#food network stars

[bechloeislegit]

25 Days of BeChloe Christmases 2022

Day 6 - Celebrity Holiday Bake-Off

Prompt from Tumblr User mamapitch: Music producer Beca Mitchell is asked to participate in a Celebrity Christmas baking competition for charity and is randomly paired with actress Chloe Beale.

"Come on, Beca," Theo implored. "Khalid already told them you'd do it."

"But I don't bake," Beca exclaimed.

"That's a lie," Theo said, chuckling. "You may not be able to cook, but we both know you do know how to bake."

"But why me?" Beca whined.

"Because the Food Network execs asked for you," Theo said. "Besides, it's for charity and will be good for your reputation."

Beca stared at Theo; Theo stared back at her with a raised brow.

"Fine," Beca finally said. "How is it even supposed to work?"

"The 'competition' will start with ten competitors," Theo explained. "They are all in the entertainment industry, and you will be randomly matched with another contestant and compete as a team."

"Who did I get matched with?"

"I, um, I don't know yet," Theo said. "I don't think you'll find out until the first day of the competition."

Beca sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Anyway," Theo continued. "You will be given a challenge, and you and your partner will work together to make something for that challenge. If you score high enough, you both move to the next round. It goes like that until only two teams are left to compete in the finale. They will be crowned the champions and have $25,000 donated in each of their names to the charity of their choice."

"How long will it take?" Beca asked.

"They request you be available for a week," Theo said. "They will tape one show a day for five days. Plus, add in travel days to New York and back."

"If we lose, do we get to go home?"

"No," Theo said. "They want to have everyone there for the big finale and have asked that each contestant remain in New York until then. That shouldn't be an issue for you; you can work from anywhere."

"When do I have to go?"

"They want you in New York the week after Thanksgiving," Theo said. "They plan to tape the week of October 31 to November 4, so you should plan to fly to New York on October 30 and fly back to LA on November 5."

"Fine," Beca said, running a hand through her hair. "I'll have Dani block off that entire week and make my reservations tomorrow."

"Don't look so down," Theo said. "You might actually enjoy it."

"We'll see," Beca said.

~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2022 ~~

Beca couldn't stop yawning as she stood waiting to be introduced for the first day of taping. She had arrived in New York late the night before, and her body was still on L.A. time.

"Our next celebrity contestant is a Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/producer and was discovered during a USO Tour with DJ Khalid," the announcer said.

Beca was waved forward, and she was now standing outside the door to enter the competition kitchen area.

"Welcome, our final contestant, Beca Mitchell!"

Beca pushed through the door and saw several other competitors already in the room. She looked around and gave a quick wave as they lightly applauded.

Beca took her place and stood waiting for the questions she was told would be asked of her.

"Welcome, Beca," host Jesse Palmer said.

"Thanks for having me," Beca said. "I have to say I love watching these competitions."

"Hopefully, you've learned something along the way," Jesse said, chuckling.

"Hopefully," Beca said, smiling back at Jesse.

"Is everybody ready to find out who you'll be baking with?" Jesse asked.

"I am," Beca said.

Jesse chuckled as the contestants showed various levels of excitement as they shouted out.

"Yeah!"

"I'm ready!"

"I want Beca," one woman called out, causing Beca to snort a laugh as she looked at the woman.

The woman smiled back at Beca, giving her a salacious wink.

"Oh, my God!" Beca said, laughing again.

"Okay," Jesse said, getting everyone's attention. "In this hat, we have the names of our music celebrities." He holds up a blue knit cap; then he holds up a red knit cap. "And in this one, we have the actors in our group. I need some help, so I'm calling on Santa to draw the names. Santa! Santa, we need you on stage!"

Suddenly, Santa walked through a door from behind Jesse. Beca jumped when the woman standing next to her squealed and clapped.

"Looks like Santa has a fan," Jesse said, laughing as the woman jumped up and down.

Beca was looking at the woman; it was the same woman who said she wanted Beca as her partner. The woman smiled and winked at Beca, causing her to blush slightly and look down at the floor.

Beca zoned out, and a minute or so later, her eyes widened when she saw a pair of Vans come into her sightline. She looked up to find the overly excited redheaded woman standing in front of her.

"Looks like I'm all yours," the woman said with a saucy wink.

"I'm sorry?" Beca said, looking around. "What is happening right now?"

Beca looked around to see the other contestants looking at Jesse. She looked at him as well, hoping to figure out what was happening.

"Okay, contestants," Jesse said. "You have your teammate and your first challenge. As soon as I say go, it's time to start baking."

Beca looked at the woman, who was apparently her teammate, and had no clue who she was.

"Wait," Beca said, looking around. "What's the challenge?"

