This time of year seems dedicated to the sweetest of pastimes: baking. We all love toothsome sweets, and the triple threat of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas provides an ample casus belli for our bellies to consume large quantities of goodies.
But some take their passion for baking to another level entirely. For those of us who view baking as popping break-and-bake cookies into the oven and setting a timer, we can’t comprehend how bakers are able to do that with sugar, flour, and water.
Baking combined with engineering is the premise for the show Audre Myers is reviewing this week. If you want a cake with the structural integrity of an earthquake resistant building, then this series is where you’ll find it.
With that, here is Audre’s review of Baking Impossible:
What do you get when you combine baking and engineering?
That’s the premise of this competition. Bakers are paired with engineers they’ve not met before and the two-person teams must try to fulfill each challenge for a $100,000 prize. The judges are Andrew Smyth (bakineering specialist), Joanne Chang (baking specialist), and Hakeem Oluseyi (engineering specialist). I first came across Andrew when he was in season seven of The Great British Baking Show. At that time, he was going to university to get his engineering degree. Today, he’s an aerospace engineer for Rolls-Royce Holdings designing jet engines. He was a very good baker on Bake Off (the English name for the baking show). I wasn’t familiar with Joanne Chang, but I had seen Hakeem many times on the science channel and in other venues.
The first challenge the teams had to be successful at was making a sailboat out of baking ingredients (and finished baking treats for the judges to taste) and the engineers had to help the bakers with the sort of physics that would make the sailboat float a certain distance on water, driven by a wind fan.
I was afraid, at first, that the program would just be silly but that fear was laid to rest watching the engineers working with the bakers. What started out as baker and engineer, became a two-way street as the engineers would also assist in the preparations of whatever the taste test would be, helping their bakers to get finished on time. Or when the bakers offered suggestions to the engineers regarding ingredients that might make the engineers look at a problem a different way. But that happened as the series went on; it wasn’t that way to begin with as the teams had to get to know and learn their team mates strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, it wasn’t pretty.
There were several challenges that were jaw dropping and that made me wish I had a talent for math. Or baking! But even the challenges that appear whimsical are a feat of engineering and the bakers knowing their craft and ingredients so well.
I strongly suggest watching Baking Impossible; it’s not your gran’ma’s cooking show.
Trailer:
The Portly Politico 
Thanks for the inviting intro, Port. You’re a class act.
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My pleasure! Thank you for your continued contributions.
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Sounds pretty cool. Like movable Lego or Mechano but with baking materials. Unfortunately we can’t watch any of that stuff aside from on Youtube or catch up and we haven’t watched TV in some time.
Off topic but this is what I have from the mid terms so far. Since you’re both there, you can correct where I’ve gone wrong:
The Republicans aren’t doing as well as projected for House of Rep seats. When I checked this morning, the Dems were only 20 odd behind the Republicans.
Secondly, the Republicans are doing better than projected for the Senate. Unless I read it wrong, they’ve picked up more than a dozen seats from last time out. Even if they lose the senate, it looks like they’ve had a good night for wins.
Thirdly, Maricopa County is under the spotlight, again. From recollection, that was one of the places where voter fraud was rife at the last presidential election. Machines down, no extra time allowed for counting. Presumably, the Dems will take that seat.
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We no longer have a legitimate republic here. It’s a Third World cesspool of corruption and rent-seeking.
I’m extremely upset and disappointed—more than I thought I would be. I was very lukewarm on this election, but let myself fall for the “red wave” hype.
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It was hard NOT to fall for the hype – it was in our faces at every conservative site on the planet. But I learned my lesson from the 2016 and 2020 elections – never believe a poll.
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Don’t be too despondent, mate. From what I’ve seen, it’s not a total loss. The Republicans have made some gains and the Dems won’t be getting their own way up to the next Presidential election. I’m a little disconcerted by some of the stories coming out about machine failures, particularly in Arizona. I thought America was done with that but apparently not.
I think it was easy to fall for the hype considering the dementia ridden bloke who currently runs your country. The only bone of contention is your people seem to be stuck in the same position as many of ours; habitual and lazy voting, much of it masochistic. I guess a lot of Americans are happy to pay more in their bills, fuel and at the shops.
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Just for clarity – the machines in Arizona didn’t work because of the admitted failure of one of the people in charge of elections: they didn’t buy as much toner as they needed – so the tabulators couldn’t read the ‘gray’ markings that should have been black. No suggestion of foul play, simply human error.
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Quite a mistake to make, but not outside of the realm of human incompetence. Don’t attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence.
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Thanks, Ponty. I am feeling better after spending an hour playing Christmas music with my extremely talented High School Music Ensemble. It’s amazing how that improves one’s mood!
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One last thing. The Dems are evil. Voting in a guy recovering from a stroke will do nothing to help his long term health. I thought voting in a guy with dementia was bad enough but it looks like your average Dem voter doesn’t care who is in office as long as it’s not a Republican. Bizarre.
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Seems like every election has a ‘shocker’ – that they actually elected Fetterman stunned me.
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Can you confirm some of what I’ve heard/read?
From what I gather, Republicans will take the House but they’re neck and neck in the Senate. I hear Pelosi will be deposed no matter what happens and it doesn’t look like Biden will be able to get anything through in the remainder of his time in office.
Also, has AOC lost her seat? That’d be great! 🙂
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There are still races that haven’t resolved so it would be wiser to wait til this afternoon to get a better grip on how it went; I think there are still 2 Senate races that need to finish.
This from last night, at 60% of votes counted: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Democratic Party
70.6%
78,788 votes
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It’s all quite depressing. If we win the House only to lose the Senate—or to cling to it by our fingernails—it amounts to nothing.
I’m very discouraged and upset and disillusioned this morning. I’m done with national politics.
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It’s just election fatigue, Port. You’ll be back to your old self again in no time.
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No, I’ve been kicked quite a bit lately. Things have been cutting against me left and right, and I can’t catch a break.
But it’s fine.
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Sorry. Deep breaths.
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I’m sorry, Audre. I didn’t mean to lash out. I’ve been hearing a lot of generic words of encouragement lately, and they have started to feel like empty platitudes rather than substantive solutions. But I know you did not mean it as such—I know you care, and I thank you.
As I just told Ponty, spending an hour playing Christmas songs with my students has really improved my spirits. I can get pretty low in despair—even though I know better!—but I tend to bounce back quickly. I’m also used to losing, both politically and personally, which helps.
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Deep breaths is what helps me blow off stress and inhale strength.
LOL! Son – I started playing Christmas music in July, lol!! Well – ‘played’ in the sense of YT vidoes, not what you do, lol!
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Haha, Christmas music has a palliative effect! It’s hard to stay mad when you’re belting out “Joy to the World.”
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Party loyalty is so strong among progressive Democrats that they’ll vote in a brain dead automaton.
I suppose it’s appropriate Frankenstein’s Monster won so close to Halloween.
Trump did not do us any favors by endorsing an empty suit television personality. What business does a Turk have representing Pennsylvania, anyway? I guess PA voters (living, dead, legal, and illegal) preferred a stroked out computer to a swarthy interloper.
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I guess they’ve lowered the voting age in New York to 4. I can’t believe any sane adult would vote for AOC.
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You’ll get no argument here.
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It’s an ethnic progressive vote. That’s why she unseated that Irish dude a few years ago—the whole district is a barrio. She’ll be re-elected until Judgment Day, which is what it will take to unseat her.
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Heaven forfend!!!
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