Amie's blog

Check out the new weekly feature on the FOX Morning News, right here on MyFOXMaine.com!  It's FOX Morning LIVE Music, featuring local or locally performing artists every Thursday at 8:00AM!

Would your band like to be featured in our LIVE music series?  Comment me here to find out how!

Chef Jeff will be at Celebrate Maine on August 10.  Come on out and say "hi" to the Chef while sampling his recipes... then log back on here to MyFOXMaine.com for more of Chef Jeff's recipes and cooking tips!  I just saw his recipe, and I can't wait to try it out!!!!

Celebrate MAINE Festival is a two-day extravaganza that will showcase the best of Maine in food, art, crafts, and much more, August 9 and 10.  The festival will be held this year at the historic Raitt Homestead Farm Museum in Eliot, which is partnering with the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce to host the event.

Have a question for Chef Jeff?  Email him at chefjeff@myfoxmaine.com!

You may remember in the headlines last month when a family was brutally attacked in their home...  check this out for more information: www.guerrettefamilybenefit.homestead.com.  Please watch the feature, it is very moving.   A benefit will be held Wednesday evening featuring Bob Marley and the Blake Brothers Band to benefit the Guerette Family.
-July 30th, 2008 to be held at the Gardiner Area High School ( 40 W Hill Rd. - Gardiner, ME 04345 (207) 582-3150 ) from 7 pm to 9 pm.
-Tickets are $20 per adult ( ages 14 and up ) $10 per child. Tickets can be purchased at the door or reserved by phone @ 207-446-8703 or 207-446-8704..
-First come, first serve.....so get your tickets fast!
-Doors will open @ 6 p.m.
-Donations may be made directly to the William Guerrette Family Fund at:
Maine State Credit Union
200 Capital Street
POB # 5659
Augusta, Maine 04332-5659

Savings Account # 66509 Melanie Guerrrette for the benefit of William Guerrette.

FOX23 will be at the event raffling off prizes, all money collected will be donated to the family.  Hope to see you there!

It's been awhile Hell's Kitchen fans, but let's dish (pun intended).

I'll skip the recaps, you can catch them here, but wow...

I won't spend a lot of time on past weeks, but the past two have been really good choices for voteoffs... First, Matty...

Matty was really, really, really was the obvious choice to go home.  I think the "losing his mind" part was probably over-edited to look that way, but he just couldn't stand the heat anymore... and I was relieved that it was him that was sent home.

Ok, so last week I can't tell you how excited I was to see Bobby finally go home!  He's been riding the mediocre train the whole show and I don't know why he was still there except that he managed to stay off the radar, despite his initial "General Bobby" pomp and circumstance. 

 

I do think he deserved to go home over Jen, who has really been escalating annoyance level wise, don't you think?  Though she did get a bum deal when no one believed she didn't put her fish up too early and it was someone else, but honestly, she's been so loud the whole time she probably was right in thinking she did it to herself. 

 

If she could just tone down her cocky-ness, I'd probably like her better about now, as she certainly has talent.  I probably would have liked Bobby better if he'd have been less arrogant too, but... well he's gone, so he's done...  I guess I was just looking for more of an underdog.

 

I like the final four, they seem deserving.  I hate to jinx it by listing it here, but I'd like to see the final match up between Christina and Petrozza. Either one would be a good winner, I guess I'm more rooting for Christina though.  She's young, she's a culinary student, she she's likeable and hasn't made any huge fowl-ups that I can remember off-hand. 

Petrozza had some weaker moments early on and has rallied back, he'd be a good winner too. 

 

If Cory or Jen makes it to the final expect lots of boasting and over- confidence.   I am excited to see the how the next few weeks play out. 

One note before I go... does anyone else notice a change in Chef Ramsey lately?  His comments as contestants leave have been somewhat more biting and I feel as though some of his tantrums have been slightly more overblown lately, such was the case a few weeks ago when he shut down the kitchen when things weren't going as well as he'd like.  Sure it was bad, but it wasn't as bad as he was playing it... but I wasn't there.  There was also a "Get Out" that he jumped up in the air waving his arms, it made me laugh out loud! Anyone else pick up on that, or am I just noticing his behavior more?

Stay tuned, finding a winner is just around the corner!

Please join Alicia Fournier, a 9 year old girl from Scarborough with epilepsy, and her very talented friends both young & old for a night filled with songs & celebrating, with proceeds to benefit a great cause!

Your $50. donation includes a 2+ hour live show with performances of all your favorite Broadway songs, entry to the raffle with prizes like Red Sox Tickets and a spa package, and a champagne reception.

Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 7pm at The Portland Players, 420 Cottage Rd in South Portland.

FMI & tickets: Julie (207) 885-1307

**** This is on the behalf of the father and daughter who were in the vicious attack last Tues. morning.****

Saturday morning at 10:00 am the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, on behalf of William & Nicole Guerrette, are sponsering a blood drive with the Red Cross. The location will be on 2 Hasson St. in Farmingdale, across from VIP.

For further information, contact Pres. Jeff Owen @ (207) 582-6789.

Ok, so Wednesday night did anyone doubt it would be a battle of the Davids? 

Not that Syesha isn't great, she is, but she's been on the bottom quite a few times now, whereas the Davids have sailed on by. 

All three of them have a great deal of talent and will have successful careers.  It will be interesting to see how they all do when it comes to album sales in the upcoming months.

Any predictions as to WHICH of the Davids will come out on top?  Which is your preference?

Disclaimer: Spoiler in this blog, if you haven't yet caught up on your DVR, don't read below!!

Wow... ok so I definitely wouldn't have thought going into this week that Ben was going home... but what an episode, huh?

Things I liked:

-Matt got a chance to rebound

-Ben serving iced teas to the winning team, and being pretty nice about it

-PETROZZA being such a gentleman!! I love that he didn't throw someone "under the bus" as they say.  Even though he was approached to form an alliance of sorts against Louross, he kept the higher hand and nominated per his feelings as to who deserved it, veruses strategy or intimidation over another chef... Well done Petrozza, well done.  He's now earned the spot among my favorites.

Things that I didn't like:

-Matt gloating that Ben went home before he did... It's no big achievement buddy, you still have a ways to go.  He also said that he didn't care when he went home, as long as he went home after Ben did.  What happened to wanting to win Matt?

-The turn in Jen's attitude.  She got her first reprimand from Chef Ramsey and didn't seem to be able to rebound.  Snap out of it!  Even though she was probably right about him telling her not to take control and then having a problem with her being too quiet... did she really think she was going to miss out on the abuse?  Sorry Jen, it's HELL's Kitchen after all, and would you feel complete if you didn't get a taste of the fire?

-Rosann falling to pieces.  She was the leading chef when it came to the initial "signature dish" challenge... what happened?  I thought she might have the gumption to make it far in this competition, but lately, I feel like she's on the slide toward hanging up her jacket.  We'll see.


Things I'm looking forward to seeing:

-Whether Matt just had a lucky stride after switching teams, or whether or not he can truly hold his own in the red kitchen. 

-Which member of the red team will join the blue team next week.  Anyone have a guess?  I'm saying Cory is most likely to join as she's already been hitting on most of the team and would most likely be an asset to the team.  Plus, all the girls don't like her, so she'd be smart to.  We'll see! 

-Anyone who has predictions about who will be winning the competition this year.  Any guesses? Is it too soon to tell? 

Since there wasn't an elimination in week 5, I'm wrapping it all up with week 6... hey, it's been a busy week...

I'm very glad Ramsey decided not to send Christina or Louross home in week 5, neither were the worst on their team.  I would be interested to know how long it took Vanessa to recover and if she ever regretted her decision to leave after she was burnt.  Was it a cop out because she felt she couldn't handle the heat?  Will she be back in another season?  Did she get what she wanted out of this season already? Perhaps some notoriety...   In any rate, she's gone, and for the sake of filling out the scheduled weeks for the show, it worked out well that Ramsey didn't send home Christina or Louross.

It's certainly taking a mean turn in Hell's Kitchen lately, huh?  Matt, or Matty, is getting targeted in the blue kitchen... unfairly or fairly, it's hard to tell really.  He could be stronger that's for sure, but it does seem like he's being bullied a bit.  I thought for sure he'd be sent packing this past week, though I do think Shayna was stuck in slow motion and was a good choice to be sent packing.  I didn't really appreciate Ramsey's comments about her changing diapers, but that's Ramsey for you.

Am I wrong, or does it seem like this season the teams were able to complete a dinner service slightly earlier than seasons past?  I'll have to check my blogs from last season.  In any rate, I'm eager to see how Matt makes out in the women's kitchen.... let's see if he can take the heat there better than he did in the blue kitchen.  Does he remind anyone of Aaron in the last season? 

I'm also watching Christina closely, I think that she may eventually snap with all the strategy going on in the kitchen.  Either way, at least they're putting the drama aside enough to get the service finished in Hell's Kitchen and were able to complete the Sweet Sixteen party... Will the drama get in the way?  Well, stay tuned...

CONVERSATION STARTER:  Do
you think smoking should be banned in public areas such as playgrounds, athletic facilities, parks, as well as restaurants
and bars?  Should smokers be permitted to light up in the cars, regardless of who is riding with them?  

A little late in my Hell's Kitchen thoughts, but what is there to say...

THANK GOODNESS THAT IDIOT JASON WENT HOME!!

Since this whole cooking thing didn't work out, maybe he can go home and brush up on his ironing for a future reality series which would feature Jason versus ANY woman in the world who could kick his smart-mouth to the ground in a cloud of dust any day.  I realize he was doing it to make an image for himself and gain the 15 minutes of fame while on the show, however I do hope he gets a wake-up call... karma, right?

Love this look on Ramsey's face... the... "I can't believe you're that dumb of a donkey" look.

In any rate, the dynamic in the red team is certainly different after Cory's big upset the week before when she nominated Christina and Jen.  I'm glad Christina stayed above her game and nominates Vanessa instead when she's chosen to pick the nominee for their team.  I don't think Vanessa deserved to go home over Jason, as she did well in the chicken challenge and I'm glad to get Jason out of the way.  The timer rang, his fifteen minutes of fame are OVER.  Also, what was that little tissy fit when Petrozza had to beg Jason to come into the kitchen. What a bunch of sissies... I said it last season and I'll say it again, what did you expect in HELL's Kitchen?  It's not cake-walk kitchen, coddle kitchen, or happy times kitchen, it's HELL.  Have you even seen the show before? 

 

Ok, I'll end on a more pleasant note.  Bobby was a little easier to take this week, he did an ok job at tableside. I'm really glad they didn't kill the chickens.  I understand where food comes from, but that just would have been brutal to take on television.  It was a good example though, as each time a dish is wasted, its a wasted life of one of the birds they held, or a fish, etc.  I really hope they get their acts together as the waste, as we saw in the first episode, is astronomical. 

Does it worry anyone that these experienced chefs get food sent back so often?  I know Ramsey has high standards... but these people have served people before to their OWN standards... get what I'm saying?   See you tonight on FOX!

The emails poured in when Ray and Ted asked the audience for a theme song about or describing Maine's legislature.  You all had some creative answers!! Check out the ones below, or add your own...

• Blinded by the light - Manfred Mann
• Soviet Union March
• The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
• 50 ways to leave your lover - Paul Simon
• Star Wars theme
• Turn out the lights the party's over - Dandy Don Meredith
• I want it all- Meatloaf
• Ship of Fools -- World Party or Erasure, or Robert Plant
  
• Take this job and shove it - Johnny Paycheck
• Give me some truth - John Lennon
• Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead  (for adjournment)
  
• Taxman- the Beatles
• Money -- Pink Floyd
• Celebrate - Kool and the gang (for adjournment)
• I want it all and I want it now
• Money makes the world go around- from the musical Cabaret
• we're all in this together - Ben Lee 
  
• If you are comparing them to the British their song should be "The World Turned Upside Down" and ours "Yankee Doodle"
• Hard Times Come Again No More- Stephen Foster
  
• It’s the end of the world as we know it- R.E.M.
• Shaft theme song
• Hey Big Spender- Sweet Charity (musical)

Today on the FOX Morning News, Donna Chapman discussed a Maine military family in need of financial help.  Here's a link to the Operation Homefront website, which helps military families in Maine during times of need.

 www.operationhomefront.net/maine

You can donate online at that site, or you can visit any Bank of America branch and donate to their deposit only account.

Thanks for supporting Maine's military families!

Maybe I was just more tired this week, but for me last night's episode of Hell's Kitchen was a little less exciting than the premiere.  Maybe i just had more time to build up excitement for the first episode... it doesn't matter really, but in any rate, here's my take on it.

(WARNING: I will be giving away the ending, so if you set your DVR and haven't watched... don't read this yet!)

I still want Jason (the jerk-o loser who claims winning Hell's Kitchen would leave him "beating women off with a stick") to go down, after another series of wonderfully insightful comments on how he views the opposite gender.  It seems to me like he's doing it with direct intentions of gaining more face-time on camera.  It's working, but the idiot isn't going to be winning many viewers' support (I'd hope) with comments like that.  Moron, loser, idiot... ok, I'm moving on.

Another contrived idiot is Bobby.  He is the most insincere person I think I've ever seen, to me, he's a big joke.  He tried to step it up from being such a passive loser captain as he was in the premiere, but it's such a joke that he just looks ridiculous.  He tried to be a good teammate to Petrozza when he was sent upstairs to learn the menu (I'll get back to THAT), but was it weird to anyone else when he's buttoning his jacket for him?  The whole taking him under the wing thing seemed pretty forced and very much strategy.  Petrozza later snaps at him when they get down to cooking and Bobby is shaking a finger at him.  I wish I had an instant replay of that now, as it was very strange and it looked more like he was doing an impression of someone than actually trying to do his best.

Ok, so Petrozza.  What's with the blue team?  I really never like to choose sides but there's just too many losers on the blue team that I really don't have many there that I'm backing.  Go ladies!  And no, it wasn't a gender thing, it's a personalities and talent choice... because for my buddy Petrozza... could you PLEASE learn the stinking menu?  How do they really expect to serve anyone without knowing what the choices are?  Duh?!

As for the sorting of the wasted food, I think we've seen it every season and while it is probably effective for the chefs, it was a little too deja-vu for me. If you were to analyze the fish cutting challenge it seemed as though you could watch and see what the teams are really about: the blue team rushed through and somehow made it work, the red team more methodically worked their way through and somehow weren't coming together in the end.  When the blue team won the challenge, it pained me to watch them celebrate as they acted like they have sailed through each challenge instead of barely getting by.  I only hope it inspires them to take the dinner services more seriously and to work as a team.

I thought it was an interesting choice that Chef Ramsey made when he sent Craig (formerly known as the chef with poor taste in hats) and Rosann (last week's team-save captain) out to be servers in the front of the house.  I understand that there's too many cooks in the kitchen right now and that it's a way to create interest and balance things out but I think in choosing Rosann he chose the ladies' fate in the challenge.  Perhaps that was intentional as to see if anyone else would step up, apparently they didn't.  It did seem a bit unfair that he chose their captain though.  In any rate, when Craig hit the lady dining in the restaurant in the back of the head with the chair... well that's priceless.

Jen has proven herself to be all talk and self confidence.  I don't like how she was blaming Corey for losing the tie-breaker for her team, it was pretty childish.  She's starting to get on my nerves, though I wonder who she'll pick on now that Barbie's gone...

No surprise that it was Sharon heading home.  I thought Corey's strategy was ill-spirited and I like that it blew up in her face, she's certainly the target of Christina and Jen right now, deservingly so.  I'm glad that Chef Ramsey didn't just accept those nominations blindly and shows that he's truly the puppeteer of Hell's Kitchen.  It seems as though Corey identified who she believes are the fore-runners of her team.  I like Christina, but she's got to get stronger in the emotional moments of elimination times... though honestly she was probably just shocked and is sensitive to attacks on her character.  I didn't think it was good taste when the men were laughing at her at this emotional moment, however that could be the product of well-placed editing as well so I'll try not to hold a grudge.  Jen needs to learn when to shut her mouth apparently, as it was edited to seem like she talked for hours. 

That's my take on this week, here's hoping that Chef Ramsey's new kitchen isn't doomed before it begins!  See you Tuesday nights on FOX23!

"Sharon had great attention to detail. Unfortunately, not for cooking, but for her make up."

Below is the information that was announced on the Morning Show on April 7 about a soldier's family who desparately needs a means of transportation:

Urgently need a car donated, the rental we have the soldiers family in is being returned today, could you PLEASE announce it. I have contacted dealers, wholesalers, rentals, SOMEONE must be willing to donate one for such a great cause????? You’d think. Doesn’t have to be new, just needs to be good working condition and ready for them to use. She would lose her job if she has no transportation. Soldier is deployed. Lets take this worry from them, so he can focus on his job at hand.

 

Donna M. Chapman

Chapter President                                   

Operation Homefront-Maine

P.O. Box 1447

Windham, Maine 04062

maine@operationhomefront.net

207-321-1321

1-888-810-0221

www.operationhomefront.net/maine