Tea & Sympathy Podcast

It was the quarterfinals, and everyone was in top form even without dairy, butter, and gluten. This episode is a week behind due to technical and sound issues, so stay tuned for the semi-finals recap coming soon.

Caramel week was anything but sweet for almost everyone – they all dropped the ball at some point, and we were left wondering what is the point of isomalt domes if you can't eat them. (Mary Berry would never.) Listen along as we parse out why Twix bars are suddenly Bakeoff-worthy and whether or not Lizzy finally achieved finesse if the resulting bake was deemed "inedible."

Less mini, more pod this week as the tent innuendo game gets WILD. Everyone – from Prue to Paul to Matt and Noel to innocent lamb Giuseppe – is bringing game to the tent this time around. Oh yeah, and there are choux-nuts, baklava, and savory terrine pies.

Was it German Week or was it Jürgen's Week? Listen to find out if the German contestant's obvious annoyance at being reduced to a punchline about umlauts and precision carried him to glory or laid him low. Also! Noel disappears and Paul once again gives us a peek at his perhaps unsophisticated tastes.

This week we talk about how, on a show literally named "Bake Off," one of the contestants somehow forgot to add flour. We also address Paul's likely unsophisticated palate and how Jürgen once again captured our hearts.

Bread week used to be Ivan Drago ("if he dies, he dies") but now it's more Ted Lasso ("Believe!") Tune in to find out who leaves, who sticks around, and who rocked Paul's world with...grapes.

Two brandy snaps way up and in a circle for biscuit week. Listen to us discuss how Paul pronounces EXPRESSO and how Freya pronounces all manner of things. Lizzy says she needs a vocabulary - no, a dictionary - no, a thesaurus. And nobody makes Black Forest flavored anything.

IT'S BACK and we're so, so happy. And Paul is happy! And this week's star baker, Jurgen, is also happy, if German-ly. Get a cup of tea and a scone and have a listen! (This episode contains spoilers!)

Join us for a lively discussion of how this allegedly heartwarming show is also by turns shocking and creepy (but most it really is just heartwarming).

Ted Lasso is a show about an American who finds himself immersed in British culture (you can see how we'd be drawn to it). But it's also about friendship, work relationships, leading with kindness, and football (the not-American kind).

We're back at it and we're calling it Season 3. Post-pandemic? LOL. Join us as we discover a little gem of a show called Home Fires – set in another geopolitically complicated era that somehow still found people mostly working together. Gather up your tea things, this one's worth using a sugar ration.

We recorded this episode on November 14, 2020. We're tired, we're relieved, we were enjoying the latest season of Great British Bakeoff. This rambling discussion is one part us catching up, one part examination of why this was the horniest Bakeoff ever, and one part bracing ourselves for a rough pandemic winter.

We recorded this episode in September 2020, not even having watched the movie Enola Holmes yet. At one point, Melissa speculates that maybe by the time this episode is published, we'd have a vaccine and everything would be normal. Spoiler alert – we do have a vaccine, but nothing is "normal."

We recorded this episode on March 22, 2020. Then, things got weird.

We were still new to Pandemic World, but most of our discussion holds up (though we do talk about doing things "when this is all over," hahaha). To be honest, we don't really talk much about The Hour, an excellent show you should nonetheless watch.

Well, we're back, and it's season 2! Surprise! In this episode, Melissa and Sarah discuss what we like most about Killing Eve, as well as coronavirus necessities, other podcasts we recommend, and more. Lots more.

We're back in the swing of things with a discussion of The Crown's third season, with a blockbuster cast this time around. We also manage to talk for several minutes about next week's show without once mentioning the name, oops (it's Killing Eve).

Well, we made it through a lackluster tenth series to a lackluster conclusion. SAD TROMBONE. In this final Quick Rise episode, Melissa and Sarah also discuss Paul Holllywood's taste quirks, penny candy, and unidentified British actors.

This week's theme was a bit of a stretch, but on the whole, the bakers did well with festival buns, cassatelle, and sarawak cakes. Listen in as we talk about the overall improvement this week, Henry's apple-cheeked innocence, and the budding showmance between...Noel and Alice?

Bake Off is somewhat back in the swing of things this week, but we've hit upon what we think might be the reason for the overall "meh" feeling in the tent thus far. Join us for another Quick Rise episode!