Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
Okay y'all, I have to tell you that I was super skeptical of Antoni-From-Queer-Eye (little-known fact, Netflix makes them legally change their names)’s new show, Easy-Bake Battle.
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But like… it’s charming, actually? Antoni has such a genuine energy and it’s extremely effective. Everyone is really kind and the guest judges are charming. There’s a holiday episode where one of the contestants makes an Eid dessert! Someone makes an everything bagel waffle?
And all of y'all that are always on here on Tumblr eagerly interacting with posts where us old folx tell you how to make food or make things easier on yourself will love this damn show. Part of what contestants are judged on is how easy/simple the recipe is and how many neat shortcuts/cost-cutting tips and tricks they can incorporate into their dishes. You will see things like:
How to cook frozen broccoli so you can’t tell it was frozen
How to cook shrimp if you only have access to a coffee pot (no, really)
How to poach an egg in the microwave and why acid matters when you do
How to get crispy skin on salmon when baking it
How to do things like ‘use a metal hair pick to get evenly-spaced slices of cucumber’
How to plan ahead so you can reuse today’s leftovers for tomorrow’s dinner
A lot of baking/cooking shows are either “you can’t do this and it’s fun to have catastrophe when you try” (Nailed It! & all its many-language spinoffs) or “you can’t do this but it’s neat to watch the people who can” (literally every other show including GBBO) - they’re all aspiration. This show is aspirational in an extremely achievable way, and it is that way on purpose and with intention. I am obsessed with it, because I really love cooking for people and I love when people learn how easy it is to make quality food that tastes good. It is a skill and you can learn it, and once you do, it’s a fun game. I literally lay in bed while I’m drifting off to sleep and daydream about flavor combinations. (I’m gonna do dates and goat cheese and walnuts and basalmic vinaigrette - sweet, fat, salt/savory, acid - on butter lettuce for dinner tomorrow. Been thinking about it all night. I got a big bag of dates to use for my 3-day brisket and I gotta use some of them up, I can’t use this huge bag on the brisket.)
Literally everything on this show is something you could make. And you should try! Go watch it, and like… try to make something from it, and then come tell me about your successes. I love hearing about when people enjoy cooking.
This is what I miss about the old Food Network of like… the early 2000s. There were so many shows on there that were about food you could make yourself and how food worked. 30 Minute Meals. Good Eats. How to Boil Water. Like… they had a few shows that were in the reality TV genre, like the ORIGINAL Iron Chef. But now that’s like… all it is. Especially in the evening.
In addition to the guy above, I strongly suggest you check out your local public TV station. They also have or air actual how-to type cooking shows.
Another little song vid :) that’s my three top Garashir songs out of my head and into the universe .. This one was much improved by great advice from @ectogeo-rebubbles - many thanks indeed
Finally responding to a challenge by @lorenzobane, to write Julian and Garak discussing a non Shakespeare or Austen work! Since I have read next to no Shakespeare and even less Jane Austen, this was great fun.
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