"Don't worry, partner, I'll fill you in once we get to our station," the redhead said.

"Oh, um, okay," Beca mumbled. "Thanks."

Jesse called out. "Your baking time starts now!

Each of the teams ran back to their stations. The redhead grabbed Beca's hand and pulled her to their station.

"Okay," the woman said, facing Beca. "We have three hours to make three dozen Christmas sandwich cookies."

"Um, okay," Beca stammered and held out her hand. "So, um, I'm Beca. Beca Mitchell. Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "I know who you are," the woman said. "I'm Chloe. Chloe Beale. I'm an actress."

Beca shook Chloe's hand, saying, "Sorry. I know you're an actress, I just didn't know your name."

Chloe smiled as Beca continued to shake her hand. Beca realized she was still holding onto Chloe and released her hand, dropping her hand down to her side.

"So, um, Christmas sandwich cookies? Do you have any ideas on what kind of cookies we should make?"

"Well, the challenge is a sandwich cookie with peppermint and chocolate as the primary Christmas flavors," Chloe said. "And I think we should decorate them."

"Oh, okay," Beca said. She thought for a moment before suggesting, "What if we made a hot cocoa cookie? We can make a chocolate cookie with a marshmallow cream filling with peppermint sprinkles."

"Yum," Chloe said. "That sounds delicious."

"Yeah, it does," Beca said, smiling. "Let's get started."

"Okay," Chloe said. "Could you get the flour and sugar? I'll get the chocolate and marshmallow and some peppermint sticks."

Beca hurried over to get the flour and sugar. She carried the two jars over to their station and set them down.

"Teamwork," Chloe said, winking at Beca as she set down the chocolate and marshmallows. "I like it. It's what's going to separate us from the other teams."

"Are you always so, I don't know, bubbly?" Beca asked, shrugging.

"I'm known for my bubbly nature," Chloe said matter-of-factly as she stood in front of the standing mixer.

"I'll get the oven preheated," Beca said. "And we still need the peppermints."

"Oh shoot, I forgot the peppermint," Chloe said.

"That's okay," Beca said. "I'll get it."

Beca walked over to the candy section and picked up a few peppermint sticks. She was hurrying back to her station when she stumbled and fell, dropping the peppermint sticks and causing them to break into pieces.

"Oh, my gosh!" Chloe exclaimed, running over to Beca. "Are you okay?"

"Beca," Jesse called out as he and a few stagehands rushed over as well. "Are you okay?"

Beca blushed as both Jesse and Chloe helped her up.

"I'm fine," Beca said as she got to her feet and looked down at the floor. "The peppermint didn't fare so well, though."

"You take it easy," Chloe said. "I'll get more."

Two people rushed out with a broom and cleaned up the broken peppermint. The cameras filmed the other contestants to allow Beca time to compose herself.

Chloe brought over some peppermint and checked to make sure Beca was able to continue.

"I'm fine, Chloe," Beca said. "The only thing hurt is my ego. And the peppermints."

Chloe chuckled and pulled Beca into a hug.

"I have a feeling we're going to be the best of friends by the time this is over," Chloe whispered before pulling away from Beca. "Now, let's get to baking."

~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2022 ~~

"Five minutes remaining, bakers," Jesse called out. "Let's get those cookies done and plated."

"Do you think we should taste one to make sure they're okay?" Beca asked as they placed the second cookie on top of the peppermint marshmallow filling.

"Yeah," Chloe said, taking a cookie and biting into it. "Mmmmm! These are better than I expected. Try it."

Chloe held the cookie to Beca's lips; Beca pulled her head back. Chloe was undeterred and pressed on. As Beca opened her mouth to protest, Chloe shoved the cookie into Beca's mouth.

"Hey," Beca mumbled and started chewing. "Mmm, wow! This really is good."

"I knew it would be," Chloe said, smirking. "We're definitely going to be the team to beat."

Beca rolled her eyes just as Jesse said, "Time's up, bakers. Step away from your stations."

Beca and Chloe put their hands up and stepped back. The judging began, and the teams each stood before the judges for the taste test.

It was Beca and Chloe's turn, and Beca stood next to Chloe and let her explain their cookie idea. The judges tasted their cookies, and Carla Hall exclaimed, "Dudes!"

Beca chuckled, and Chloe squealed.

"If these were warm, I'd swear I was drinking a cup of hot cocoa," Carla said. "The peppermint marshmallow is amazing, and you have just the right amount of peppermint flavor without it being too overpowering. Great job!"

"Thank you," Beca and Chloe said.

"This is a really good cookie," Duff Goldman said. "I'd say more, but I'd just be repeating what Carla has already said. I will add that you two have definitely set the standard high for the other competitors."

