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Blog entry by Amy Hanek
 
On last night's episode of Top Chef, the remaining dozen cheftestants found holiday decorations adorning their kitchen complete with Martha Stewart. I wondered what Martha would ask everyone to do.
 
Would they have to cook a gourmet meal from just leftovers? Or grind their own wheat to make a homemade loaf of bread? Well, as a serious homemaker I wasn't disappointed with her challenge. Martha told everyone they must make a holiday meal, using just one dish. And they had just 45 minutes.
 
I knew this had to be hard - my husband uses every pot and pan in the house when just making breakfast. And he believes there's some kind of dish fairy living under the sink. Ridiculous, I know. I would never fit under the sink.
 
And I wasn't surprised at all, when Ariane won again - making Jamie a little more upset.
 
The elimination challenge was presented by the Harlem Gospel Choir in a song - "Twelve Days of Christmas." Each chef drew a knife, revealing a number. Each number corresponds to the days of Christmas song. Working individually, each chef had to complete their dish for 300 people at a charity dinner to benefit amfAR (American Foundation for Aids Research).
 
So they had 12 days (of Christmas), 4 hours (to cook) and 300 people (to feed). It all sounded like the word problem from H - E - double hockey sticks.
 
This challenge seemed pretty easy for a few chefs as they simplified their tastes and went safe. Even Ariane played everything ultra-safe with her rendition of "Six Geese a Laying" and six different types of deviled eggs.
 
And after 3 hours of prep, the chef's tucked their precious food away for the night. Only to return to find Radhika and Hosea's meat gone bad. The fridge door was left open. Half of Radhika's duck and all of Hosea's tenderloin were ruined.
 
Kicking in the true Christmas spirit, all the chefs came to their aid and helped catch them up on prep. I was really touched by this. In the past all of the chefs didn't always help out this much. And what a difference.
 
During the amfAR benefit dinner, guests were asked to take off their red Aids pins and attach them to the table that they liked the most. It seemed with all the flirting going on, I wondered if Hosea and Jeff ended up with the most Aids pins because of their food. But the judges concurred that Hosea, Jeff, Stefan and Radhika were the top four chefs (only because everyone else really tanked). And Hosea was declared the winner with his Smoked Pork Loin (to match Nine Pipers Piping).
 
Here's the link to this recipe:  http://recipes.mt.bravotv.com/top_chef/season_5_1/episode_6_2/smoked_pork_loin_chipotle_mashed_potatoes_cabbage_apple_jus.php
 
Melissa, Jamie and Gene faced elimination. And as they defended their dishes, Tom and Padma realized that everyone but those top four just didn't bring it this week. So in the spirit of the holiday season, they just wouldn't eliminate someone.
 
Hmmmmm... I wonder who they WOULD have chosen anyway. I think Gene. He defended a poor palate and we all know where that leads.
 
After a very long day, Tom had a heart to heart with the cheftestants telling them that they need to make their food better and more exciting. He was sure to remind everyone, "You don't win with a deviled egg" (Ariane - that's you). No kidding.

As Survivor finales go, last night was up to par. There were no real surprises, but not many disappointments either.

The first immunity challenge was attacked warrior style in new dress and face paint as the tribe members saw fit. They decked out and made it memorable. Intricate mazes followed by a complex puzzle, and not surprisingly, Bob took the necklace. Ken's fate was sealed and he joined the jury.

The paying of respects to the fallen fellow Survivors was well done with masks collected, representing each face, and then burned atop a high point of land to African music. It was perfect.

Challenge two was a literal house of cards. I was sort of shocked that teacher Bob couldn't design a standable structure. Finally, a puzzle he couldn't complete. Sugar tried in vain and built several towers that toppled while Susie created a free standing skyscraper that allowed her to stick around, donning the immunity necklace. This develoopment led to disappointment on my part. The dream team of top three would have been Sugar, Bob and Matty, at least to this viewer. With this win, Susie forced a vote that would have booted Bob had Sugar not had a soft spot. Sugar saved him by casting her vote against her alliance, for Matty. This forced a tie breaker. Amazingly, Matty couldn't build a fire and due to this fault, he joined the jury and lost a million dollars. Bob was saved.

