TV Binge: Zumbo’s Just Desserts (Season 1, 2016)

The Super Bowl weekend just ended and this has been in queue to be written for a while so I figured that we’re in Valentine’s marathon time and desserts are a staple here. I’m not sure I’ll get any desserts done as work has been hectic but I’ve been getting lots of baking ideas and techniques I want to learn from watching this reality competitive Australian baking show called Zumbo’s Just Desserts, hosted by Adriano Zumbo and Rachel Khoo. At this point, I put it on in the background a lot just to keep myself motivated so I’ve watched it a few times to say the very least. With that said, you probably already know how I feel about it.

Let’s check it out!

Zumbo’s Just Desserts (Season 1, 2016)

Judges: Adriano Zumbo, Rachel Khoo

Assistant: Gigi Falanga

A competitive baking show? Count me in! Despite my many unsuccessful scheduling to get back to baking, it is still an immense passion of mine. I honestly don’t know fancy bakers around the world so it was the first time that I even heard about Adriano Zumbo. He is paired up with Rachel Khoo who is seemingly not only as knowledgeable about dessert flavors but also quite charismatic to watch as a team. However, their 12 competitors are the real stars here because they are all different in personality and while most have likeable traits and great aspirations and fantastic talent, they also have somewhat of a villainous competitor here who helps balance out the show and really give it some human drama on who to root for.

The show breaks down into 12 episodes which sees the contestant with the lowest score be eliminated from the show in each episode. Each episode consists of two rounds. The first is called a Sweet Sensations task which runs along the theme of a day. There were color coordinated fresh fruits, magic, fire, kids birthday cake just to name a few. The two with lowest scores go into the second round head to head to fight for survival in a Zumbo Test. If you didn’t know Adriano Zumbo before, well, his Zumbo Creations are jaw-dropping awesome. Complex but awesome. And this probably will give a great idea of his dessert creator abilities. In the Zumbo Test, the two have to recreate his dessert in the allotted time. The various themes and absolutely Zumbo’s creations are the highlights here. The struggles and the successes make this show really fun to watch. Its always down to the wire and its really exciting to watch because the skills and ideas are really fantastic and watching them being executed is a lot of fun.

What I did like a lot for the show, even if it felt a little showy and over the top was the location and set design. It had these colorful tones and felt like walking into Willy Wonka factory. Its pretty fascinating and emphasizes on the wonderful world of baking. Well, its wonderful because I love baking. If you put aside the setting, something else I really like is how they introduce each of the plates that the competitors conceptualize in this sketch like below. I think its really neat because you get to see whether the end results actually happens. Let’s face it, the best part of reality TV is that things happen out of their control and its those struggles and how they push through it that make it fun to watch.

Overall, Zumbo’s Just Desserts is a really great show. Its fun and cool and very exciting to watch. There’s a nice balance in the competitors on their different styles and strengths. Zumbo and Rachel Khoo are a nice team together. The setting emphasizes on the enchanting world they want to have here. Zumbo Creations are just from another world and makes me want to work hard to bake better and learn different techniques (although the hard part is everything I do has to have a somewhat vegan twist). I have a few criticisms of the show but nothing that has stopped me from binging it 3 times already on Netflix. I would have loved to see them actually talk out how they determined the scores though as sometimes their criticism seem to not exactly match the scores they give. I’m honestly just hoping there will be a Season 2 soon.

Here’s Jack Blogathon: Terms of Endearment (1983)

Today is Jack Nicholson’s 80th birthday. In celebration for that, Gill at Realweegiemidget Reviews is hosting the Here’s Jack Blogathon celebrating his work. Jack Nicholson is one of those actors that has been around ever since I was little, and way before. I can’t remember exactly when was the first move I saw Jack Nicholson but definitely one of the first that I remember vaguely was his role in Terms of Endearment even if I realized in this rewatch that I misunderstood a ton and was really too young back then. There were some scenes that feel familiar and it is a much delayed rewatch.

Let’s check it out!

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Director: James L. Brooks

Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Danny DeVito, John Lithgow, Lisa Hart Carroll, Huckleberry Fox, Troy Bishop

Follows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love and her daughter’s family problems. – IMDB

Terms of Endearment is a comedy-drama centered around Aurora, a single mother and her daughter, Emma who don’t exactly have a great relationship on the surface but deep down, they have a strong connection. From a young age, Emma had left her home against her mother’s will to get married to an English professor, Flap. As they live separately and keep contact, we see their lives as they both grow and change. Aurora, with the leaving of her daughter, learns to embrace being alone while also accepting and opening up herself to another relationship with her next door neighbor, Garrett. On the other hand, Emma grows into being a stay at home wife and then mother living in a less than perfect life economically as her husband moves them from city to city pursuing his career. It truly brings out the reality of life sometimes handing out both good and bad without any prior notice and having the ability to deal with it. The star of this movie is both in the script that carries out these events in Aurora and Emma’s lives and also the great performances from the entire cast which portray both the joy and devastation of the situations thrown at them.