"Thank you," Beca and Chloe said, turning to smile at each other.

Their gazes turned to the third judge, Nancy Fuller. She was smiling and waving her hands as if she was conducting an orchestra.

"Does that mean she likes it?" Beca whispered to Chloe.

"It does," Chloe said, nodding as Nancy began speaking.

"You two definitely know you are in a Holiday Baking Competition!" Nancy said. "And if this is what you can do this early in the contest, I think you might actually win it!"

"That's the plan," Chloe said, chuckling.

"Thank you, ladies," Jesse said.

"Thank you, judges," Chloe said, waving and grabbing Beca's arm as they walked out of the room.

"We got a dude from Carla Hall, and Nancy Fuller thinks we can win it," Chloe gushed as she and Beca went to wait with the other competitors. "This calls for a celebration."

"Maybe we should wait to see if we actually make it to the next challenge," Beca said.

"Oh, we'll make it," Chloe said. "I'm pretty confident about it."

"I hate to sound overly confident," Beca said. "But you might be right."

"I know I'm right," Chloe said confidently. "Care to have dinner with me tonight to celebrate?"

"Um," Beca mumbled. "If we make it to the next round, we'll go out to dinner and celebrate."

"Great," Chloe said. "We can talk about it on the way back to the hotel."

~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2022 ~~

Beca and Chloe made it to the next round, and their cookies were voted best of the day by the judges.

Beca met Chloe in the hotel's restaurant and was surprised at how much she enjoyed Chloe's company. She found herself smiling and laughing throughout the meal. She also found herself staring a couple of times; Chloe was very pretty.

By the time dessert was served, Beca had learned quite a bit about Chloe. She learned that Chloe was discovered by a talent scout while still in High School and had come out as bi to her parents and friends when she was eighteen. She tucked that little tidbit away for later.

"And I'll be living in New York," Chloe said.

"What?" Beca asked, having zoned out for a moment and missing what Chloe had been talking about.

"I'll be living in New York," Chloe repeated. Seeing Beca's confusion, she repeated, "My new TV show will tape here, so I'll be moving here while we tape. It beats having to fly back and forth between here and LA every week."

Beca frowned at this news. She had hoped to ask Chloe out on a real date when they went back to LA. But it looked like Chloe wouldn't be in LA.

"That sounds like. . .fun," Beca said, looking at her phone. "It's getting late. I should get back to my room. I have some work I need to do before I go to bed."

"Oh, um, okay," Chloe said, frowning at the sudden change in Beca's demeanor.

Beca walked Chloe out to the elevators. Chloe leaned against the wall while Beca stood facing the doors.

"Is everything okay?" Chloe asked, watching Beca.

"What?" Beca said, looking over her shoulder at Chloe. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just have a lot of work. My bosses figure I can work from anywhere, so being here should be no exception."

The elevator dinged as it reached Beca's floor.

"This is me," Beca said, hurrying off the elevator.

"Goodnight, Beca," Chloe said and sighed heavily as the doors closed.

~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2022 ~~

Even after working until two in the morning, Beca was up early, dressed, and out of the hotel by seven. She grabbed a coffee from one of the street vendors and hailed a taxi.

Beca knew she was being silly, but she couldn't get Chloe and the fact she would be moving to New York out of her mind.

Chloe woke to her alarm about the time Beca arrived at the studio. She sighed and slowly made her way out of bed. Once she was showered and dressed, she made her way down to the restaurant to get something for breakfast.

Chloe looked around, hoping to see Beca having breakfast. Her shoulders slumped when she didn't see her.

"Maybe I'll just get something from the crafts table at the studio," Chloe mumbled as she turned and left the hotel.

Chloe went to the crafts table; she smiled when she saw Beca talking to Jesse. She walked over and stood to the side so they could finish their conversation with some privacy.

"Are you sure?" Jesse asked. "That was quite a tumble you took yesterday."

"Yeah," Beca said. "I'm good. I swear."

Jesse patted her on the shoulder and walked away. Chloe moved, so she was in front of Beca.

"I looked for you this morning," Chloe said. "But you had already left the hotel."

"Yeah," Beca said, looking down at the floor. "I was awake early and was afraid if I stayed, I'd, um, go back to sleep."

"Hmm," Chloe said, looking over the food selection.

"I highly recommend the spinach quiche," Beca said, pointing it out to Chloe.

"Thanks," Chloe said as she grabbed a bowl of fruit.

Beca felt bad about how she treated Chloe after dinner the night before, so she grabbed a cup of coffee and stayed close while Chloe ate. The silence was killing Beca, but she didn't know what to say to Chloe, so she didn't say anything at all.

