Europe Trip #2 - July 12, 2022 - Kind Of Awesome, Kind Of A Nightmare.

As we passed the time before we had to check out of our Hilton this morning, I discovered an intriguing cooking show that would be the perfect fit for Buds and me and Kel and Paula.

Partner pairs, in this episodes all husbands and wives, work together to create the same dish for the judges.

The “real” cook is trapped in a room away from the kitchen, coaching their partner who is working frantically to create the meal in 30 minutes. The “real” cook can see and talk to the person doing the cooking, but the cooker can only talk to the “real” cook, not see them.

Today’s meal was mashed potatoes, a ground meat patty with a bechamel sauce, and fried beets.

All the couples handled themselves with grace and good humor. The one instance of true frustration was when the aqua team’s chef drained the bechamel sauce using a strainer while the husband is yelling, “Stop! Stop! That’s the sauce, that’s the sauce!!”

Aqua woman tried to scoop the sauce from the sink with a spoon, but the husband told her to stop.

The whole time I was thinking, “I feel ya’, sister.”

There was a commentator making pithy comments the whole time.

Full disclosure, this was all in German, so I’m making this all up, but I think I’m pretty close.

The yellow team didn’t even have a bechamel sauce. The woman was over it.

The red team woman was the one I felt closest to. She was trying so hard, with no obvious cooking skills. She had to remake her bechamel sauce because she dumped in way too much flour. At one point she was whisking the bechamel with her left hand while whipping the mashed potatoes with her right. Obviously adhering to my mantra that enthusiasm covers a lot of sins.

Then the surprise twist at the end; the non -cooking partners were the judges!

Each plate was rated from 1-10, the winner with the highest points.

We left before the grand reveal, but I’m pretty sure Red Rosie wasn’t the winner.

This was a great way to pass the time, and I foresee a date night in our future with Buds and Paula, beers in hand, bossing Kelly and me while we do our best, and laugh and screw up the whole time.

The title seems to be “Double Cooks Better,” and you might be able to watch an episode here.