Terms of Endearment shines in their performances and more specifically the way we see the characters develop. Not only do Aurora, played by Shirley MacLaine and Emma, played by Debra Winger have depth to their characters and make us connect or simply believe in their story and love their mother and daughter relationship despite them have their differences in opinions. Their supporting characters also carry quite some depth. Perhaps the acting experience helps but playing opposite of Shirley MacLaine is the older gentlemen: an honorable astronaut but also a man who lacks commitment, Garrett who moves next door to Aurora and is played by Jack Nicholson. Garrett is not exactly a complex character but there is some depth as we grow to see him shift his views from the playboy that he starts off as who goes after young girls and tries to impress them to accepting to go on a date with the older Aurora and yet still be mesmerized by how she teaches him some things about life. We can see that he likes the simplicity of their relationship which is more physical than outwardly emotional and in their own bubble and he has a harder time when he starts to feel that he needs to be someone that she can rely on and feels that he will let her down. However, we do know that there’s something a little more to him than that. Sometimes, people aren’t exactly who we expect them to be: a lesson that constantly is reminded to us over and over again, and perhaps its these surprises that makes us want to keep watching this drama as they tug on our heartstrings over and over again.

Not to mention that these relationships are all quirky in their own way. These moments are the comedic bits that break up the dramatic parts and they are very well-timed and suitable to cut through the tension or change the pace or direction of the story. Perhaps this movie fits really well with the Here’s Jack Blogathon because what I remembered the most of Terms of Endearment from when I was little watching this next to my dad was Jack Nicholson’s role and as I watch it again, those are the parts that really make feel unsettled just like it should for Aurora. Jack Nicholson tends to remind me of many roles where he is a tad eccentric and its part of the fun of watching him because he fits into those roles so well. This is no exception for playing Garrett because he does the most unexpected things and sometimes also shares some deeper thoughts than we’d expect. He definitely was one of my favorite characters here. His scenes with Shirley MacLaine are possibly the most entertaining in the film in such an odd and uneasy way.

Looking on the side of Emma and Debra Winger’s portrayal of it, who does a great job at really making us see her character a whole lot from the ups and downs. On top of that, her supporting role is her husband Flap played by Jeff Daniels. I’m the first to stand up for liking Jeff Daniels even in his not to big role in Speed, but this one he does a fantastic job, perhaps its the fact that his characters has a decent arc and that there’s something that contrasts about his character as well, there’s a hidden something there that opens up what this story is telling. Their relationship are some of the good moments as their relationship grows as their family gets bigger with the kids. The kids are pretty cool as well. They don’t have a huge part but there’s something written for them and how they accept who their parents are especially with their oldest played by Troy Bishop in the role of Tommy. However, they aren’t the focal point in this relationship but really how Flap and Emma’s marriage has changed as they also change over the years together.

Overall, Terms of Endearment is a movie with great performances by the cast and a fantastic script that leads us down the road of these two ladies as they grow with the things that happen to them separately and in different phases of their life. Its really nice to see a movie that has a great direction and execution of highlighting the characters and every one gets the same care including the supporting roles as well. Also a great pick for myself as I rewatch this and realize that this might be one of my most memorable roles of Jack Nicholson if not one of my first roles that I saw him in, not to mention that its one of those memories of movie watching with my dad and in one of the final scenes, it actually made me remember a moment with my dad that made that moment tug on my heartstrings even more.

A huge thanks to Gill for thinking this up! It was a ton of fun (and tears) to rewatch Terms of Endearment!
It also makes me want to rewatch some of his other movies and catch up with the ones I’ve missed (which are a lot)!

I’m at the brink of the date that Gill gave me to release this post (in my time zone), so here it goes! Hope you enjoyed! 🙂

What are your thoughts on Terms of Endearment? What Jack Nicholson movies stand out for you?

My Weekly Adventures: Work Work and more Work (and a bit of fun)

Welcome to My Weekly Adventures! You can’t physically see me but I’m breathing a sigh of relief.  This later than usual post goes up after I came home from work for some the final day of overtime of this week long craziness.  Along with that, this morning right after I took the car out, I realized that my car’s tire was punctured and totally deflated so after a ton of messing with it and Murphy’s Law 100% in effect, I think everything is generally okay, except you know, having to get a new tire since my husband couldn’t patch it.  I was going to give you all a meh post with just some random stuff to fill up space but decided that I needed some writing time to inject some positivity and get ready for the next week.