"Okay, competitors," Jesse called out. "Let's get things started."

The Beca/Chloe team threw away their trash and followed the other competitors onto the stage and into position. They stood waiting for Jesse to tell them what the challenge was for today. Beca noticed Chloe was paying very close attention to everything Jesse was saying. Beca was too busy trying to subtly look at Chloe, but she did manage to hear what the challenge was.

"And your time starts," Jesse said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Now!"

Beca hurried after Chloe and stopped at their station.

"So, I'm thinking the cookie representing me should be a star," Chloe said, getting down to business. "I can decorate it to look like a Hollywood Walk of Fame star."

Beca smiled and looked at Chloe. "I like that idea."

"What cookie do you want to make to represent you?"

"Um, a musical note?" Beca said.

"I have a feeling every musician here is going to do a musical note of some kind," Chloe said. "Or a CD because it's simple. We need to go bolder with you."

"Bolder, huh?" Beca said, taking Chloe's arm. "Come with me."

Beca stopped in front of the display of cookie cutters and looks at them. One, in particular, catches her eye, and she takes it down. She examines it and crinkles her nose while she thinks.

"What are you thinking?" Chloe asked, trying not to smile at how cute Beca looked; she was still a bit mad at her after all.

"This is supposed to be a rainbow," Beca said, showing Chloe. "What if we use it to cut out the cookie, then we sort of bend it in the middle so it doesn't have such an arc? We can cut this side of the cloud off and bake them. Then we can pipe on the icing to make them look like headphones. I use them all the time whether I'm singing or producing."

Chloe smiled, and her eyes lit up. "That's genius!"

"Really?" Beca asked, excited to see Chloe excited about her idea. "Let's get started."

"Since our must-use ingredient is orange, I think we should do a basic cookie," Chloe suggested as they walked back over to their station. "We can add the orange flavoring into the icing."

"That sounds, um, good," Beca said, nodding her head. "But safe. I think we should add the orange to the cookie dough as well. That way, we'll have the orange flavor profile in both the cookie and the icing."

"Look at you talking about flavor profiles," Chloe said, bumping Beca's shoulder.

Beca blushed and smiled.

~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2022 ~~

Beca and Chloe didn't win the best cookie of the day, but they did make it to the next round. The judges loved their cookie ideas and thought they represented each of them perfectly. The biggest critique was Beca's piping work on her headphone cookies; the judges felt it wasn't "clean" and needed some work.

Chloe was disappointed they didn't win for best cookie again but didn't put any blame on Beca for it. Beca, on the other hand, blamed herself and sulked all the way back to the hotel.

The teammates rode the elevator to their respective floors. Chloe didn't get a chance to say anything as Beca stood in front of the doors, staring down at the floor. Chloe found herself alone when Beca hurried off the elevator as soon as the doors opened.

A short time later, Beca was still angry with herself and decided to order room service for dinner.

Chloe was going to stop by Beca's room to see if she wanted to have dinner together but didn't know Beca's room number. She called the front desk and asked for Beca's room number, but they wouldn't give it to her for "guest privacy" reasons.

Feeling a bit dejected, Chloe went to the hotel's restaurant, hoping to find Beca there. She was even more disappointed when Beca wasn't there. Several of the other competitors were there, and she ended up having dinner with a small group of them.

Early the next morning, Beca hurriedly dressed and rushed to the studio again. She found Jesse and asked if she could use a station to practice her piping; he said it wasn't against the rules, so she should go for it.

Beca didn't want to disappoint Chloe again, so she practiced until other competitors started showing up. She cleaned the station and waited for Chloe.

Chloe walked on set and saw Beca standing at their station. She stomped over to Beca with fire in her eyes.

"Are you avoiding me?" Chloe blurted as soon as she was standing in front of Beca. "Did I do something to upset you?"

"What?" Beca asked, looking around. "No. Why would you ask that?"

Chloe huffed and turned her back on Beca. The competitors were called to the set, and Jesse stood waiting for them. He went through the challenge for the day; the competitors had to grab a bag from the back to find out what plain pie they would have to transform and make into a holiday pie. Beca didn't have a clue what that meant but figured Chloe did, so she wasn't too worried.

Beca should have been worried. Chloe was still upset with her and offered no help regarding what to do about transforming a strawberry pie into a holiday pie. Beca started gathering ingredients for the pie crust as well as strawberries and sugar for the filling.

Chloe stood by and watched. When Beca heard Chloe huff at something she did, she had enough. She threw down the measuring spoons and looked at Chloe.

"You must not be a very good actress," Beca said with a snort, causing a small gasp from Chloe. "If you were, you would be better at pretending to be a contestant in a baking competition."

