The Taste on ABC Tuesday 9/8c

Recently I was introduced to this new Cooking competition show on ABC called The Taste.  There are four teams of amateur and restaurant chefs being mentored by the likes of Anthony Bourdain,  food star Nigella Lawson, expert chef/author Ludo Lefebvre and chef/restaurateur Brian Malarkey.  . In each episode the groups will face team and individual challenges with a variety of culinary themes through various elimination rounds. For example last weeks episode was about creating sandwiches.  At the end of each episode, the mentors will have to judge the competitors' dishes blind -- with no knowledge of whose creation they're sampling, what they're eating, how it was prepared or whom they could send packing. 

I personally like that the judging is done this way.  No one's personality, back story or team position is influencing the judging.  The food is speaking for itself for once.  No longer do we sit thru self doubting stammering about what mistakes were made while the judges evil eye the chef while tasting their food.  I believe that could ruin the taste or sway opinion.  Shit happens but it doesn't excuse bad taste.  No longer is technique in play.  I personally believe it isn't how someone does it that matters as long as the results are good.  (as long as there was no immoral or illgalness involved).  Just like Math story problems.  It shouldn't matter if someone didn't use the right way to get to the answer as long as they arrived at the right one.  That puts pro and amateurs on the equal footing right there. 

There are definately some strong personalities and drama within the ring of contestants.  There will be people you root to go home because they rub you the wrong way and people you will stand behind because you love their stories and how they act.  

I'd definitely recommend you eat before you watch this because the food they create will make you hungry.  Immediately after the show I made my husband go to subway because I was hankering for a sub sandwich and subway is the only place in our town to get a descent one. 

You can watch all past episodes at The Taste Full Episodes  you won't be sorry.  Let me know what you thought.  Join me again Tuesday after the Taste for a episode recap and to discuss what we thought of the episode.  Did the judges choose the right person to go home.  What about that strange concoction.  Would you eat that?  What looked super yummy and what is your favorite recipe for the theme.

Nook Tablet VS. Kindle Fire Review

No money for an iPad.  There are many good multimedia tablets around.  I personally own the Nook Tablet.  Nook Tablet HD and the Kindle Fire.  I bought the Nook Tablet at the Walmart Black Friday sale.  They meant to give out the Nook (regular) but they gave 30 people the Nook Tablet for 99.00.  I liked it so much I bought my son one for Christmas.  When I went to purchase his I noticed that the HD was only 20 dollars more so I bought the Nook HD for myself and gave him my Nook.  I bought the Kindle Fire on the Valentines special for 159.00 on Amazon.com.  Now I own the Kindle, my husband has my Nook HD and my son has the Nook.  I have had months to review the Barnes and Noble Nook and a week to use the Kindle Fire.  

Spoiler Alert.  BUY THE KINDLE FIRE.  Not the Nook.  Read on for why.

My Nook Experience.

At first I was very impressed by the Barnes and Noble Nook.  Please consider this is my first fancy electronic experience.  I don't have a smart phone, I just got a laptop.  So my excitement was understandable.  Within two days my excitement floundered.  The Nook Tablet has a tendency to freeze and not come back on or turn off depending on the state of freezing.  This happened the second day I had it.  We took it back and got a replacement.  There is a way you can fix that.  Hold the power button and the nook button and the down volume until it shuts off.  Wait for two minutes and turn it back on.  Make sure the charge is at 34 percent or more.  Now when I say it freezes the screen goes black but you can hear sound.  Two weeks later we had to take it back again and they replaced it because the charger broke.  The little port that goes into the Nook broke off.  And it wasn't handled roughly at all.  

Now aside from that the App selection is limited.  There are ALOT of books however the popular books are not much cheaper than buying a book at the store.  Also very concerning on a Parental aspect is that when you search books there are many many many ADULT themed books for free or very cheap that are summarized in the open.  Anyone can see them etc.  There is no way to change that.  The books are not in an Adult area.  Like on eBay you have to retype your password and verify that you are 18 to view adult themed items.  Sure it doesn't stop anyone but for kids that are not looking for it they aren't going to be able to go directly into the listing without knowing hey this is something that I don't need to see.  

The Magazine reader which is a feature of the Nook Tablet that is bragged about keeps dying out while reading the magazines.  you have to force stop the program and restart it.  It is annoying while reading.  Book reading is great on the Nook.  Many of the Apps I had freeze and will not update or are limited versions of what is available other places.  I have been disappointed time and time again to try to get an app and see that it is available for every other device but the Nook.  Oh and just FYI the usable screen on the HD is smaller than on the Nook Tablet.  Yes it is the same screen size however on the Nook HD there is a bar on the bottom of the screen that is fixed.   I was kind of sad that the games I had on the Nook Tablet are larger than on the Nook HD.  Do NOT expect courteous American customer service when you call the 888 number for Nook Customer service.  The accents annoyed me so much I hung up the phone and cancelled the magazine subscription i called about.  It wasn't worth dealing with people whom didn't understand English and kept repeating whatever was on the screen.

The Kindle Fire right out of the box has a sleeker look that has glass screen corner to corner. A let down is that the wall plug in for the charger has to be purchased separately for 19.99 I got it for 9.99 because of a Valentines day promotion.  The App selection is amazing and many of the apps I had to pay for on the Nook were Free on the Kindle and there were many I couldn't get on the Nook.  Also the Apps I loved on the Nook were better and had more features on the Kindle.  The reader is comparable, the color is better.  The web usage is better and the interface is very user friendly.  

If you are on the fence buy the Kindle Fire.  It Kicks the Nooks Ass in more ways than one. 

The Taste ABC Tuesday at 8/7 central

The series features  chef Anthony Bourdain,  FoodNetwork  star Nigella Lawson, expert chef/author Ludo Lefebvre and chef/restaurateur Brian Malarkey. These four culinary superstars and mentors will each coach a team of four competing pro and amateur cooks chosen from a nationwide casting call.

I am thrilled that there is another cooking contest show on Network Tv.  This is Worst Cooks in America, Meets Masterchef, meets Iron Chef, Meets Top Chef meets Food Network Star.  In my opinion there can never be too many Cooking Contests.  I love the spirit of competition and love to see regular people cooking and competing.

The judges in this show will judge the dishes Blind.  Meaning they will not know whom cooked what dish.  I enjoy this aspect as we know that personalities can clash and we can subconsciously like someone enough to enjoy their food more than the rest.  Think of Grandma's Lasagna or whatever your Grandma's signature dish is.  You think it is better than any you ever tasted.  No one else can ever compare.  You will pick hers over anyone else if placed side by side.  Can you imagine not knowing you are judging Grandma's dish and another?  The other dish has a equal chance of tantalizing your taste buds.  Looks don't count, Sob Story doesn't count.  The only thing that counts is the food.  And that is the way it should be.  I also like that the contestants don't stand with their dish sweating it out and nervously making excuses while the judges taste their food.  Sometimes on the other shows I want to scream SHUT UP to these people because sometimes their nervous talk ruins the tasting experience and can influence the opinion.  I can't wait to see more of The Taste.  I will be recording the whole series on my DVR to make sure I never miss an episode.

Watch the Taste and come back and let me know what you think.  I will be blogging an episode by episode review and summary. 

Watch first episode here.  http://abc.tv/Z3jimp