found a collection of old photos of Duke on flickr. Including this cool shot of WDBS, the earlier Duke radio station. Coolness!
Here (courtesy of my RI connection) is a some helpful info on Rhode Island as a unit of measure.

The final three are still in Vegas as the latest NFNS opens. More establishing shots of Vegas then they slope across the street to Venetian where Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri show up in a gondola. At first I found it hilarious how everyone in this ep. was overpronouncing Fieri but then I noticed a commercial for that diners and dives show he does and he overpronounces his own name himself. So, pass on that for everyone else.
Challenge #1 was all TV, no cooking. This gives an immediate edge to Adam, who will henceforth be known as Smokey Joe. Much less so for Lisagarza (who's had problems in several of the TV challenges) and TAFKAB Aaron (ditto and then some -- altho I think I've previously endorsed the theory that they've been editing him to make him look as bad as possible to make his triumphs seem even more triumphant).
One extra twist was that they all had to memorize their lines. No teleprompters or cue cards here. Smokey Joe was onstage w/ showgirls from "Jubilee", the oldschool revue at Bally's. He did fine. Didn't surprise anyone but he got thru it like a pro. TAFKABA had to do a walk&talk thru the P-Ho casino, then do a stand up at a craps table. A bit higher degree of difficulty. And, he nails it! When he can stay out of his own way, TAFKABA really has a wonderful camera presence. Speaking of people who can't stay out of their own way, LisagarzaLisagarza had the toughest assignment. She had to get kitted out like one of the wine angels at Aureole and do her promo while getting hoisted up the tower to grab a bottle of wine. Between the harness and the flying thru the air and the Wrong Guy hectoring her from the sidelines (to be fair, he was also doing that to Smokey Joe, but SJ is a pro and snarky "direction" from some jamoke w/ a $300 surf bum hairdo is not gonna faze him), Ensign Ro spent most of the shot going up and otherwise flubbing her lines. Altho they did get enough for one good take. Which again suggests a lot about they way they've possibly been editing TAFKABA.
(challenge 2, w/ spoilerific goodness, below the cut)

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 20 jul 08)

Sonantes :: Sonantes
Import Export a la Turka :: various
Nine Heavens :: Niyaz
Soul Science :: Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
Friend for Life :: Ersi Arvizu
Romance :: Rosa Passos
Bokoor Beats :: various
Wild Animals :: the Pinker Tones
Merengue Tipico from the Dominican Republic :: la India Canela
A Tribute to Gonzalo Ascenio: Tio Tom, 1919-1991 :: Orlando "Puntilla" Rios y el Conjunto Todo Rumbero

this week's video feature: Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara

So we managed to time our weekend yardwork around the rain pretty well. I got the mowing done before the rain started yesterday. And it stopped by last night so we were able to get out this AM and pull weeds out of the still-wet soil. Exhausting, of course, but we made a good start. Rewarded ourselves with brunch at Watts. Everything was excellent but the standout was definitely the churros y chocolaté. The churros were crispy, airy, cinnamony. And the choco sauce was to die -- like a thin ganache. So good.
I was pretty wiped out so I mostly lazed around the house while Sarah was at the station. Did manage to knock out a quick CD review. Altho it was later in coming on this year, we've definitely reached that part of the year where new discs are arriving at the station at a very slow pace (if at all). So I'm hoping to stretch the few I have left to have 1 or 2 new things to add every week.
We wanted to go to Rockwood Filling Station for dinner but they were closed. Instead, we went up to Twisted Noodles. Service was quite good (which, if you've ever read the Chowhound forum, you'll know that's not always the case) and the food was excellent. Spicier than we'd expected but super tasty.
Almost time for the big Sunday night o' reality TV: Design Star AND Next Food Network Star.

Last night's late night double feature was the 1-2 missing hand punch of Enter the Dragon and Death Race 2000. If I'd had a copy, I could've gone for a threepeat & watched Empire Strikes Back.
Bruce Lee is really the only reason to watch Enter the Dragon. The movie drags, esp. in the middle. It takes way too long to get to the action. And the plot's fairly incoherent. But it's interesting -- a completely different vibe than you get from Jackie Chan or Jet Li movies. The violence is sharper, faster, more abrupt. Plus there's tons of cheesy 70s camp value (John Saxon!! plus did I mention that the big bad has not just an artificial hand but a series of killer fake hands).
It'd been a long time since I saw Death Race 2000. I'd actually forgotten that several actors from Death Race 2000 show up again in Rock & Roll High School -- Woronov, Bartel, and, of course, the Real Don Steele, who'd be the same character if he hadn't died at the end of DR2K. Again, lousy w/ 70s camp. David Carradine (and his artificial grenade hand), Stallone, Fred "Gopher" Grandy as a Nazi racer. And lots of people getting runned over (sometimes in both directions) by crazy cars. It's like a lethal Wacky Races. I particularly love how the opening race track is shown with a bad matte painting backdrop of a futuristic cityscape but once the race gets on the road, everything looks exactly like the early 70s. When I was at the mondoplex the other day, I think I saw a poster for a DR2K remake. I just checked imdb and, yes, there is a remake due later this summer. From the auteur who gave us Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil. There's no way that won't suck. Two words: Roller. Ball.