"How dare you?" Chloe said. "I am a good actress and have the awards to prove it."

Beca laughed. "Fine; you're a good actress. Now show me how good a baker you are, and help me transform a strawberry pie into a festive holiday pie. And, put your acting chops to work and pretend you at least enjoy my company."

"I am a good baker, and this pie will be amazing," Chloe said. "As for enjoying your company, even I'm not a good enough actress to pull that off."

Beca chuckled as she went back to measuring out the pie crust ingredients.

~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2022 ~~

After the judging, Beca couldn't erase the smirk from her face. Getting Chloe fired up was rewarding as she and Chloe not only made it to the next round but were also awarded the best pie of the day. Beca also learned that a fired-up Chloe was hot; very hot!

When the competitors were let go for the evening, Beca looked for Chloe so they could head back to the hotel together. Beca even had hopes of getting Chloe to join her for dinner again.

Beca frowned when she realized Chloe had left with some of the other competitors. She made her way to a car and went to the hotel alone.

Beca was sitting in her room, working, when her stomach rumbled from hunger. She ignored her hunger pangs and continued working on the track she had started. Well, she would have if she could stop thinking about Chloe. All she could see was Chloe's face smiling at her when they stood before the judges. After the judging, Beca wanted to speak to Chloe so she could apologize for the way she had been acting toward her, but Chloe had rushed off before she got the chance.

"I should go to her room and apologize," Beca mumbled to her empty room. "I really like her and hope we can be friends. If she wasn't moving to New York, maybe we could be something more."

Beca threw her headphones onto the bed and got up. She went to the door and opened it; she stopped when she realized she had no idea what room Chloe was in.

"I'll go down to the front desk and ask them," Beca thought.

Beca rushed out of her room and to the elevator. She burst out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened on the ground level and ran into someone. She reached out to keep the other person from falling.

"Beca?" Chloe said.

"Chloe?" Beca said.

"Are you okay?" they asked simultaneously.

"I'm fine," Chloe said. "Where were you going in such a hurry?"

"I know you won't believe this," Beca said. "But, I was going to the front desk to find out what room you were in. I'd like to talk to you if you have a minute. Privately."

"Um, okay," Chloe said. "Want to come to my room? Or we can go to yours."

"Let's go to my room," Beca said as she hit the elevator call button.

Chloe nodded and stood with Beca, waiting for the elevator. Beca waved Chloe into the elevator, stepping in behind her. Beca hit the button for her floor and leaned against the sidewall. Chloe stood across from Beca, chewing on her lip. She couldn't take the silence and cleared her throat, causing Beca to look at her. Before Chloe could say anything, the elevator came to a stop, and Beca led Chloe to her room. Beca opened the door and waved Chloe inside. Chloe turned to Beca.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about? Are you going to explain why you've been so angry with me and avoiding me?"

"I wanted to apologize for all that," Beca said. "To be honest, I wasn't angry at you, I was angry at myself and took it out on you."

"Why?"

"Um," Beca said. "I liked you. I mean, I like you. I realized it when we had dinner after the first day of the competition. I convinced myself that we would be good together and even had all these scenarios going on in my head where we started dating when we got back to LA. Then you started talking about moving to New York, and I thought-." Beca sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know what I was thinking. It just seemed like I finally meet someone amazing, who I felt a connection with, and she's going to be living across the country. I had myself believing that you didn't like me like that and wrote us off as being anything more than acquaintances after the competition was over, and that bothered me, so I was a dick to you. I'm sorry for that."

Chloe stood looking at Beca with her arms crossed. Beca started getting fidgety as Chloe stared at her, not saying anything.

"I do like you like that," Chloe finally said, causing Beca to let out the breath she had been holding. "That's why it hurt so much when you ended our dinner so abruptly and then avoided me the next day."

"I'm sorry," Beca said. "Can we maybe start over? Maybe be friends."

"I'd like that," Chloe said, stepping toward Beca. "But there is something I'd like even better."

"Um, oh," Beca said, her throat suddenly dry. "What, um. What would you like better?"

"I'd like it if you asked me out," Chloe said, stepping closer.

Chloe was now standing nose-to-nose with Beca. Beca cleared her throat and took a step back.

"I, um, I can do that," Beca said.

"Then do it," Chloe said, wrapping her hand around Beca's neck and pulling her into a kiss.

~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2022 ~~

Six weeks later, on Christmas Eve, Beca was sitting on her sofa waiting for the finale of the Celebrity Christmas Bake-off to air. She was startled by a knock on her door. It wasn't that late, but it was later than she was used to having someone drop by.

Beca opened the door and was startled when the person standing there yelled, "Surprise!"

