Yay for Amy, but I think both shows would work. Rory’s show, taped on location in Vega, could be gorgeous. Likewise, Amy’s show would have her preparing the food in her kitchen, then visiting the beach, the back yard, or whatever.
Neither contestant impressed me very much. Amy doesn’t have particularly outstanding skills or a fabulous culinary background. Plus I giggled madly when she mentioned she named her poor son Indiana.
But I hated Rory more. She’s an upper class NJer famewhore from uber rich Saddle River trying to pretend she’s some working class smoe. What the heck does “real food for real people” mean anyway? Who are these people fake people who eat fake food? I hate people who speak like that.
I liked Amy’s French schtick more so I rooted for her. I hope they don’t dumb her down. Let her be an updated Julia Child and show us some good French food.
I only saw about half of the episodes, but i actually didn’t like Amy very much. She seemed kind of stuck up and all of the dishes I saw her make didn’t look like they tasted very good. I only liked Rory a little bit though, so I’m not terribly disappointed in any case.
(Does anybody watch Top Chef on Bravo?)
You betcha. Those are some seriously good chefs.
I didn’t see this finale episode, but I heard the quote in the previews from one of the judges (IIRC), “Do we even have a star here?” Usually quotes like that are taken out of context but I couldn’t help but believe this one might be what I assumed, that neither Rory nor Amy were that great. My thought, of course, was that out of all of the entries they had, their pick of the contestants had this lame duo as their finalists?
Karen Lingel, I think the voting was online between the last episode (the “omg Jag lied!” one) and this one. I could be wrong, though, since I’m watching the repeats and not the initially-aired ones.
That quote was from a prior episode. The finale was nothing but mutual ass kissing among all involved.
To clarify:
I think this was said when they were down to the final 5 (?), when they did a 5-minute demo on camera, and all of the contestants had major problems in their presentations. AB said “How about if we send them all home, and start over?”
“Real Food for Real People” was a slogan for the beef industry. It’s too bad she didn’t win, because in future seasons of her show, we could have seen…
Rory: She’s What’s for Dinner
Rory: The Other White Meat
The Incredible Edible Rory
I suddenly feel a great loss 
Just had the opportunity to finally watch the finale this afternoon. Thank og for the fast forward button. Otherwise, that would have been 60 minutes I’d never get back. My vote for most boring finale, EVER.
Bump: Is anybody watching regularly (or has anyone watched even once) the show that came out of this? The Gourmet Next Door has been airing for three or four weeks, and I’ve caught two episodes. I’m curious to know what people think about it.
My opinion:IT’S TERRIBLE.Anyone else?
I saw Sunday’s.
From a non-cook who still watches food network for whatever reason - she’s not quite comfortable in front of the camera, and there were a few stumbles. The endive thing looked interesting (what’s an endive, btw?) but that was the scary kind of ham. I would like to try it maybe, provided I could find an endive somewhere. Ham and cheese are good things.
The apple tart should have had a homemade crust. Especially since she kept apologizing for the not homemadeness of the crust. But it did look doable.
The show and recipes in general seemed way better (and far less annoying) than Sandra Lee or the Simply Delicioso woman.
Well, that’s sorta damning with faint praise, isn’t it? I mean, the thing my cat barfs up looks more appealing than Sandra Lee’s recipes…
I’m making her chicken and beet salad recipe this week…that was the previous Sunday’s episode.
Yeah, I’m not enjoying the show a whole heck of a lot…and her opening montage of her damn smiling face…walking her bike down the street - goofy grin! Sitting on her stoop with the dog - goofy grin! Shopping for fruit at the trendy market - goofy grin!
Guy still wins with Diners, Dine-Ins, and Drives, and Guy’s Big Bite is getting better.
Endive is more of a category than a specific vegetable. What Ms. Finley was handling on the show, and what most people think of when they think “endive,” is more properly known as Belgian endive, visible in the picture halfway down the side of the wiki page. (More on Belgian endive.) They’re available at most grocery stores, I’ve found.
It’s an interesting flavor, subtle, peppery, a little bitter, with a crunchy texture that’s easy to turn into soggy boiled cabbage slop if you’re not careful. It goes well with lots of different things; for a quick side, I like to blanch it in water with salt and vinegar.