I wish Casey and Dale would have won though. I didn't love the sound of Tre and CJ's dish and agree that I would never call anything truffle "Mediterranean".

I agree with you, but Tre and CJ were the only ones who "got it" when it came to the challenge. Their dish could have been tasted horrible and been Mexican and they may still have won because they did it right (yes, I'm exaggerating here). Had Casey and Dale even tried to separate their stuff when they froze it, Italy would have been theirs.

Tre and CJ were the only ones who "got it" when it came to the challenge.

True, but after the whole "you didn't barbecue" thing, I was hoping that the non-Mediterranean aspect might bite them on the ass. I'm thinking maybe the partially frozen meatball might have been the final straw on that decision.

Megan - I see that different - I see the "you didn't barbecue" translating into "you didn't freeze things separately" more than the slant of the cuisine.

Megan - I see that different - I see the "you didn't barbecue" translating into "you didn't freeze things separately" more than the slant of the cuisine.

Agreed, and it was a slant, not complete abandon. Same with Casey and Dale's meatballs. Whereas Lia's whatever that was last episode had little to nothing to do with Latin cuisine, not just having an odd ingredient or two.

I don't think it should have bit them on the ass, but I wish it had--just because for some reason I really wanted Casey and Dale to win. They were just so excited about their dish.

C'mon, people, you really think a frozen ziploc (err, excuse me, Glad) baggie with a solid chunk of ice in there is going to heat up okay in ten minutes?

Seriously. Have they never done that at home? Because lord knows I have! I guess most people have microwaves.

I was very surprised Sara didn't go home, actually. I may be misremembering, but I think this is the first time one of the cheftestants very obviously didn't do anything, but didn't get sent home for it (see my previous comments on the dangers of making salad on this show).

I think Dale and Casey's still frozen meatball was something of a problem for them (and may have been the final deciding factor), but that was possibly outweighed by being the first (and only, as far as we saw) team to completely sell out of their product.

Which is also good for contrasting with Joey and Hung's utter failure to give away food.

Seriously. Have they never done that at home? Because lord knows I have! I guess most people have microwaves.

Maybe that's it. I've never had a microwave until now (I hate them even more than cell phones) and immediately asked "what are they doing?!?" My housemate didn't get the reheating problem at all.

Relatedly, I do think it's hilarious that these frozen dinners are designed to cook on the stovetop, so people "feel like they're cooking."