"Chloe!" Beca squealed, pulling the woman to her. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay in New York for Christmas."

"I couldn't have my girlfriend celebrate our first Christmas as a couple without me, could I?"

"No, no, you couldn't," Beca said as she captured Chloe's lips in a kiss.

The kiss ended, and Beca smiled. "Care to watch the bake-off finale with me?"

"As long as there will be kissing while we watch," Chloe said.

"It's a deal!" Beca said, closing the door as she took Chloe's hand and led her inside.

[stardestroyer81]

🥪 Introducing... Door2Door! 🥪

Door2Door stars twenty year old possum Gigi Dempster, who lives in a rather ramshackle, podunk town in Vermont called Bendersville. After sending numerous job applications all over town with no word back, she finally lands herself a delivery driver position at an unassuming locally-owned sandwich restaurant named Dine 'n Dash. With no prior experience in the art of crafting a mighty fine sandwich or running a delivery route, Gigi is strapped in to experience the whirlwind of a first time food service job firsthand, and in an unpredictable town like Bendersville, quite literally anything can happen.

(For more information on what Door2Door is— as well as a handful of progress images— please consider checking underneath the cut!)

At last, witness unveiling of my latest project I've spent the last month conceptualizing, Door2Door! What once came about as a silly idea of basing a project after an inner-city delivery driver inspired after a certain gameplay section in Spongebob Squarepants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman, it has since blossomed into one of my dearest passion projects yet!

Though, before I get into any further detail behind Door2Door and its creation, I must stress— none of the above five images hail from a lost late nineties/early 2000s Cartoon Network show, and if by chance any of them were enough to fool you into thinking they were, then that just means I achieved what I set out for! 💙✨

Now, about a month ago, I'd been watching a retrospective on the critically un-acclaimed Spongebob Squarepants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman, a game I had growing up. It's important for me to mention that I had seen and personally played the aforementioned gameplay section before, though for some reason seeing it again struck me with a brilliant project idea.

Anyone who's been following me for at least a year knows that I've designed a cavalcade of candied characters for my own arcade game concept, Rascal, and initially my idea for Door2Door— which I also called Project JJ (In reference to the sandwich chain Jimmy John's)— was to give it a plot simple enough to translate into an arcade game.

The idea was that you played as a plucky delivery driver who rides through the streets of a seedy city to deliver a food order to the... er, order-ee. But your progress would be impeded by a fiendish gang of mobster alley cats who are after your sandwiches, so there would have definitely been a large cartoony element to the gameplay loop.

I drew concept art for Door2Door's protagonist, then known as Marcy, though I really wasn't vibing with either drawing. For one, making the protagonist a cat seemed a bit overdone, and I already have a cat character who's name rhymes with Marcy, so that had to go. More so, I also couldn't settle on a good spriting style, which prompted me to rethink the whole project.

Well, there is a general aura of cartooniness to Door2Door, I thought, why not just embrace that vibe whole-heartedly and reshape the project into a long-lost late nineties cartoon?

I did like the idea of having an excuse to drawing more animation cels, though if I was going to make Door2Door into something resembling a cel-animated cartoon, I was prepared to go the full distance in nailing that aesthetic, in the form of how characters are designed and the way I go about drawing each screenshot.

For those unfamiliar with cel animation, essentially it can be described as a traditional form of animation and involves objects— usually characters— being hand-inked and painted on clear celluloid sheets and placed over painted backgrounds.

Above, I've provided a visual for what a standalone 'cel' from Door2Door would look like, coupled with a hand-painted background. When overlaid on top of one another...

... you would get this! This is exactly how cartoons were animated up until the era of digital inking and coloring... but that begs the question. How am I achieving a hand-drawn and painted aesthetic if everything I've shown so far has been drawn digitally?

I have my ways! It involves a lot of studying how individual cels of animation look, and taking note of recurring hallmarks; grainy textures, paint blemishes, drop shadows, etc. Above, I've assembled a small gif of my process in composing a screenshot for Door2Door, from lineart to final product!

So, that all should loosely explain it; Door2Door is what would happen if I were in charge of a late nineties Cartoon Network show, and what you've seen here is merely the beginning. Going forward, I will be posting art of Door2Door's main cast with some additional character information and concept art for each one, though for the time being, enjoy all five art pieces I've supplied for this post— they are perhaps the biggest works of mine yet this year! 💙🏳️‍⚧️✨

[batcavescolony]

The Great British Baking Show: these are our lovely home bakers, today they will be making a family recipe for us. Tomorrow following a recipe and the next a showstopping dessert. One will go home

Any American Food Network Competition: THESE ARE OUR HOME BAKERS, THEY WILL BE GOING HEAD TO HEAD WITH PASTRY CHEFS. THEY ALL MUST MAKE A LIFE SIZE 100% EDITABLE SCULPTURE AND A DOZEN SMALL PLATED DESERTS. THEY HAVE 30 MINUTES AND THEY MUST DO IT BLINDFOLDED! ONLY ONE CAN WIN!