I was going to go see a movie tonight but when I got out to Southpointy, I discovered that matinee prices end at 6 and the movie I was planning to see started after 6. In my idiosyncratic and unquantified system, this was not a full-price movie. So I'll probably try and see it after work sometime next week. But tonight I just bagged off. To salvage some entertainment value from the evening, I headed over to Rockwood Filling Station, Scott Howell's new wood-fired pizza joint. They only opened yesterday but they were doing good business before 6 when I was there. I had the chicken liver pizza. The livers were excellent. Also some nice tomato sauce, caramelized onions, fresh basil, and some shaved parmigiana. The crust was nice and thin. My pizza had spent maybe a few seconds too long in the oven, There should be some charred spots on pizza coming from a wood-fired oven. But mine had crossed a bit over the line from charred to burnt. But that didn't seem to be the case for most of the pizzas I saw passing by to other diners. Since it's only their second day of serving customers, I'm sure they'll get the timing down better as they continue. I'll definitely be going back.
Other local bloggers' coverage of Rockwood here, here, and here.

Tuesday's movie: Iron Man. Y'know, when we heard that Robert Downey, Jr. was starring in this movie, Sarah expressed some surprise that he was cast as a superhero. But even tho I was never a big Iron Man fan, I was enough of a comics geek to know that it seemed like pretty good casting. Tony Stark is, basically, a bastard. He's a multi-millionaire arms dealer/playboy turned superhero. And Downey does a great job of bringing that debased charm and sense of "how cool is this" at having super-powers (okay, having a super suit) to the screen. I'd call it a great performance. Not a great movie. It's fun, for sure. But I'd say it's a B movie with an A cast.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 13 jul 08)

Sonantes :: Sonantes
Bokoor Beats :: various
Soul Science :: Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
Sonidos Gold :: Grupo Fantasma
Import Export a la Turka :: various
Wild Animals :: the Pinker Tones
Anatomy of a Coup :: Sacha Silva
Merengue Tipico from the Dominican Republic :: la India Canela
Made in Dakar :: Orchestra Baobab
Nigeria Rock Special :: various

this week's video feature: Grupo Fantasma

Monday's movie: Wall·E. If you're going to see a movie about a space traveling, lovestruck, junk sculptor robot, make sure it's this one. Gorgeous and sweet and funny, as you'd expect from Pixar. I didn't love it quite as much as I loved Ratatouille but it's right up there. Make sure you get there on time for the opening short ("Presto"), which is hilarious. And don't walk out before the credits, which include a stunning history of art, Pixar-style, and then highlights of the movie, done all 8-bit.
A few other things below the cut. Spoiler-ish, not of the plot so much as of moments that are worth having when you see the movie.

This week NFNS went out to Vegas, baby. Caesar's, to be exact. Even tho Bobby Flay was hosting, they only had one segment at Mesa Grill (meal w/ Paula Deen, the other FN celeb for this episode). Whenever they intro an FN star now, the contestants all get this look on their faces like "okay... who's left? are there any FN stars we haven't seen yet). The foreshadowing-is-your-guide-to-quality-entertainment moment was Lisagarza saying that Paula reminded her of her grandma. So, of course, you just knew that later on, Paula was gonna smack down her food. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before we roll on with the recap, I should mention that the show had lots of footage of some insane high roller suite at CP.
Okay, so the challenge was a riff on Flay's Throwdown series. The contestants paired off to cook each other's signature dish. Outdoors at the CP pool. They're each cooking two dishes, plus fielding questions from the judges, plus at one point during the 75 minutes, they were interrupted by a reporter doing interviews. Oh, and they're encouraged to "Vegas up" their dishes.
Round one: Adamski v. LisagarzaLisagarza. Doing Ensign Ro's cassoulet vs. Adamski's mac & cheese. Big prob for Adamski -- he's never tasted cassoulet. Which I'd find appalling, if Paula Deen hadn't said the same thing during the show. Lisagarza's problem, it became clear as the cooking went on, is that she didn't take the mac & cheese seriously. She admitted in the final judging interview that she was focused almost wholly on the cassoulet (and who can blame her? 75 minute cassoulet is an insane proposition). She clearly doesn't consider mac & cheese a serious dish and obviously assumed that she could knock out anything and beat Adamski's version. But hers was overloaded and confused. Cheddar, parm & goat cheese in the sauce. Plus sauteed onion in w/ the mac. Sliced tomato and roasted poblano on top. No one liked it. Paula Deen hated it. Hated. It. Adamski won easily w/ his lobster mac & cheese. But his cassoulet was judged amateurish. The beans were overcooked. As a note, porridge is not a description you wanna hear applied to yr cassoulet. And the presentation was just a few steps up from mess hall. Lisagarza's won raves. Flay called it the best he'd ever tasted. Which strikes me as absurd. I'm willing to believe it's the best 75 minute cassoulet he's ever tasted but best evah strikes me as a ridiculous overstatement.
So, what have we learned in round one? They can both cook what they know and don't do so well on unfamiliar ground. I thought they were both weak in the TV reporter segment. Adamski spent too much time looking down and sort of ignoring her. LisagarzaLisagarza was frenetic and babbling.
On to round two below the cut.

