Hannah recaps/reviews Episode #6 of Next Food Network Star!

The Recap:

(Photo Credit:  Food Network)

Boom!  I'm bringing the reviews to you back to back!  This episode was the first Viet-less one and I'm going to be honest, I actually still really loved the episode!  This week the remaining seven were given the challenge of coming up with two products (that could be bottled, jarred (is that a word?), or boxed) that were great representations of themselves.  Then Bobby, Giada, and Alton would go around being all "7th grade Science Fair judge" on them. (Note: The 7th grade science fair put me through the ringer!  Nightmares, I tell you!  Added note:  I don't know why I still haven't gotten over this!  Probably because they gave me my first C when I was expecting a clear-cut win!!)  The contestants would then pick which one of the two was the better choice and then would be given the opportunity to do a pitch to some pretty up-there executives for companies like Target and Kellogg's.  We're talking Next Food Network Star meets Shark Tank!  Truly this is a dream come true combination for me!  Shark Tank is my favorite!

One important thing to point out about this challenge was the fact that they only had one hour to come up with their two products and create them.  Talk about a rush for time!  Everyone ended up getting done in the time allotted, but some rose to the occasion more than others.  After some intense judging, the seven decided on which product of theirs that they wanted to pitch, the choices fell as follows:

Russell:  Candy Bacon (Note: A combination of my two favorite things!)
Chris:  Smoked Apple Jam, later renamed Smoked Apple Ketchup
Chad:  Baked Beans (I believe he called these.. Big Boy's Baked Beans)
Nikki:  A vegetable sauce
Stacey:  A butterscotch
Rodney:  A pie kit.. a quiche kit, to be more exact!
Damaris:  A peach and chile jam (Truly, a representation of Damaris!)

Rodney bringing us a mini concert!
(Photo Credit:  Food Network)

The seven then got to design the packaging for their product.  Given the time limits of the competition, they did fine, but the graphics were a little.. disappointing at times.  One great moment to point out from this whole ordeal was Rodney's dead-serious idea to bring in some metal coat hangers to ducktape onto his pie kit jar as handles.  This is actually not a bad idea looks-wise and would have been awesome given actual metal handles secured to the jar differently, but given the actual way it played out, it was pure hilariousness.

After some pretty good pitches and a mini-concert from Rodney, we get to the results.  The judges and executives both loved Russell, Damaris, and Stacey's products and pitches - so they were named the top three of the week.  This week also brought us THE END OF THE MIDDLE! Gasp!  So the remaining four were all placed in the "bottom of the pack."  After ruining the whole point of the "end of the middle!" by naming Chad and Nikki to be safe - leaving Chris and Rodney as the bottom two, they sent Chris packing.  Truly a sad moment for #TeamHannah!  (Which, if you're following the AustHan NFNS Draft, leaves #TeamHannah with four members and #TeamAustin with two members.)

The Review:

(Photo Credit:  Food Network)

Another week continues on the Russell-coaster (a term coined by yours truly!) and this week we went up the hill - rather than down it, as Russell had one of the best weeks amongst the remaining seven.  Many awesome things to point out about Russell in this episode, so let me begin.  1.) Russell's two products were both awesome representations of himself.  His candy bacon truly encompassed a few of his culinary sins and his ice cream nearly covered all of them.  Also, Russell used liquid nitrogen to make his ice cream.. something that may have never been done on NFNS before. (Don't quote me on that!)  2.)  During the package design part of the show, Russell suggested a flying pig for the design of his candy bacon.  I don't know about you, but I want a flying pig to bring me some candy bacon!  3.) Russell's "Bacon" shirt.  I'm a huge fan of quote-unquote random shirts, and while this shirt is not really random given the culinary sins, it still remains quite awesome.  4.) Russell's pitch was definitely the best of the seven!  "Yeah! Sin!" (when referring to how the executives were reacting to his pitch)  With Viet gone, Russell has taken over the spot of my favorite and I'm truly hoping to see him land in the finals!  A part of me loves the Russell-coaster, but a larger part of me wants it to go away, since next week would presumably be another down week. #LetUsNot

In this episode, I was really expecting Chad to shine the most out of all of them because his two products came to him in an instant and he wasn't even going with the obvious choice to make one of them his BBQ sauce or any type of sauce at all!  I was hoping the judges would point this out and respect it, but I mean, they didn't. (But I did!  So I win, right?)  I kinda hated how no one seemed to rave over his baked beans.. I mean, they looked great and I don't even really like baked beans.  The only downside to Chad this week for me was the name "Big Boy's Baked Beans" ... really?  Although I must give props to the great use of alliteration!

(Photo Credit: Food Network)

I really like Stacey and I could see her getting her own show tomorrow, but I really do hope from this point onward, she flies a little more off-the-cuff with her presentations.  I feel like she would do so much better than she already does - which is pretty fantastic!  I actually like all of these seven, if I'm to be honest.  But, I really struggle with the judges' decisions to keep Rodney at this point.  I love pies as much as the next person, but it's disappointing to never see anything else from Rodney.  In next week's episode, I hope to see him take a risk and do something that isn't a pie and something that doesn't involve music.  If he doesn't take a risk sometime soon, I think he'll be eliminated.

Bye Chris! :(  (Photo Credit:  Food Network)

And as for Chris, I really grew to like him as the episodes passed and the show progressed.  Given the fact that he's an Ohioan like myself - I really have no choice BUT to like him.  I don't really know if I agree with the decision to eliminate him this week, though.  His presentation was somewhat lacking, but I felt that nothing else was.  Even his one-on-one with the executives after the pitch was good.  I believe the judges cut him given that his culinary POV was very broad, whereas the other six seem to have a very tight grip on what their POV is.  Truly, it is never fun to lose a draft member - especially the one that I picked first!

With Chad out of the competition, only six stars remain to compete for the title of the Next
Food Network Star!  Who will it be?  (Original Photo Credit:  Food Network)

And, fun stuff is to come this weekend as I'll be travelling up to Cleveland with my friend to attend the NFNS charity event.  Viet, Damaris, Chris, Stacey, and Rodney will all be there, which is quite exciting since I love them all... despite my sometimes not-so-lovable opinions of Rodney.  Anyways, I expect this whole thing to be glorious.  (Fun fact: I have no sense of smell - so in turn, I can't taste like a normal person, so it might be an experience, this .. thing.. but I'm going to eat whatever is placed in front of me!  Because yolo!)  All I'm saying is that I better get a pie!  Preferably that berry one from this week's episode.. so Rodney, if you somehow stumble onto this and have not furiously exited the page by now..

PLEASE MAKE ME THIS PIE!