Review: The Taste: Tuesday 8|7c on ABC

Reality TV is one of my guilty pleasures. Especially reality TV about food. I could probably veg out in front of a cooking show or competition all day. So I was excited to learn about a new cooking competition show on ABC called The Taste. But this competition has a twist. The judges judge the food completely on taste alone; they don't know who cooked what, or even what exactly they are going to be eating. This is basically The Voice but with food. The judges/team leaders are 4 ridiculously good looking chefs: Anthony Bourdain, Brian Malarkey, Ludo Lefebvre, and Nigella Lawson. (Seriously, Nigella? Her job is to eat food and she still looks completely fabulous. So jealous.)

So the premise of the show is that each chef serves the judges one bite of their dish on a spoon, and the judges critique each spoon based on the taste, without knowing who cooked it. After the audition episodes, each of the judges chose a team of four chefs to compete. Each week the chefs have a team challenge where each teammate cooks a dish but then they choose the best dish from each team to be judged for the chance for immunity and the help of some well-known chef. During this challenge the judges are in the kitchen helping their team with advice and also providing entertainment for the audience. So far, we've seen a lot of arguing and somewhat playful banter between Chef Malarkey and Chef Ludo, and Anthony Bourdain downing an entire bottle of wine and strolling through the other teams' kitchens and generally being himself. Seriously, I just want Anthony Bourdain to read me a book every night before I go to sleep. Something about his voice is just pleasing to my ears. Plus he's entertaining of course. :)

Then things get interesting during the elimination challenge. The judges leave the kitchen so they have no idea who is cooking what. Each chef then has to prepare a dish fitting with the theme. The most recent episode was creating a dish that paired perfectly with their choice of one of four wines. They serve the dish in one bite to the judges. The judges then choose their most and least favorite dish. Then two people are sent home from the least favorites. Keep in mind, they don't know who cooked what so the possibility of sending someone from their own teams home is very real.

So far, I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen. The premise is very interesting, because the judges have to go by only what they taste. It ties into something I had just heard about the other day. Once you know what it is you are supposed to be eating, your brain gives you some preconceived notions about it, and can actually influence the way you perceive tastes. Not knowing makes you perceive the food differently. Another thing about this show I've enjoyed so far is the energy. The judges all seem to be so enthusiastic and the competition is fun and fast-paced. There hasn't been a dull moment yet!

The last thing is part of the reason I like to watch cooking shows. They inspire me! When I spend a lot of time watching a cooking show I always manage to get the idea in my head that I could be a great chef too (hah!) I get all ambitious until I remember it takes me longer just to cut up an onion than it does for these guys to whip up an entire dish and I come back to earth a little. But the main thing is that I get my creative juices flowing and get the urge to try new things, and I think that's always important. I may not be a five-star chef, but I can at least cook something creative that tastes good (most of the time).

So, if you like a fun cooking competition and want to feel inspired, check out The Taste, on Tuesday 8|7c on ABC. Catch up by watching the most recent episode here.

What about you? Do you like cooking shows? Do you get delusions of cooking grandeur after watching them? Will you be joining me to watch The Taste? Let me know!

Crest 3D White Professional Effects Whitestrips - Review

Hi everyone!

Today I'd like to tell you all about a product I've been trying out over the past couple of weeks - Crest 3D White Professional Effects Whitestrips.

Disclaimer: I received the Crest Whitestrips for free, complimentary of Influenster. I am doing this review for free as well.

What is Influenster? It's an online community of people who use social media and online presence to give opinions and reviews of products and experiences. From their website:

Influenster [in-floo-uhn-ster]

noun

An exclusive online community where tastemakers and trendsetters (such as yourself) come to share the latest and greatest news, places, products, and reviews with each other. 2. The hotspot you just bookmarked on your web browser that turns your social influence into sweet rewards.

Basically, Influenster is a place for culture junkies to come together and share their unique opinions of products and experiences. Active members of Influenster get exclusive access to deals, promotions, and swag from brands that thrive off the input (the good, the bad, and the ugly -- they just want to know what's up).

Check out their website, it's a really great community. And if you'd like an invite to the site, let me know, I have a few I can spare! I'd also like to say a big Thank You to Crest for the chance to try out their product as well. You can check out their products as well as reviews and offers at their website here.

So how do these Whitestrips work? Well, there are a few different types, but the ones I received were the Professional Effects. There are 20 whitening treatments in the box and one treatment takes 30 minutes daily. Crest says you can start seeing results in just 3 days and they are satisfaction guaranteed. Each treatment comes with an upper and a lower strip.

The shorter one is the lower strip and the longer one is the upper strip. They are a bit like gooey stickers. You put the strip over your teeth, fold over, leave them on for 30 minutes and then take them off. It's as simple as that, you just can't eat or drink while you're wearing them. They aren't uncomfortable to wear at all and they don't take over your mouth like some of those whitening trays do. They don't taste great, but the taste isn't too bad, just like peroxide, since that's what's in them. They're very convenient to use and take minimal effort.

So what did I think of them? Sure enough, I did see results within about three days. My problem though, is that I'm notoriously bad at remembering to do something everyday. I don't know why I have such a problem with this, but I just get distracted with my day and never get around to doing whatever it is. I found though I remembered a little better if I put them on right before my shower for the day. If I could remember to actually use the strips every day, I think I would probably see faster results. But, this actually turned out to be in my favor. The strips made my teeth really sensitive, to the point that it would be pretty painful at times. So not using them every day gave my teeth a chance to recover in between each use. I had to start using a toothpaste for sensitive teeth to help.

As far as the actual whitening, my teeth weren't super yellow to begin with so my results weren't extremely dramatic, but I can definitely see a change. Here's my teeth before:

And here they are after:

So you can see I definitely had some whitening. I'm really pleased with my results, my only complaint was the sensitivity they caused in my teeth.

Final verdict: I love my whiter smile! These strips work like they promise to. But they made my teeth a little too sensitive and painful for me. Crest does make a gentle version that you wear for only 5 minutes at a time, and I might be interested in trying them. But I do think I will be trying some of the other products in the 3D White lineup, like the whitening toothpastes. If you want a whiter smile in an easy, convenient way, this is definitely a great tool and I would suggest it to you, especially if your teeth aren't prone to sensitivity.

There you have it. Thanks again to Crest and Influenster for the opportunity to try out this product, and remember: If you're not whitening, you're yellowing!