Do you ever watch....?

It never fails that as soon as someone asks: "What do you do for a living?"  and I answer, "I'm a self-employed baker," the next question is inevitable, "So do you ever watch those cake shows on tv?"  Really I could answer the question a dozen different ways but the following question would still be the same.  My answer, actually is, yes.  Actually, I DVR a lot just because I have to be able to catch them in my own time, which could be any time with my weird timing, but still, yes, I watch them. 

Why?  I've got a couple of reasons and I don't think they are all what people expect.  There are some shows I no longer watch for some unexpected reasons as well. 

Reason 1:  Cupcake Wars
I know it's not really the amount of time the show says they have so don't think I believe everything I watch.  But they do have to come up with really interesting flavor combinations in the first round from supposedly obscure reasons.  The table may have bacon, chili peppers, licorice, rice, sea weed, etc.  So the short answer is I watch for interesting recipe and flavor ideas. 

Reason 2: Amazing Wedding Cakes
I have to pay very little attention to the people because most of their personalities alone can drive me nuts.  Nevertheless, they managed to hook a show on Food Network and so let's see what they've got.  I have been extremely impressed with some of the work and some not so much.  This is my "trendy idea" show.  There are lots of ideas floating around out there and this is a really great way to see what trend is trying to be pushed. 

Reason 3: Food Network Challenge/Next Great Baker

Challenge is probably my favorite.  It's not remotely related to the others because it's down and dirty for 8 hours (that's 16 if you count it's two people flat out killing themselves to do something they'd probably do in 2 days).  Techniques that otherwise take 3 or 4 hours are shriveled down to 30 minutes.  Smack talk and the very obvious camera in your face add their own stress.  But if you can pull it off, you've got a cool $10, 000.  I don't know how much they really get in the end but still...even if you lose you've been on TV.  And I've seen some new, fresh faces that have done really amazing work. 

The Next Great Baker was really an ingenious thing that Buddy did.  I only occasionally watch his show just because there is too much yelling.  But stepping out and creating another show that focuses on his bakery without it being about is bakery, genius.

Finally, reason 4:  You
The simple fact that so many people ask me if I watch certain shows tells me that they are watching these shows.  So that when they say, "Can you do..." and describe a cake they've seen on TV, I can say, "Yes. "  This is where conversation starts to go a little wonky because we have to talk about cost but I promise mine will still be less than what would be charged by the person on TV. 

So now you know that yes I do and why.