The typical last morning brought breakfast for the top three and the inspiration to have a bonfire in the way of torching the hut. Susie, Bob and Sugar made their way to the last tribal council. The jury sat and listened to final words and then passed out a few of their own. If looks could kill, a couple of jury members would be wanted for murder. If people could be arrested for being absolutely evil and spitting acid with their words, Corinne would have been taken away in handcuffs and hopefully a gag. How anyone can belittle someone for being emotional after a deeply personal loss is beyond me. Can you get any lower? Sugar's more than appropriate gesture to Corinne was applauded by me. The rest of the jury seemed to be bitter as well, and while that is to be expected to a point, this is a game and after being on the jury for a short time they should have been able to get over their hard feelings by the time of the final council. Apparently not. Voting commenced and Randy voiced his opinion even further, mimicking Crystal from an earlier tribal.

At the reunion show it was revealed that Bob took the prize. He also took the $100,000 viewer voted prize, which I feel he should have handed over to Sugar given that her tie inducing vote allowed him to stay in the game and thus take the title of Sole Survivor. On that note, I feel he should have at least acknowledged this fact and her generosity. Maybe he did and they edited it out. While Bob was a kick-behind player and participant in camp life, what I saw in Sugar was a person much more deserving of a million dollar reward for the efforts she made standing up to see that those who were deserving were given a chance. More than once, she spoke up and made efforts to see that good prevailed. To me, she is already a winner in her million dollar personality.

It was enjoyable to see Jeff Probst bantering with the contestants at the reunion show, and even better to see him call Corinne out on "the worst commentary in Survivor history." He asked her if this was her real personality, and apparently, it is. Yikes. I hope her parents are proud. Jeff also tried to explore Randy's persona and what he revealed was really not much more than a bitter individual. Reality TV doesn't give the real and total picture of a person, Sugar included, I am sure, but what some people let the world see of  themselves can be either really shocking, or really endearing.  

So the season ends. Until next time folks; the tribe has spoken.

People are switching it up at the last minute on Survivor: Gabon. Alliances that seemed tight at the beginning of the hour were unravelled by the end. And Ken, who thinks himself the mastermind, is left to scramble. When Ken confronted Bowtie Bob about his fake, he really played up the guilt trip. I would bet that Ken has played this game before with his parents.

Reward challenge seemed to give advantage to the men, though I could be wrong, and the girls could have just been a bit slow. An obstacle through swamp and ball toss didn't seem all that difficult but the three men battled it out with Bob taking the prize. And what a prize! A helicopter ride to a snack and a shower, new clothes, and a visit to a gorilla sanctuary, which I would lose my mind over. The Western Lowland gorillas were  orphaned due to hunters and the sanctuary allowed the visitors to get within 25 feet of the beautiful creatures. Bob was spiritually touched, as I would be. He was allowed to take some companions and chose Crystal and Ken, strategically. Susie was sent to exile where she ate her fill of fruit.

At camp, straight talk between Sugar and Matty got her thinking, but it wasn't until Ken and Crystal started going off on Mat that Sugar got her brain moving in a different direction. She'd cover for him if they would take Crystal down.

Crystal

The immunity challenge looked like a blast, with everyone blindfolded and put in an obstacle course. They had to memorize a mask and its features by touch and recreate it after making their way through the course. Bob wins again! Four in a row. He'd promised to give immunity to Ken if he thought it need be, but Sugar warned him that Ken would vote him off if he gave up the necklace.

Sugar

At tribal, Sugar messed with Ken's plan and handed Matty her immunity necklace - the real one. As a result, the rest of the group voted off Crystal. This is a season of blindsiding. Sugar seems to be in control...but her efforts really do seem genuinely good hearted to me - wanting the best people to be at the end.

