I would have plated the beef wellington differently - duxelles underneath, puff pastry on top. More visually appealing, and the puff pastry doesn't get all soggy.

Or even halve the puff pastry and put it in between, but not the way they did it. Those shells should have been easy to cut if they were done properly.

Friends of mine suggested that Team Coq au vin could have bought an old roaster, and cooked it in the wine etc in a pressure cooker - and produced something more like the original dish.

Yeah, I was wondering if they had access to a pressure cooker. Even if they were just using regular supermarket chicken legs, they could have produced something much closer to real coq au vin than what they ended up with.

And for the turducken, all they needed to do was to make it a roulade instead of a cutlet. (Which I know would have been tricker to cook in the time limit they had, but it would have solved the judges "but turducken has layers!" issues.)

Caught up on NFNS finally - can they just send everyone home except Shane, Kelsey and Lisa NOW and skip to the end of the season? I really have to wonder what the casting people were thinking with this group. Most of them can't cook and NONE of them have personalities I want to watch on TV!

S and I were discussing how the last couple of episodes have hammered home how the contestants are not people who want to cook, but people who want a cooking show.

It really is amazing how most of the contestants have almost no cooking training or experience at all.

Is anyone watching The Singing Office?

I certainly hope I have it waiting for me on the DVR. I am super excited! I love Joey Fatone, and I love singing at work!! My mother and I agree we want them to come to our offices. Too bad it was already shot, and in LA.

the contestants are not people who want to cook, but people who want a cooking show.

I'd say not even "a cooking show," just "a show." And it's not like the network doesn't have shows where the host doesn't cook, but (a) those people don't, for the most part, suck at being on camera, and (b) that's not the kind of show this is an audition for!!

One of the friends (with the pressure-cooker suggestion) also suggested that Adam would work with a show like "Unwrapped" where no cooking is necessary.

Is anyone watching The Singing Office?

I tried to watch it tonight, but I must confess that I had to turn it off. I do think the show's heart is in the right place, but even after all the coaching and working, they were still so terrible. It was watch from the hall for me. I do enjoy that Scary Spice, though I cannot wrap my head around her and Eddie Murphy procreating.

Oh, weak! I thought this was going to be the last night for Hell's Kitchen, but NOOOO they decide to extend the final two for the absolute worst two they've ever had.

no shit. I looked at the clock in the middle of the program and said, "damn, this nightmare won't be finished for another week!"