[sentient-rift]

M!A Mystery food x curry time

"Huh...? What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but I like the sound of it!"

"Well, as long as this is one of them Magic Anons, let's go crazy with it! How about we have a Curry Making Contest with a curtain mystery food being the main ingredient? And of course, Lanny Boy will be our taste tester!"

"Hey, not a bad idea, Mxy. I'll get started on my curry right away..."

"Sorry, Mayl, but that would be way too easy. It won't be any of us along the Curry, but the anons and anyone else out there who wants to join in! Think of it as an extension to that food ask meme we're currently doing."

"Oh, that sound fun!"

"So what are you guys waiting for? Start sending in your curries and see how Lanny Boy likes it!"

"My taste buds are ready!"

(Basically, all you have to do is the same thing with this meme, only add +Curry Contest, and make sure to send in your special curry to Lan.)

[holocene-sims]

next // previous

july 17, 2021 6:30 p.m. cathal and eimear's house

[fieriframes]

[He loves food. He really loves his family. He loves his customers. He really loves his team. though istis [16r] nascitur, vivet tribus annis vel 16 vel 48. You might have seen me here and there on the Food Network. "Guy's Grocery Games."]

[mis-mcgifsten]

I really want some of these to exist. Swamp peef. It sounds very star wars. A Yoda delicacy I'm sure. With the beasy mist on the side. Crimm grunk garlic cleas sounds positively posh. A Naboo staple mayhaps? And who could resist export bean spoons in pie-shell? Num nums! And they are all blue.

The neural network has weird ideas about what humans like to eat

So I’ve been training this neural network to generate cookbook recipes by letting it look at tens of thousands of existing recipes.

The generated titles can get a bit odd.

There’s a creativity variable I can set when the network is generating new recipes, and when I set it low, it comes up with its best guess at the most quintessential recipe titles:

Cream Cheese Soup Cream Of Sour Cream Cheese Soup Chocolate Cake (Chocolate Cake) Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Cake Chocolate Chicken Chicken Cake Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Cake Chocolate Chips Chocolate Chips With Chocolate Chips

When I tell it to get creative, things get even weirder.

Beef Soup With Swamp Peef And Cheese Chocolate Chops & Chocolate Chips Crimm Grunk Garlic Cleas Beasy Mist Export Bean Spoons In Pie-Shell, Top If Spoon and Whip The Mustard Chocolate Pickle Sauce Whole Chicken Cookies Salmon Beef Style Chicken Bottom Star * Cover Meats Out Of Meat Completely Meat Circle Completely Meat Chocolate Pie Cabbage Pot Cookies Artichoke Gelatin Dogs Crockpot Cold Water

[esonetwork]

Bridgerton, Bacon, The Boys and More - Soul Forge #326

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/bridgerton-bacon-the-boys-and-more/

Bridgerton, Bacon, The Boys and More - Soul Forge #326

Bridgerton, Bacon, The Boys and More!

Food, History, television shows, work, feedback and more on this week’s episode. No topic is too obscure for us to cover!

The weather is our first mini topic. A veritable heat wave has descended upon us. From hail to humidity, no one is safe from these extremes. Some days it feels as though we are sitting here melting.

We had our yard sale this last weekend. Turns out we prefer going to sales, rather than hosting them. There is a lot of prep work involved. Pricing items is quite important, and having an organizational system is key. Item placement will affect your sales. Keeping your items in line of sight is crucial.

Leah goes to a work leadership conference this week. She and her co-workers will exchange ideas, and talk about having difficult conversations. There will be skills fair full of differing booths. This is one of the very few times where Shawn and Leah have been apart for a few days.

Richard from Australia provides feedback on our restaurant review episode. This leads to a discussion about The Blockhouse, an eatery in the old St. Mary’s Paper building. We then discuss the historic Canal District, the Soo Locks and the Agawa Train tour. Bridgerton, Bacon, The Boys and More!

Our episode ends with a chat about some recent television we have been enjoying. Season three of Bridgerton was a particular delight. The Boys, The Acolyte and The Big Bang Theory are in regular rotation. There is some chatter about sequel series such at Crusade, Star Trek, Young Sheldon, and the Mandolorian.

