Sarah S’moore Bark

Australian Survivor, Australian Survivor: Titans V Rebels, Dessert, Snack, Sweets, TV, TV Recap

Previously on Australian Survivor as both the Titans and Rebels grew more and more chaotic, ready to splinter at any moment, the producers chose chaos and switched up the tribes. Everyone switched onto new tribes except for Valeria, Charles and Winna at the Titans and Alex, Sarah and Rianna staying put on the Rebels. With both trios assuming all hope was lost for their games. After the Titans took out immunity, however, the OG Titans only planned to stay strong for a hot minute. Viola was keen to get rid of her nemesis Caroline, while Caroline had surprisingly on point reads, pulling Kitty aside to convince her they need to get her out before she and Mark turn on them. Forcing Mark to remain loyal to only them. After looping in the Rebel trio, the Middle Aged Mafia traded out Mark for Jaden and banded with the Rebels to blindside the iconic Viola. Pissing off Mark in the process.

The next day we checked in on the Titans where Feras, Scott and Raymond were busy putting on a little bit of pirate dinner theatre for the rest of the tribe. Scott spoke about how proud he was to be thriving on the show, though admitted he was missing his family at home. He spoke about how close he is becoming to the rest of the tribe, before we learnt a little more about his life back home as the Creative Director at MONA. He spoke about how good he is at connecting dots and how he is using that ability to see everyone’s plans and find the best options to make it to the end. Tragically his two closest allies Feras and Kirby were still very nervous about the other and as such, both were trying to figure out how to navigate the OG Titans to take control. Valeria meanwhile admitted that it was obvious Feras and Kirby were feuding and as such, she was hopeful she and the Titans could help them take control. Feras was first to float an alliance with her, while Kirby was playing a more subtle approach, though it was more personal and as such, appeared to be more compelling.

Over at the Rebels, Mark was keeping to himself before we flashed back to the night before where Caroline, Kitty and Eden tried to explain to him why they turned on Viola. Aka to make him closer to them. He asked them to give him some space to sleep on it, so we returned to the present day, where they once again tried to calmly explain why they got rid of V. While he just wished they had come to him instead and continued to work together, as they’re now at a disadvantage. He then pulled himself away to talk about how angry he was at the girls for turning on him, though assured us he would be hiding it until he could enact his revenge.

First step was to catch up with Alex in the shelter, with Mark pointing out that his new goal is to get rid of Caroline and Kitty, asking if Alex would be able to pull in Rianna and Sarah to take control with him. Mark warned that he would pretend to still be voting with the Middle Aged Mafia, though promised he was being genuine. Alex approached his fellow OG Rebels, with the girls agreeing they are happy to vote with whoever, planning to play the Titans off against each other until they make it to the merge.

The tribes caught up with my love JLP for the immunity challenge where they would race to clear a path through a series of obstacles before winching a cart of puzzle pieces to the end. And then solve said puzzle, obviously. Well, after Valeria asked the Rebels who it was that initiated the blindside, leading to lies or silence from the former Titans. Who were, in a word, rattled. Despite this, the Rebels got out to a slight lead, as the Titans took a more slow and steady approach to clearing the path. The Rebels started to winch the puzzle pieces until they got completely stuck on the bridge, giving the Titans plenty of time to catch up and overtake, thanks to the brute strength of Kelli, TBH. Well, Kirby and Scott, but we haven’t seen much of Kelli, so let’s give her props, okay? Both tribes caught up on the puzzle with the Titans first to notice the puzzle was a gradient, after which it all fell into place and allowed them to methodically plug away, jagging immunity thanks to the guidance of zaddy art director.

Back at camp they tried to pretend it was a near loss, before splitting up to make dinner and get prepared for tribal council. Mark meanwhile was still focused on revenge – no doubt in honour of Shonee – as he caught up with the Middle Aged Mafia to suggest they split the votes between Rianna and Sarah, with the latter the genuine target. They all ate it up, confident that with Alex and Jaden, nothing could possibly go wrong. After locking it in, Kitty approached the girls to lock in their votes for Mark while Eden told Alex the legit plan. Well, legit until Mark approached the OG Rebels with the legit, legit plan to get rid of either Caroline or Kitty. Rianna and Sarah, meanwhile, felt aligning with Mark was too risky as he was desperate and as such, pulled Kitty aside to let her know that he and Alex were gunning for her. And ugh, this is why we can’t have nice things, ladies.

After getting the intel from the girls though, Kitty assumed it was a lie and as such, pulled the Middle Aged Mafia aside to assure them nothing will come between them and reconfirm the plan to split the vote on Sarah and Rianna. As such, he doubled down, pulling the OG Rebels aside to let them know the plan is not Kitty but instead Caroline and oh, he has an idol to protect himself. After Mark bounced, Alex caught up with Sarah and Rianna to ask them why they are hesitant. With Alex straight up telling them the Titans were planning to split the vote between the two of them and their only option is voting with Mark. For some reason, Sarah approached Kitty and Eden to ask if the vote was going to be split between her and Rianna. With everyone throwing out lies to confuse her. Sarah then grew increasingly more frustrated as it became apparent that everyone was talking without her. Then and only then, after creating absolute chaos and making it more dramatic than it needed to be, she went back to Mark with her tail between her legs to say she will gladly join him to get rid of Caroline.

