Harry Potter Wizards of Baking Winner - Season 1

Thursday night at 8pm ET on Food Network is the season finale of Harry Potter Wizards of Baking where the winning team will be announced.  There are two teams remaining that are hoping to be crowned the Wizards of Baking winner.  The first team is Zoe Burmester (cake artist) and Jordan Pilarski (executive pastry chef) and they will be competing against Elizabeth Rowe (cake artist) and Juan Gutierrez (executive pastry chef and chocolatier).  There is no cash prize, but the winners will get a "Wizards of Baking Cup."  They will also be included in an upcoming Harry Potter cookbook which is already available for pre-order and will be released in March 2025.  There have been other Harry Potter cookbooks released in the past, but the one releasing in March is more focused on the Food Network show Wizards of Baking.

The episode description for the final episode states, "It's the final showdown in the illustrious Great Hall, and hosts James and Oliver Phelps challenge the teams to create a showpiece that reaches at least 6 feet tall and commemorates at least one event that takes place in the Great Hall. The bakers must also include two enchanting culinary effects and incorporate at least two tasting elements. Surprises unfold throughout the finale, including the return of guest judges Warwick Davis, Evanna Lynch and Bonnie Wright, who join judges Carla Hall and Jozef Youssef to crown the first-ever Wizards of Baking champions among a crowd of ecstatic Harry Potter fans."

I will update this post with the winner of Harry Potter Wizards of Baking after the episode airs and feel free to discuss this season in the comments.

Continue reading to see who won Harry Potter Wizards of Baking.......

Holiday Baking Championship Winner Season 11

Monday night at 8pm ET on Food Network is the two-hour season eleven finale of Holiday Baking Championship where the winning baker will take home $25,000.  This season there are five remaining contestants in the final episode.  The five remaining contestants competing for the prize are: Jer Barrios (pastry sous chef from Carson City, Nevada), Rolf Runkel (pastry chef from Calgary, Alberta), Rafi Dekrmnjian (bakery owner from Northridge, California), Steven Levitt (home baker from Aurora, Ontario), and Natasha Aschoff (bakery owner from Plymouth, Massachusetts).   One of the contestants will be eliminated during the first hour of the episode and the final four will compete during the second hour for the $25,000 prize.

The episode description for the final episode states, "In the season finale, host Jesse Palmer is throwing a gingerbread house party with all the trimmings! In the preheat, the bakers create faux candy desserts, traditional candy decorations that are actually desserts on the inside. Then, the competitors must take inspiration from holiday eggnog flavors to create the most impressive eggnog desserts for judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller, and one baker will be eliminated. For the final challenge, the bakers construct gingerbread house cakes in unique architectural styles like modern, Tudor, cozy cottage or castle. In the end, only one baker will be named Holiday Baking Champion and take home $25,000!"

I will update this post with the winner of Holiday Baking Championship season 11 after the episode airs and feel free to discuss this season in the comments.

Continue reading to see who won Holiday Baking Championship season 11.......

Halloween Baking Championship Winner Season 10

Monday night at 9pm ET on Food Network is the season ten finale of Halloween Baking Championship where the winning baker will take home $25,000.  This season there are four remaining contestants competing for the prize and they are: Joel Gonzalez (Executive Pastry Chef), Hollie Rivera (Assistant Pastry Chef), Aaron Davis (Pastry Lead) and Manny Martinez (Bakery Owner).

The episode description for the final episode of the season titled "The Past Comes Back To Haunt You" states, 

"The final bakers take on two very difficult challenges inspired by the past -- all leading up to a time-traveling monster mash! In the Dissection Lab, John Henson works on some gross anatomy, and he asks the bakers to create desserts with gummy hearts that will be "dissected" by judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell. Then in the Quantum Physics Lab, John hops into a time machine and journeys to the ancient past for inspirations like medieval vampires and early aliens for time travel cakes. The best baker heads into the future with the Halloween Baking Championship title and the $25,000 prize!"

I will update this post with the winner of Halloween Baking Championship season 10 after the episode airs and feel free to discuss this season in the comments.

Continue reading to see who won Season 10 of Halloween Baking Championship on Food Network....