This week’s podcast promo: Monkeeing Around

[goldfishaquarium]

I can't fucking stand this guy

[gastronauts]

Now presenting the trailer for new @dropoutdottv series, Gastronauts! 🚀🧑‍🍳

Launching October 11th, Gastronauts takes you to the final frontier of culinary chaos, as host Jordan Myrick brings aboard 3 comedians every episode to task real, professional chefs with increasingly absurd challenges. It's a cooking competition like nothing the universe has ever seen.

In addition to Jordan Myrick, the show features a slew of comedians, including Brennan Lee Mulligan, Isabella Roland, Oscar Montoya, Ify Nwadiwe, Lily Du, Grant O'Brien, Zac Oyama, Jacob Wysocki, Vic Michaelis, Sam Reich, Elaine Carroll, Kendahl Landreth, Rekha Shankar, Jess Ross, Luke Field, Mike Trapp, Chris Grace, and Brian David Gilbert.

The chefs include Angel Ortega Gonzalez (Chopped), Arturo Avallone (Chopped), Cici Celia (Chopped), Dominique Crisp (Save The Leftovers), Harrison Bader (The Next Food Network Star, Supermarket Stakeout), Jessica Tiffany Luevano, Jeromy Wright (Chopped, Supermarket Stakeout), Joshua Mouzakes (Beachside Brawl, Alex vs. America, Chopped),  Kat Turner (Chopped), Kenneth Anderson (Supermarket Stakeout), Kyndra McCrary (Chopped), Lauren Lawless (Supermarket Stakeout, Hell’s Kitchen, Masterchef, Chopped), Mark Esposito (The Great Food Truck Race), Patrick Costa (Chopped), Pratik Bhakta, Samantha Quintero (Chopped) and Trevor Ross (Supermarket Stakeout).

The 6 episode season will air biweekly, exclusively on Dropout.

[dustiestsquid]

Dinners, drive-ins and dives is the modern day Michelin star review, in this essay I will prove

[ur-mag]

Former Food Network Star Michael Chiarello Dead at 61 | In Trend Today

Former Food Network Star Michael Chiarello Dead at 61 Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[tvthemesongs]

Food Network Star intro

[reasonsforhope]

"Rewilding in Scotland has created a more than 400% increase in jobs, research has found amid calls for it to continue.

Research by Rewilding Britain shows 35 jobs have been created at one site alone in the Highlands since 2008.

The research found there has been a 412% increase in jobs at 13 major rewilding projects covering almost 60,000 hectares, including sites owned or managed by charities, communities, private landowners, and public bodies.

Full-time equivalent jobs across the sites increased from 24 before rewilding to 123, across sectors including hospitality, estate management, ecology, environmental monitoring, rewilding interventions, recreation, and education.

The largest recorded rise in jobs was at Trees for Life’s 4,000-hectare Dundreggan estate near Loch Ness in the Highlands, a former deer stalking estate.

Since 2008, some 35 jobs have been created in addition to the sole previous position, while volunteer numbers have risen from zero to 100.

A rewilding centre was opened at the site last year and an open invitation has been extended to Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio to visit it after he backed a campaign for Scotland to become the world’s first “rewilding nation”.

All the sites are more than 100 hectares in size and are part of the Rewilding Network managed by Rewilding Britain.

The research found combined volunteer numbers at the sites increased from zero to 435...

The Scottish Government has been urged to commit to nature recovery across 30% of land by restoring habitats including peatlands, native woodlands, wetlands, rivers and seas, with no loss of productive farmland.

Kevin Cumming, rewilding director at Rewilding Britain and deputy convener of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, said: “These remarkable job creation figures show how rewilding can turbo-charge social and economic benefits, while offering hope for reversing biodiversity loss and tackling climate breakdown.

“This is yet another powerful illustration of why the Scottish Government should declare Scotland a rewilding nation.

“The opportunity is huge – for jobs and local economies, better health, food production, access to fresh water and clean air.”

The alliance’s Rewilding Nation Charter – including representations from more than 20 organisations – has been signed by thousands of people since it launched in the spring.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Restoring Scotland’s natural environment is a key way that we can help address the twin challenges of nature loss and climate change, including many of the interventions championed by the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.

“We welcome this evidence of employment in rural communities and will consider this research as we continue to work towards our commitment to protect and restore 30% of Scotland’s land and seas for nature.

“Our £65 million Nature Restoration Fund has committed nearly £40 million since 2021 to unlock the full potential that nature restoration projects can bring to communities.

“The fund has supported local businesses, helped landowners with pollinator projects to boost food production and supported improved access to green spaces throughout Scotland, alongside restoration of our marine environment.”

The charter can be viewed at www.rewild.scot/charter."

-via The Independent, June 19, 2024

[hoedameron]

who else remembers my food network era