<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Jumped The Snark]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://jumpedthesnark.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[skeim01]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://jumpedthesnark.com/author/skeim01/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Last Week on &#8216;Top Chef&#8217;: An Intersection on the Venn Diagram of Things That We&nbsp;Love]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>A new <em>Top Chef </em>in just a few hours.  But can anything top last week&#8217;s episode with featuring <em>Sesame Street</em> AND Target?  Probably not!</p>
<p>A few highlights!</p>
<ul>
<li>COOKIE MONSTER.  DUH!</li>
<li>Elmo suggests perhaps making a cookie out of zucchini and daikon and dirt and cobwebs and rice cakes and Canadian pennies.  Luckily, Cookie Monster tells him to shut the fuck up.</li>
<li>Cookie Monster invokes the five second rule and is pretty much just the best.</li>
</ul>
<div data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_4072" style="width: 308px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cookiemonster.png"><img loading="lazy" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4072" data-attachment-id="4072" data-permalink="https://jumpedthesnark.com/2011/02/23/last-week-on-top-chef-an-intersection-on-the-venn-diagram-of-things-that-we-love/cookiemonster/" data-orig-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cookiemonster.png" data-orig-size="298,279" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Cookie Monster" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cookiemonster.png?w=298" data-large-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cookiemonster.png?w=298" class="size-full wp-image-4072" title="Cookie Monster" src="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cookiemonster.png?w=298&#038;h=279" alt="" width="298" height="279" srcset="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cookiemonster.png 298w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cookiemonster.png?w=150&amp;h=140 150w" sizes="(max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-4072" class="wp-caption-text">The Best</p></div>
<p><!--more More: Cookie Time! And then it's off to Target for a slumber party! Bring your green hat!--></p>
<ul>
<li>Carla mentions that she&#8217;s a caterer.  WE GET IT, CARLA, YOU&#8217;RE A CATERER.  Also, you used to be a model. <a href="http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/02/we_have_found_a_photo_of_top_c.html" target="_blank">WE KNOW</a>.</li>
<li>Dale makes a cookie with potato chips, even though <a href="http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2010/11/momofuku-milk-bar-store-for-everyone.html" target="_blank">Momofuku Milk Bar</a> already perfected that.  Guys!  Stop <a href="http://jumpedthesnark.com/2011/02/16/last-week-on-top-chef-the-boorgerman/" target="_blank">ripping off Momofuku</a>.</li>
<li>Telly Monster opened some eyes with some real insightful, informed commentary.  And the award for least-used <em>Sesame Street </em>monster goes to Telly Monster!  Although, we have to admit, Elmo gets in a pretty good, if somewhat nonsensical, line in here.  Gotta give it to him.</li>
</ul>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class='youtube-player' width='640' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dOhQ6eclXQc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;' sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation'></iframe></span>
<ul>
<li>Then Elmo starts working a little blue.  Totally NSFC.</li>
<li>Blaise makes ice cream cookies which is totally okay with us because we have no doubt they were delicious and that&#8217;s all Cookie Monster should care about.</li>
<li>But even though Cookie Monster has a problem with Blaise&#8217;s cookies he has no such issues with Dale&#8217;s potato chip cookies and awards him the Quickfire win.  C&#8217;mon, CM!  A little hypocritical, don&#8217;t you think?  You&#8217;re still the best, but don&#8217;t you think you&#8217;re trying to have your cookie and eat it too?</li>
<li>It&#8217;s really fortuitous that the <em>Sesame Street</em> monsters visited the chefs this week, because we&#8217;ve been thinking for a while that Richard kind of looks like a Muppet when he talks.  Not so much like these monsters, but more like a Guy Smiley, wide-mouthed, square jaw type.</li>
</ul>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class='youtube-player' width='640' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/t_JuxI6GurY?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;' sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation'></iframe></span>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class='youtube-player' width='640' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/90yFYPNM7cg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;' sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation'></iframe></span>
<ul>
<li>Then it&#8217;s off to Target for a shopping spree!  Which is literally our adult fantasy.  Go to it, cheftestants!</li>
</ul>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class='youtube-player' width='640' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7JYfVuqP4zM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;' sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation'></iframe></span>
<ul>
<li>Blaise wishes he could grab some of the TVs.  To which we say: GO FOR IT!  If anyone could figure out a way to integrate a WiFi-ready Samsung 1080p HDTV into a dish it&#8217;s Professor Ricky Blaise.  Just freeze it or make it into a foam.  Boom!</li>
<li>Carla spends 4 hours shopping because she&#8217;s like &#8220;What kind of tablecloth goes with nothing?&#8221; And &#8220;What type of babies breath complements food that I haven&#8217;t had time to cook because I&#8217;ve been waking up and down the Target aisles for the last 4 hours?&#8221;  and &#8220;What kind of picture frames work best with a bland, unsatisfying soup I&#8217;m going to have to haphazardly slap together because I&#8217;ve wasted my entire cooking time.&#8221;</li>
<li>Dale makes grilled cheese with an iron.  Which is totally awesome and something that makes total sense and something we&#8217;d totally try if we had an iron and didn&#8217;t have basic human cooking amenities.  Totally!  And guest judge <a href="http://www.ming.com/" target="_blank">Ming Tsai</a>, himself a cheftestant on <em>The Next Iron Chef</em>, remarks that Dale&#8217;s use of the household appliance was perhaps an effort to become an &#8220;<em>Iron</em> Chef.&#8221;  Get it? IRON chef.  NICE ONE, MING TSAI!  If Elmo ever decides to leave <em>Sesame Street, </em>you&#8217;re in!  Although, Tony Bourdain is not amused.</li>