Enough of rambling, lets go!

Meow Box Unboxing and Subscription Update!

In case you missed it, in the last two weeks, I did a little Meowbox unboxing.  It was a one month subscription for April for Flea’s 5th birthday.  She loved it as you can see and the toys are occupying her time and energy quite a bit. You can see that post HERE.  While the unboxing isn’t very entertaining, I was super excited to have playtime on camera with Flea and despite the camera having to move around, she was quite cooperative. I had decided to cancel my subscription but the lovely folks at Meowbox managed to help me out a little but long story short, expect another Meowbox unboxing in the next few months. 😉

Garden Planning

The weather here in Montreal is being difficult with nights still hitting rather below average weather so the plants are growing slowly but there are signs of life in the garden.  The one place I would have enjoyed slow growth was my “vegetable garden” in the making.  May’s big project is to get rid of all the grass and turn it into a vegetable garden I want.  Its going to be a labor intensive job but one I’m really looking forward to.  I’ve already planned out how the container gardening to decorate the patio will be already so its just that last bit.  Meanwhile, I have gotten in some time to trim and prune and clean up the garden. Things are looking good. 🙂

Saturday Two-Part Outings with Friends

Its been a while I’ve hung out with my girl friends so when we decided to go check out the L’Oreale sale, I was all for it.  Sure, it meant waking up early on a Saturday and probably getting lost (since that’s just expected when I drive to a new place), it was still tons of fun.  There was a lot of people there but the stock wasn’t particularly great.  I bought some sun protection lotion and Garnier shampoo and bought a Biotherm Men Urban Survival kit for my husband. Then, we headed for a spontaneous brunch to Le Cartet,.  I recently did a restaurant post on that one HERE.  Then we headed to get some ice cream/sorbet at Le Bilboquet.

4 mini degustations at Le Bilboquet

They had this special called 4 mini degustation which is 4 mini tasting portions for $5 (tax included). I chose raspberry, mango-coconut, strawberry-pear and passion fruit. The mix was so delicious! We sat around in the square with these lovely little decorations below.

The weather was perfect and the sun was so warm as we sat and chatted.  It was great.  After I went home to relax and do a few chores, it was time to head out with the husband to hang out with his friends for a little tradition started last year of Poutineville and Chocolat Favoris.  I skipped getting something at Chocolat Favoris since I had my sorbet fix already. However, here is my poutine and the husband’s.

Mine had hot dog, lactose-free cheese and shoestring fries with poutine sauce. My husband’s was with sweet potato fries, curd cheese, and some meats that I can’t remember.

Before we headed to Chocolat Favoris, the whole group went for a walk since we all had eaten so much to just help digest.

It was a super nice walk that started off a little chilly but it was really fun. It was great time during the day with good company and delicious food.  A perfect day to relax and have fun and just take a break from work.

Product That I Love: Frends Earphones

I’m not sure who watched the unboxing of the FabFitFun Winter box a while back but I got these Frends Earphones which I haven’t used because my earphones were (and are) still doing great.  I brought to work today to listen to music while working and OMG! I love them! The sound quality is fantastic. I think possibly one of the best ones I’ve ever tried on.  That is really all I wanted to mention. It seems that they only have the headphones now. But man, this is the FabFitFun page on that right HERE! Mine are white but I’m in love!

Updates and Collabs, ETC

Its been month that I’ve talked about changing the domain.  I’m still working on it.  Don’t worry about it.  I don’t talk about it because this month has been a massive crazy mess.  May still looks really busy with a lot of events and dinner dates and all that stuff.  Plus, I’ve been busy with some projects and of course, gaming posts over at That Moment In.

In case you didn’t know, I’ve been doing Game Breaks and Game Reviews over at That Moment In.  We’re also working on something else for the gaming section and if all goes well, I’ll be posting about it soon! 🙂 On that note, if you have any interesting games that you think I’ll like playing, please suggest! I’ve been checking out a lot of mobile games and there has been some surprising finds.  I also work on gameplay so I’ve been editing videos a lot more.  Its both time consuming and a lot of fun! The last review post that went up was a collab post with Jordan of Epileptic Moondancer for an indie game called Layers of Fear.  You can check that out HERE!

Cute Kitty Time

Upcoming:

• Netflix A-Z: U-X
• TV Binge
• Music Obsessions
• Recipe and Book Reviews

Hope you’ve all had a fantastic weekend! 🙂
What have you been up to? Are there any games you’ve been playing? Are you preparing for spring and gardening?