And I just have to ask, what in the world is up with Randy's hair?  

This Sunday is the finale folks! Be ready to stay up late!

Before the reward challenge began, tribe members were given a taste of the prize with brief moments of video messages from loved ones via cell phone. Tears flowed and everyone got geared up to compete. Breaking into teams of three left Corinne to suffer the nasty girl school yard pick result…she sat alone and had no chance to win reward. The challenge involved being tied together and trekking through a swamp to collect cog pieces. Sugar, Crystal and Bob were together and Matty, Ken and Susie were the other team. While Susie’s group was quicker to slog through muck, Crystal’s team was faster at figuring the cog puzzle out and raised their flag first. This led to the three competing in a tile slide puzzle race, which Bob won. His prize: beer, pizza, brownies, and the longer video message from his wife. With a nice twist, she told him to hold on and then appeared from behind a tree in person. It was a very sweet moment.

Bowtie Bob and wife

Walking back to camp, Bob whistled to announce their presence. Then with another whistle, called the loved ones of the rest of the tribe down the trail. It seems that everyone won this reward. Two touching moments were Sugar and her sister spreading some of their father’s ashes and gaining some peace of mind, and Matty proposing to his girl on the dock and her saying yes.

Immunity challenge involved trivia and the tossing of balls onto a huge target. Bowtie Bob took the prize again. In a sneaky move, Bob decided to make fake immunity idol 2, and tried to stay in the game a bit longer by dealing with Corinne. They tried to sway Kenny and Crystal. The story was that Marcus never really threw the necklace into the sea, but hid it in his pocket and then at camp, telling Bob where it was. The effort was great and Bob’s handiwork impressive. But the plan didn’t work and Corinne was sent packing. True to her character, her last words to the camera were bitter and hateful.

Bye Bye Corinne

Blog entry by Amy Hanek
 
Last night's episode on Top Chef began with a lengthy note left for Alex from Richard (kicked off last week). In it, Richard begs Alex and a few others (Carla and Jamie) to give it their all. Alex vows to do just that.
 
Then, a breakfast quickfire challenge with guest judge Rocco Dispirito. Now, Rocco is probably a wonderful chef, but I'm not a big fan. Ever since NBC's The Restaurant aired in 2003, I've been turned off. As a former FOH (front of the house) manager, I had a very difficult time watching a chef make mistake after mistake with his wait staff. But I digress.
 
Rocco and Padma asked the 13 remaining cheftestants to dish up breakfast in the form of an Amuse Busche (fancy-talk for a one-bite meal). Leah won the challenge, taking home Rocco's latest book.
 
Next the group are handed the elimination challenge, a fast-food demonstration for a TV show. Wait. Aren't they already on TV?
 
With an hour to prep the food and only 2 1/2 minutes to demonstrate, many cheftestants fell short on time and taste. Melissa spiced things up and Tom spit out her food (a very bad sign), Jamie undercooked her egg while trying to beat the clock and Alex just fell short with his crème brulee. I think Alex really set himself up to fail when he described his choice in a dessert as a "free pass." Didn't Richard's letter teach him anything?
 
Jeff, Fabio and Ariane landed at the top of the heap and had to rise at 2 in the morning to recreate their dishes for the Today Show staff.
 
Ariane's dish, Beefsteak Tomato Salad won the palates of the Today Show staff. Ariane not only snagged a bag full of kitchen gadgets from Rocco, but a guest spot on the Today Show this morning. I have been watching all morning and haven't seen her appearance. I'm guessing she'll arrive in the last hour of the show. The hour I don't usually watch. But way to go Ariane!! Redemption probably felt pretty good for her.
 
Alex was sent packing in the end, making Richard's letter to him painfully ironic. Poor Alex.
 
Here's the recipe for Ariane's dish:
http://recipes.mt.bravotv.com/top_chef/season_5_1/episode_4_2/beefsteak_tomato_salad.php
 
BTW: The talk of competing cheftestants was that Ariane's dish played it safe. Did anyone agree?