TC: I was actually offended by the guy who said you can't make Mexican food into fine dining - so I was all "don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out."

How can you say that about any food from a WHOLE NATION of people?

Oh, I was praying for this guy to go home from the moment he said that. You don't dismiss an entire country's cuisine in that way, especially not in Chicago, where you not only have Topolobompo, but several other fine-dining Mexican places (I really must get over to Flamingo Seafood near me, which was just featured on the local "Check, Please" show and looked fabulous, and is Mexican seafood fine dining).

You get ingredients fresh from the farmers market, you get tons of meat and all kinds of craziness, and you serve me hot dogs and velveeta? I don't know, people, in the midwest, this is where all your food grows! You need to learn that middle america is about fresh ingredients straight from the fields.

So very much this. God, that was so annoying! Damnit, we have just about everything here that they have in New York and San Francisco, and we have just as refined tastes, you TC snobs.

Adobo Grill in Chicago has my heart. I had the BEST guacamole I have had in my life there.

Damn.

And, what idiot doesn't know that if you are making mac and cheese that's going to sit you make it extra saucy so that it doesn't dry out. BASIC.

Also? Who brings heavy, rich mac and cheese to a block party?

Also? Who brings heavy, rich mac and cheese to a block party?

Well, that didn't bug me so much, as it serves a lot of people, but the nuclear orange version she decided to make did. Looked like Kraft out of the box (which I adore, but is also really fucking condescending in this context).

The most annoying part was my friends and I predicting exactly what would happen, before we even saw the photos.

Seriously!! Claire and Aimee were getting the Bottom 2 edit from the very start of the show. Mix it up ANTM editors!!! I love Claire too but she was being kind of mean to Dominique (who looks older than anyone I watch the show with and we are are older than 35 and two are mothers of toddlers).

Oh, I was praying for this guy to go home from the moment he said that

Me too, for real. What an ass.

Andrew gets on my last nerve but his taco sounded the yummiest to me.

And, what idiot doesn't know that if you are making mac and cheese that's going to sit you make it extra saucy so that it doesn't dry out. BASIC.

!!!! YES!!!! Making big big dishes of mac and cheese is something I've actually done. And had no trouble keeping nice and gooey despite not having a heat source. Granted I wasn't using velveeta but even that probably wouldn't gum up too much if you've made it into a cheese sauce and not just baked the chunks into the pasta.

I thought that whole team's attitude (except, I will grudgingly admit, Dale) was just nasty. "Let's make food these locals will enjoy" somehow did not equal "Let's make great tasting, high quality food." WTF? You were there as chefs not entertainers. Nobody is gonna care if you were magic in the dunk tank if your food sucked.

Except in previous seasons, the "locals" voted so I think they had every right to expect that that type of thing might help. In fact, I think it's very interesting that, for whatever reason, that didn't happen this time.

Also, I totally call bullshit on the "raiding". Those people had ridiculous amounts of food. Seven bags of groceries? Even if you just went to the farmer's market, do you really have a bowlful of lemons?

Also, can someone explain what a corn dog is (or is supposed to be)?

A corn dog is a hotdog on a stick dipped in cornmeal batter and deep fried. Definitely not something you can make ahead and expect to keep.

A corn dog is a hotdog on a stick dipped in cornmeal batter and deep fried. Definitely not something you can make ahead and expect to keep.

Oh, the making fried foods ahead being a bad idea I got; I just never realized that a corn dog was actually a hot dog inside (I thought it was one of those fake-out names). It sounds vile.