Halloween Wars Season 14 Winner

Sunday night at 9pm ET on Food Network is the season 14 finale of Halloween Wars where the winning team will take home $25,000.  The prize has been $50,000 in the past, but it has been $25,000 for a few seasons.  The two teams remaining are Shriek Squad (Kristina Patenaude, Jamie Louks, and Jonathan Elias) and Scream of the Crop (Kyle Miller, Sarah "Bloodstain" Blostein, and Sarah Arnold)

The episode description for the final episode named "Haunted Hotel on Halloween" states: 

"For their final challenge, the last two teams standing create their largest displays yet: the spookiest hotels on Earth! It's up to Jonathan Bennett, Shinmin Li and Aarti Sequeira to decide who will be checking out with the Halloween Wars championship title and the $25,000 grand prize!"

I will post the winner of Halloween Wars season 14 after the episode airs and you can discuss the episode/season in the comments.  

Continue reading to see who won season 14 of Halloween Wars on Food Network....

Halloween Baking Championship Season 10

Halloween Baking Championship season 10 airs on Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network and this season has ten bakers (vs. 12 last year) competing for a $25,000 prize. This season has the same hosts and judges as previous seasons with John Henson being the host and Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young being the judges.

The ten bakers competing for the Halloween Baking Championship prize are listed below along with their occupation:

• Hollie Rivera (Winnipeg, MB) - Assistant Pastry Chef
• Aaron Davis (Surprise, AZ) - Pastry Lead
• Manny Martinez (San Antonio, TX) - Bakery Owner
• Carly Robertson (Lehi, UT) - Bakery Owner
• Joel Gonzalez (Scottsdale, AZ) - Executive Pastry Chef
• Lillian Chng (San Diego, CA) - Home Bakery Owner
• Megan Aucone (Sayreville, NJ) - Pastry Chef and Lead Cake Artist
• Samantha Santiago Torres (Chicago, IL) - Executive Pastry Chef
• JL Hinojosa (Austin, TX) - Pastry Chef De Partie
• Thierry Aujard (Norristown, PA) - Executive Pastry Chef

The finale of Halloween Baking Championship season 10 should air on Monday, October 28th and I will do another post for the finale.  Feel free to discuss this season in the comments.

UPDATE - To see who won Halloween Baking Championship season 10, visit this post.

The Great Food Truck Race Season 17 Winner

Sunday Night at at 8pm ET on Food Network is the season finale of The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Gulf where the winning team will take home $50,000.  The two remaining teams competing for the prize are Bao Bei (Kevin Hsieh, Cody Hoover, Zakary Keres) from Washington DC and Wally's Waffles (Wally Strzepka, Maggie Strzepka, Joe Caiafa) from Chicago, IL. 

The final episode is in Fort Meyers, Florida and the description states:

"Two food truck finalists join Tyler Florence for the final leg in Fort Meyers, Florida, where they feed their fans on a day of intense selling and challenges. Then at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami, the teams' ultimate fate will be determined, and the winner will claim $50,000 and the title of Great Food Truck Race champion."

I will update this post with The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Gulf season 17 winner after the episode airs.  Feel free to discuss this season and the finale in the comments.  

Continue reading to see who won season 17 of The Great Food Truck Race......

The Great Food Truck Race - Season 17

The Great Food Truck Race season 17 airs Sunday nights at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network starting June 30, 2024.  This season of The Great Food Truck Race is named "Games on the Gulf" and has a Gulf of Mexico theme with stops in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Last season had a David vs. Goliath theme where food truck pros competed against rookie teams.  This season will have all rookie teams who have never operated a food truck. There will be nine food truck teams competing for the $50,000 prize and the season will be eight episodes long with some of the episodes being two hours in length. 

The nine teams competing on season 17 are: 

• Argentina's Empanadas (Wichita, Kansas) - Carolina Freeman, Paola Mentis, Chad Freeman
• Bao Bei (Washington DC)  - Kevin Hsieh, Cody Hoover, Zakary Keres
• Cooks with Passion (Atlanta, Georgia) - Andrew Bernadine, Terry Jones, Jasmine Smith
• Down to Get Tacos (Gilbert, Arizona) - Karina Wollangk, Kiana Wollangk, Oz Gudino
• Fishnet (Baltimore, Maryland) - Ferhat Yalcin, Uswa McDowell, Keyia Yalcin
• Kalye (New York, New York) - Rob Mallari-D'Auria, Barry Jacinto, Mark Besanna
• Plates on Deck (Davenport, Florida) - Ken James, Ziomara Taveras, Samuel Jenkins
• SOLA Po'Boys (Los Angeles, California) - Serrano Barnes, Barenese Butler, Randy Butler
• Wally's Waffles (Chicago, Illinois) - Wally Strzepka, Maggie Strzepka, Joe Caiafa

Something new for this season is that the teams are divided into "Stars and Stripes" squads with the top sellers each week awarded gold, silver and bronze medals that come with a cash bonus. The season finale for season 17 of The Great Food Truck Race is on Sunday, August 4th and I will do another post for the finale.