When I wrote up our visit to Toast last month, I mentioned that they had as a special a crostini w/ house-cured lardo. We went back today and this time we ordered it. Mmm... porky goodness. Sarah had the three cheese panino and I had the bruschetta w/ shrimp, pancetta & radicchio. Both were excellent.
We started the day w/ a stop at the Durm Farmer's Market where we got some fingerling potatoes (I forget exactly which kind but they were damn good). Also some kielbasa from Brinkley Farms. Roasted them together with some mushrooms for dinner tonight. Damn tasty, if I do say so.

Last night I watched some of A Song is Born on TCM. Overall, it's an unnecessary remake of Ball of Fire. I'll grant you that Danny Kaye has more talent than Gary Cooper, who's main function in the original is mostly to be tall and wooden. But the rest of the cast in Ball of Fire really outshines the remake. Esp. Barbara Stanwyck v. Virginia Mayo. Not even a close contest and if you don't get that, yr doing it wrong.
But the one area where A Song is Born stands out is the music. Yes, Ball of Fire has the Krupa/Stanwyck "Drum Boogie" number which can hang w/ anything in A Song is Born. But the remake's got Louis Bellson, Mel Powell, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. And that's a lot of musical firepower. There's one particularly excellent small combo number featuring Hampton and Goodman (who actually plays one of the professors, complete w/ bad rug and cheesy moustache).
Tonight I went over to the Nasher to see Shaft, which was showing as part of their "Birth of the Cool" series. As always, a fun fun movie.

I tell you, that cat Shaft is a bad motha...
Shut your mouth!

Let's all give an Esteban Colberto style tip o' the hat to L. F. Eason III. I don't think I'd put my job on the line for a symbolic gesture. But I admire his willingness to stand for what he believes in. And it's ridiculous that the state had to force his retirement over this. It seems like something a written reprimand would be more appropriate for.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 6 jul 08)

Import Export a la Turka :: various
Sonantes :: Sonantes
Soul Science :: Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
Wild Animals :: the Pinker Tones
Bokoor Beats :: various
Nigeria Rock Special :: various
Merengue Tipico from the Dominican Republic :: la India Canela
A Tribute to Gonzalo Asencio: Tio Tom, 1915-1991 :: Orlando "Puntillo" Rios y el Conjunto Todo Rumbero
Romance :: Rosa Passos
Made in Dakar :: Orchestra Baobab

this week's video feature: the Pinker Tones

This week on NFNS was the dreaded Rachael Ray episode (it happens every year, just like tax day and I look forward to it with the same mix of dread & loathing). Just 1 big multi-part challenge. They had 40 min. to come up w/ and prepare a dish that they'll then have to demo before a studio audience on RR's daytime show. But before they get the "go" there's one extra twist from Bobby Flay -- each contestant will be paired up w/ a girl scout and they have to come up w/ kid friendly and healthful meals. This was probably my least fave episode so far this season. Not only because of the insanely perky presence of RR but because there were few surprises. Actually, there was exactly 1 surprise. Even tho the show was loaded w/ clips of him talking about how badly he'd done, Boring Aaron did great. You could tell he really got on well w/ Michaela, his girl scout sous, his dish (ground beef & broccoli pizza) tasted and looked good, and he nailed the TV appearance. He was warm and funny and engaged and (except for the opening, when he turned his back to the camera to wash his hands) he managed the interplay between Michaela, the studio audience and RR really well. He was so good that I seriously wonder if they've been editing the shows to focus on his incompetence and ineptness to a degree that's distorted reality even beyond the usual fluid standards of reality TV. Or maybe the take-away lesson is that he should always work with children on camera. He turns in another week like that and I'll have to come up with another name for him.
(more below the cut)

Hey, hey... I found footage of the August 99 Palio on youtube.

How is it possible that I've been writing here for almost 4 years and have never told y'all about il Palio. It's a bareback horse race that takes place twice a year (early July and mid-August) in Siena. The different neighborhood associations, or contrade, compete against each other. The race has been going on for centuries and has accrued lots of very complicated and difficult to understand rules. We were lucky enough to be in Italy in August 1999 and got to see the race on TV, and with two people familiar with the race to explain what was happening (since we didn't understand enough Italian to figure out what the TV commentators were saying).
They race in the Piazza del Campo in the center of Siena, which is quite small and has some absolutely sick corners. Crashes are common. In last week's race, one of the jockeys took a header over the front of his horse. The prize for winning is the banner, or palio, which is designed for each race. And, of course, bragging rights over the rest of the city. They take it very seriously. The horses are walked into the church in each contrade to be blessed before the races start. It's considered a sign of good fortune if the horse takes a dump on the church floor. Jockeys and horses are hired by each contrade and there have been several scandals over the years.
Last week's champion was Istrice (the porcupine). Here's video of the race:

So this has been all over the internets and back but it's still one of the coolest things I've heard this weekend: the discovery of lost footage from Metropolis. The film was found at the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires. Not in very good condition but, still, it's pretty amazing to have found this print, which is apparently Lang's original edit, long thought to have been lost forever.
Here's the boing² story. And here's a link to clips of German TV coverage (in German, natch, but has some clips of the newly recovered scenes).

If you're at all into jazz, swing or other Divaville Lounge types o' musical goodness, then you should definitely be checking out TCM on Wednesdays in July. Their showing movies that feature bands like Tommy Dorsey or Benny Goodman. The movies themselves aren't all that but it's great to see early footage of the bands. Plus, they're wrapping up the overnight w/ short films (which must have been one-reelers that ran before features) with all sorts of bands. Some I've heard of: Jimmy Dorsey, Jimmie Lunceford, Woody Herman. Some are less familiar: Larry Clinton, Freddie Rich, Vincent Lopez -- altho he had Betty Hutton on vocals. Plus there was one short that had a jam session with musicians including Lester Young, Harry Edison, Joe Jones, and Illinois Jacquet.
Can't wait to see what they've got for next week.

I have to say that it somewhat offends my sensibilities that notorious freedom-hater Jesse Helms died earlier today on the 4th of July. On the other hand, other than suicide, we can't really choose the manner and timing of our deaths.

Another entry in the cool-things-which-don't-quite-exist-yet dept. (Durm division, this time): Fullsteam Beer. Hooray, local beer! Eat at Joe's has some more info. I must admit, I'm a bit alarmed by the idea of a pomegranate saison. But I'd at least try one in the spirit of local solidarity...

OMG! And other expressions of delight. Blizzard has announced Diablo 3. No release date yet but, hey, lotsa jobs available if you're a game developer.

I should give up on speculating on future weeks of NFNS as I've been wrong every time. So, no, this was not the big redemption week for Adamski. More on that later. FN personality o' the week was Cat Cora. First challenge was to take a pic-a-nic basket w/ 6 ingredients and create a dish in 30 min. Everyone gets savory items except Aaron (still too boring for a nickname). The back half of the challenge is to describe the dishes on camera. Of course, all assume they will be describing their own dishes. Psych! In easily the most brutal (and brilliant) switch-up of the season, they all have to describe someone else's dish. In 90 seconds. Without being able to taste it first. Savage! Sure, it's mostly a giant "gotcha." But it also tests them to see if they've been learning, oh, anything, about confidently presenting to camera. First big surprise is Young Shane. He had good energy and nailed a lot of specifics. K-bot was okay but lapsed into generalities and mis-identified habañero compound butter as citrus compound butter. Adamski was also okay, altho he screwed up by sticking a big honkin' piece of cake in his mouth near the end of his time and losing his wrapup. Ro is now getting K-bot's critiques from a few weeks ago -- that she's reading as fake or forced on camera. Aaron was brutal. Used most of his time tasting and still couldn't come up with anything interesting to say. And, of course, Boring Jen was boring. Plus she kept calling udon noodles linguini. I think she managed to get thru w/o apologizing for anything but she gave not the slightest hint that she knew what she was talking about. Almost as bad as Nipa and the squid.
Since the challenge was all about description, they don't really spend any time telling us who made good or bad food. But it seems like everyone did a pretty good job.
(more below the cut)