At tribal council Rianna spoke about how Viola’s blindside highlighted there were oh so many cracks in the OG Titans. Mark spoke about how the blindside was contextual and he knows how to compartmentalise to avoid blowing things up. Kitty meanwhile admitted there was chaos back at camp that afternoon, essentially blaming it all on Sarah, who was just making a last ditch effort. Rianna on the other hand was hoping the conversations were legit, while Jaden countered that his afternoon was zen as he had a single convo and is happy to follow that plan. Eden spoke about the need to trust your gut and block out the sheer volume of noise, which Rianna agreed was her plan. Though she assured them she would love to be a few steps ahead, however, she was just too nervous ATM. This, in turn, made Sarah nervous, as she worried about how confusing the game was, feeling like she is learning while everyone else is an expert. This made Eden nervous, as he whispered to Kitty, Jaden and Caroline to abandon the split and load their votes on Sarah.

Though stupidly opted to not tell Mark, telegraphing that something was afoot.

With that the tribe voted, Mark played his idol for himself and because of Rianna getting spooked and flipping her vote to Mark, Sarah found herself booted. Despite the disappointment to be out of the game, by the time Sarah arrived at Loser Lodge, the admitted that she was grateful to not have to go through another pre-tribal council scramble. I assured her that despite the chaos of her short stint, it made for great TV and honestly, nobody has made more unforced errors than Rianna, and as such, she can always hold her head up high. And if that wasn’t enough to cheer her up, a huge batch of Sarah S’moore Bark.

S’mores are oh so perfect. And if Williams Sonoma taught us anything, so is a chocolate bark. So combining them into a majestic single dish is a no brainer. Smokey, sweet and a little creamy, it has all the glory of a s’more, without as many burn risks.

Enjoy!

Sarah S’moore Bark
Serves: 4-8, hunger dependent.

Ingredients
250g milk chocolate
½ tsp liquid smoke
½ cup mini marshmallows
½ cup Lauren Graham Crackers, crushed

Method
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave, until shiny. Stir in the liquid smoke and pour the mixture over a lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle with mini marshmallows and using a kitchen torch, gently scorch the marshmallows. You could also pop it until a high grill for a minute or two, or until golden. Followed quickly by sprinkling with the graham crackers.

Transfer to the fridge and leave to set completely for an hour before snapping into bark. And devouring.


As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Candied Yam Yams Arocho

Side, Snack, Survivor, Survivor 44, Sweets, TV, TV Recap, Vegetarian

Previously on Survivor 18 new castaways were marooned on the islands of Fiji and immediately decided they wanted to emulate Kaôh Rōng and find out just how much can go wrong in a single season. Breaking records, poor Bruce hit his head in the marooning challenge and while he made it back to camp, he was promptly medevaced that night. Matthew then fell off a rock and dislocated his shoulder the next day before Brandon got heat exhaustion in the first immunity challenge, the latter sending Ratu to the first tribal council. And while Brandon was the obvious target, he had found the hidden immunity idol and as such, sent Maddy out the door as the first (official) boot with his single vote.

We then experienced yet another dark timeline where a string of young, iconic women went back-to-back-to-back, with Helen, Claire and Sarah rounding out an iconic pre-merge. Matthew’s lingering shoulder pain saw him quit-evaced before the tribes faked merge. This saw the demise of Josh, who had been the main target of multiple tribes for about 4 episodes.

We then saw nature heal, albeit in a heartbreaking fashion, as sweet Matt became the King of the Jury, partly due to his love Frannie winning immunity. Brandon and Kane soon followed before Frannie was felled for being too much of a threat. We then lost zaddy Danny before Jamie just missed her spot in the finale. After Lauren lost final five immunity, she was booted for her underdog story. Heidi then took out her first win of the season at the final immunity challenge however wanting a hero moment for her resume, sent Yam Yam and Carolyn through to final tribal council and faced off against young Carson for the final slot. And beat him in record breaking time to book her slot.

Despite playing a strong game and being beloved by literally everyone, Carolyn didn’t muster a vote at final tribal council – rude – while Heidi jagged one from her ally Danny, leaving Yam Yam to be crowned our King. And while I was disappointed for Carolyn, Yam Yam equally has my heart and played such a smart disarming game that he easily booked himself a spot as one of the top tier. Plus, he is fun, entertaining, silly and represents the sassy, curvy, queer men, so for that, I booked my stan card pre-season.

Most importantly, however, is the fact that for the first time since San Juan Del Sur, I picked the winner pre-season and for that alone, he is worthy of a piping hot dish of Candied Yam Yams Arocho.

While the concept of this dish always filled me with equal parts disgust and intrigue, however after trying it, I instantly fell in love. Earthy and sweet, this dish has everything. Kinda like our new King.

Enjoy!

Candied Yam Yams Arocho
Serves: 8-12.

Ingredients
2kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3(ish)mm coins
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
½ cup muscovado sugar
80g unsalted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of ground ginger
kosher salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups mini marshmallows, more or less as needed

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C.

Butter a large baking dish – 2.5-3L – and layer the discs of sweet potato, followed by some pecans after every layer or two, then some more sweet potato and continue the process until it is all gone.

Combine the sugar, butter, cinnamon, cayenne, nutmeg and ginger in a saucepan with a good whack of salt and pepper. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, until it starts to boil. Once it has come together, remove from the heat and stir through the vanilla. Pour over the potato and pecan, cover with foil and pop in the oven to bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to cook uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until the potato is tender.

Remove from the oven and scatter over the marshmallows and return to the oven to cook for 15 minutes, or until the top is golden and melted. Leave to rest for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving, perhaps with a Turkey Wellington.


As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.