<li>200 Target employees arrive and are like &#8220;I can&#8217;t believe I had to get up at 3 in the fucking morning for this&#8221; (although, if it was us we&#8217;d be like &#8220;This is the best 3am-4am of my life.  I can&#8217;t believe they&#8217;re fucking letting me come in for his).</li>
<li>Angelo thinks he could sneak in some Fiji water as part of the shopping spree haul.  Sorry, Angelo, YOU&#8217;LL HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT!</li>
<li>Bourdain and Tom Colicchio know that 3am challenge time is also sweater time.  That&#8217;s just Chefology 101.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><img data-attachment-id="4073" data-permalink="https://jumpedthesnark.com/2011/02/23/last-week-on-top-chef-an-intersection-on-the-venn-diagram-of-things-that-we-love/sweaters-copy/" data-orig-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/sweaters-copy.jpg" data-orig-size="929,349" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Sweaters! " data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/sweaters-copy.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/sweaters-copy.jpg?w=929" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4073" title="Sweaters! " src="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/sweaters-copy.jpg?w=300&#038;h=112" alt="Bourdain, Colicchio" srcset="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/sweaters-copy.jpg?w=298&amp;h=112 298w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/sweaters-copy.jpg?w=596&amp;h=224 596w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/sweaters-copy.jpg?w=150&amp;h=56 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"   />Carla has an existential crisis and feels nothing.</li>
<li>Dale wins!  Duh!  Even though he knows he won because he thought like a stoned frat boy.  25K, bitches!</li>
<li>Angelo admits he&#8217;s suffering from a fatigued palette.</li>
<li>Tiffany knows that her jambalaya was terrible and makes a convoluted, misguided last-minute &#8220;I&#8217;m not a fancy big city lawyer, I&#8217;m from Beaumont, Texas&#8221; plea.</li>
<li>Tom knows that Tiffany&#8217;s jambalaya was terrible and she&#8217;s going home and her convoluted, misguided last-minute &#8220;I&#8217;m not a fancy big city lawyer, I&#8217;m from Beaumont, Texas&#8221; plea won&#8217;t work.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="4074" data-permalink="https://jumpedthesnark.com/2011/02/23/last-week-on-top-chef-an-intersection-on-the-venn-diagram-of-things-that-we-love/picture-5-8/" data-orig-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png" data-orig-size="615,461" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Tom&#8217;s not impressed" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png?w=615" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4074" title="Tom's not impressed" src="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png?w=300&#038;h=224" alt="" width="300" height="224" srcset="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png?w=300&amp;h=224 300w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png?w=598&amp;h=448 598w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-51.png?w=150&amp;h=112 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a></p>
<ul>
<li>And it works!  Angelo goes home!</li>
<li>And Mike I. knows that Tiffany&#8217;s jambalaya was terrible and can&#8217;t believe Angelo went home and is a total asshole about it and is all &#8220;YOU?  HUH?? WHA??? DER????&#8221;</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="4075" data-permalink="https://jumpedthesnark.com/2011/02/23/last-week-on-top-chef-an-intersection-on-the-venn-diagram-of-things-that-we-love/picture-8-9/" data-orig-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png" data-orig-size="602,451" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="MIKE I HUH?" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png?w=602" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4075" title="MIKE I HUH?" src="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png?w=300&#038;h=224" alt="" width="300" height="224" srcset="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png?w=300&amp;h=224 300w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png?w=598&amp;h=448 598w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-8.png?w=150&amp;h=112 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a></p>
<p>ANGELO YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK PLEASE PACK YOUR KNIVES AND GO SORRY ABOUT YOUR FATIGUED PALETTE EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE THINKS YOU&#8217;RE A JOKE AND IS SKEPTICAL OF YOUR RUSSIAN GIRLFRIEND YOU ARE A BETTER CHEF THAN TIFFANY YOU SHOULD HAVE DELIVERED A CONVOLUTED MISGUIDED LAST-MINUTE &#8220;I&#8217;M NOT A FANCY BIT CITY LAWYER I&#8217;M FROM BEAUMONT TEXAS PLEA&#8221; YOU CAN GO HOME AND PLAY BASEBALL WITH YOUR SON NOW GOODBYE</p>
<p><a href="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="4076" data-permalink="https://jumpedthesnark.com/2011/02/23/last-week-on-top-chef-an-intersection-on-the-venn-diagram-of-things-that-we-love/picture-11-9/" data-orig-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png" data-orig-size="616,453" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Angelo Please pack up your knives and go" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png?w=300" data-large-file="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png?w=616" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4076" title="Angelo Please pack up your knives and go" src="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png?w=300&#038;h=220" alt="" width="300" height="220" srcset="https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png?w=300&amp;h=220 300w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png?w=598&amp;h=440 598w, https://jumpedthesnark.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/picture-111.png?w=150&amp;h=110 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Next week: Intersection on the venn diagram of things that we hate: Paula Deen, Carla&#8217;s bandanna and Marcel!  At least there&#8217;s no Ina Garten (yet).</p>
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