To see who won season 17 of The Great Food Truck Race, visit this post. 

Ciao House Winner - Season 2

Sunday night at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network is the season 2 finale of Ciao House where the winning chef will win a chance to train with master chefs across Italy. The two remaining chefs competing are Ivan Barros and Austin Cobb, however they are allowing eliminated chefs a chance to compete again, just like they did last season.  So someone who has already been eliminated may have a chance to win Ciao House season 2.  The season finale will be two hours long.

The episode description for the finale states:

"The two remaining chefs are stunned when some unwelcome guests arrive at the villa. Judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabe Bertaccini choose the winner of Ciao House, who will receive an immersive culinary education with renowned master chefs across Italy."

I will update this post with the winner of Ciao House Season 2 after the episode airs. 

Continue reading to see who got back into the competition and who won Ciao House season 2....

Ciao House - Season 2

Photo - Warner Bros. Discovery

Food Network's Ciao House airs on Sunday nights at 8pm ET on Food Network and returns for it's second season on May 19th, 2024.  The prize for winning is once again "an immersive culinary education across Italy, training with renowned Italian master chefs."  Alex Guarnaschelli co-hosts the show with Gabriele Bertaccini and and the series will be ten episodes long (a lot of back-to-back episodes) with the finale on Sunday, June 23rd.  While the first season had 10 chefs competing, this season there will be 12 chefs competing and they are listed below.

• Ivan Barros (Los Angeles, California)
• Zev Bennett (Miami, Florida)Maria Bregatta (Burlington, Vermont)
• Austin Cobb (Playa Grande, Costa Rica)
• Devan Cunningham (Phoenix, Arizona)
• Tiana Gee (Los Angeles, California)
• Hanna Haar (Montauk, New York)
• Drew Keane (Chicago, Illinois)
• Shannon Odom (Haico, Texas)
• Jan Parker (Tacoma, Washington)
• Phuoc Vo (Tampa, Florida)
• Stikxz Williams (Queens, New York)

They will compete against each other as individuals and in teams to prove their mastery of Italian cooking techniques and dishes.  Each week, new teams are picked and someone from the losing team will be eliminated.  In the finale, the final two chefs will prepare a three-course fine dining experience. 

Feel free to discuss season 2 of Ciao House in the comments and I will do another post for the finale.

UPDATE - To see who won Ciao House Season 2, visit this post.

 

24 in 24 Season 1 Winner

Tonight at 8pm ET on Food Network is the season 1 finale of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing where the winning chef will take home $50,000 and a trip to Hawaii.  The four chefs remaining are Marcel Vigneron, Chris Oh, Mika Leon and Carlos Anthony. The finale will be 1 hour long despite previous episodes being 2 hours and the chefs must cook the best dish of their lives.

If you haven't been following, below are the chefs that were eliminated in each episode:

• Episode 1 -  Marc Quinones, Viet Pham, Matt Jordan,Airis Johnson, Michael Toscano, Chad Rosenthal,  Aarthi Sampath, Danielle Lee, Emilie Rose Bishop, Declan Horgan, Charlie Ray, and Elizabeth Falkner. 
• Episode 2 - Vijay Sadhu, Josephine Clemens, and Gabriella Baldwin 
• Episode 3 - Camille La Caer, Christopher Ingram, and Kess Eshun 
• Episode 4 - Martel Stone and Chris Dodson

The final 24 in 24 episode description states, 

"The four remaining chefs have survived 20 challenges and beat out 20 other chefs to arrive at this moment. In the final hours, hosts Michael Symon and Esther Choi revisit an old challenge where the chefs must cook the best dishes of their lives. Whoever can stave off the final daggers of exhaustion and impress a superstar panel of judges will walk away with a $50,000 prize and an unforgettable trip to Hawaii."

I will update this post with the winner of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing after the episode airs.  Also, it was announced earlier this week that 24 in 24 was renewed for a 2nd season, so this is a show that will be returning to Food Network.

Continue reading to see who won season 1 of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing......