1485 – Dessert Week | Great British Bake You Off to Sleep S12/C9 E4

Episode 1485 – Dessert Week | Great British Bake You Off to Sleep S12/C9 E4

 

SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, hello, bakers. It’s time for Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. Welcome, if you're new. You might be saying, what in the name of Bake-Off, or what is a baking show…? I’d say, well, this is a sleep podcast that’s meant to take your mind off of stuff so you could fall asleep. It’s a bit different. It’s called Sleep With Me. I’m glad you're here if you're new. If this is your first time checking the show out, it is a bit different. It does take a few tries to get used to. So, alls I can tell you is to see what happens, and if this…if you return to the show when you need it, I’m glad you're here. If you're here night after night, I’m glad you're here. Now, if you're new, this is a podcast that’s here to be your friend in the deep, dark night, maybe bring you some sleepy joy and delight, but at least bring you some distraction and comfort from whatever it is that’s keeping you awake.

 

Structurally what we got coming up…this version of the podcast benefits the maximum amount of people it can, so after this we’ll have a little bit of support, then we’ll have a long, meandering intro that’s meant to ease you into bedtime, not to put you to sleep, and then later on we’ll be talking about the Great British Bake-Off baking show, one of the shows that has two titles…I mean, more than two titles, but yeah, it’s…it has…you say, well, you can't use that term because…I don't know if it’s that person…anyway, it’s…one company uses that term in the US for actual bake-offs, I guess. So, you can't have one that’s great and British…could be a baking show. So anyway, that’s…I think that’s what…I already got lost in my own…lost in my own meanders. So, I’m really glad you're here and I really hope I can help you out. So, if you're new, see what happens.

 

If you're…you count on the show whenever you need it or you're here night after night, year after year, if this podcast definitely makes your life better and you want to be a part of it being around next week and next year or next month…you say, I love this podcast; how could I support it? I want to be a part of it, being here for everybody, including me…you could spread the word about the show, or if you already do, thank you. If you already support the show, thank you. Or you could support one of these sponsors. We’d appreciate it so much, and so would a bunch of other people. Thanks.

 

Intro: Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. It could be thoughts on your mind, thoughts about the past, the present, the future, thoughts that are coming up, it could be feelings; maybe the feelings are related to those thoughts, or maybe they're feelings left over from the day or about something coming up, it could be physical sensations or thoughts or feelings related to those physical sensations, it could be changes in time, temperature, routine, work schedule, maybe you work a different schedule, maybe you're getting over something, maybe you're in the middle of something, maybe you got something coming up.

 

Whatever it is, I’m here to take your mind off of it and keep you company. I mean…but you say, how can you take my mind off of what’s keeping me awake if you just brought it up? I say, that’s a great question. I get that e-mail. The reason I bring stuff up at the beginning of the show is so you get the sense you're in good company and you're very welcome here, and that you're so welcome that people get why you're here. Whatever it is that brought you here and whether you found this show through a search or a recommendation or you're just looking for anything that could help you, there’s people who really understand the feelings, the thoughts, the physical sensations, and all the other stuff that brought you here. They've dealt with something very similar. Then there’s people who just understand the underlying parts. Or you say, no, you don't…you can't understand what it was…what it’s like for me. I’ve gone through this.

 

There’s those of us…maybe people that can't relate exactly that are still glad you're here, because they're like, man, if it’s tough for you at night, I mean, even though…if it’s a different kind of tough, I’m still glad you're here and I hope you can have…this podcast can help you out. I guess my main message…I'm getting a little bit…is that there’s people rooting for you right now, people…yeah, people that don't know you but know or relate to what it can feel like and that are glad you're here. Not only am I glad you're here; there’s other people that are glad you're here, that we kinda share a kinda common understanding in the deep, dark night. That’s why I call it the deep, dark night, but also an understanding that you deserve the rest you need so your life is more manageable tomorrow, that you deserve a bedtime you don't have to dread, that you could feel neutral about or maybe even look forward to, and the rest you need on a regular basis so you could be out there in the world living your life, maybe flourishing in the world.

 

Because if you're out there in the world flourishing, it means our world’s a better place to be in, and then that’s a great thing. That’s an important thing. To have you in the world flourishing means our world’s a better place. That’s important to me. So, I hope you get that sense when you're here. Usually I say it in a sillier way. I guess I just don't have a lot of silliness coming out of me tonight. I don't know, do they have a dipstick for…? This is just funny; I was gonna say, do they have a dipstick for silliness? That’s kinda silly, 'cause they say, well, you're the…'cause dipstick used to be…I don't think it was…predates me. Did people used to call each other a dipstick or is that just in my brain? My brain’s like, well, you're the dipstick. But I say, what's actually so bad about being a dipstick? Because as far as I know, in the US at least, a dipstick is a thing in your car that you make sure you have the right amount of oil in there.

 

So, you say…you do have to have a rag to wipe off…as far as…no, you pull it out, then you wipe it off, then you dip it in again, then you pull it back out and you check and you say, oil’s looking good, or add…give me some extra, or whoa, you got a bit much in here. If a dipstick could talk, those would be one of the…oh, your hand’s a little warm. Oh, your hand’s a little cool. Oh, so nice to see you again. It’s been…if it’s Scooter's car, it’s been quite a while. But I guess I’m trying to figure out why it would be a bad thing. It’s also very flexible. You don't want to lose it. So, you say, well, you don't want to lose your dipstick. So, maybe it…maybe it’s just something…maybe it’s just a pet name that my internal critic has for me. But that’s…there is not a dipstick that I know of for silliness, 'cause silliness is not a liquid or whatever it’s called. It’s not…there’s a term for oil or motor oil. It’s a lubricant. So it’s…here's something they have in common; silliness…also a lubricant.

 

I mean, a different kind…a lubricant for life. But let’s move on because if we keep going down this road…so, what was my point? Oh, this show is…well, that’s…maybe I’ll bring you some sleepy joy and delight. Now, the thing is, when some people discover the show, when most people discover the show, they don't like it at least at first, 'cause the show is very different. It does take some getting used to, 'cause what I do is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents. So, that means I go off topic, then I get mixed up, then I forget what I was talking about, then I go back to some…I say, wait a second, I forgot about this. Then I repeat myself or say, what about a dipstick? Some people are like, that’s actually…I may be incorrect on all terms, and then I try to get back to the structure of the show. So, the show is very different. Did I say my voice is not traditionally soothing?

 

So, when you first get here, you may have been searching for a sleep podcast, you might be tired, you might be grouchy, even, probably skeptical or doubtful, 'cause if you're like most listeners and myself, you've searched for things your whole life to help you sleep. You've tried different stuff. You’ve spent money on things. Then you tune into this show and it’s not like anything you've ever heard before. You're like, I thought this was supposed to be a sleep podcast. This guy doesn't sound like…he does sound like a bit of a dipstick. It doesn't sound like your silliness levels are ever low. Your sense…a little bit low on sensibility, though. Yeah, oh boy, am I. You're right about that. That’s what qualifies me for this job. Yeah, my dipstick would look more like a silly straw, or…is that what they're called? This comes up every like fortieth episode. There’s Silly String, there’s fun straws, I think maybe they're called, wild straws or whatever.

 

They're like…have a bunch of…swirly straws; maybe that’s what they're called, swirly straws. Do you have Meander Dip? Oh boy, do I have…Meander Dip; that’s my next product. Take a dip in…well, actually, taking a dip in a nice piece of water would be nice. I'd like to meander and dip at the same time. We haven't served it at any parties or anything. So, anyway, Meander Dip doesn't make any sense. So, when you get here, that’s kinda the reaction to the show; I thought this would have more…something more soothing or more meditative. You're just a guy talking about almost nothing. I say, yeah, no, that makes sense. When most people…most regular listeners, people that have been listening to the show for all the episodes we’ve ever made, when they get here, they were like…they said, what is this show…what is this? This is a sleep podcast that’s been around for twelve years? I don't know about this. So, alls I can tell you is what most listeners…says; like, give it a few tries.

 

It took me two or three tries to get used to the show. There are people that get it right away, but for most people, on the second try it’s like, huh, okay, this is a little bit different. Then on the second try they're like, oh, wait, this show is always going nowhere. It is never getting started. He is a bit of a meander dipstick. Meander Dipstick…Meander Dipstick. Yeah, that’s my name. Don't wear it out. Wait, your name’s Meander Dipstick? Yeah, Meander Dipstick. Can you spell it for me? I could. Are you asking where the spaces are in Meander Dipstick? Yeah, I am asking for…is it Meander Dip Stick or is it Meander Dipstick? No, it’s Meander Dipstick. Sorry, is that one word? No, it’s my name. It’s not a word. Meander Dipstick. So, this is what takes some getting used to with the show. This stuff just comes up naturally. So, it takes some getting used to. On the third try…oh, I fell asleep. I think he was talking about Fun Dip or something, or, I don't know, something maybe about cars? I have no idea.

 

Oh, well, honey, you got…you look so great. You got a great night’s sleep. Yeah, I finally did. So, just give it a few tries and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out or you're like, you know what, Meander Dipstick? You're not for me. Right now you know that…I have a website set up, sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. It has other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there, so you could still find something that helps you out. So, check that out, sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. So, if it doesn't work out, you still find something that helps you out. Or if you already know you don't like me or the show, which is totally fine, you still can find something to help you get a good night's sleep. So, yeah, see what happens. I’m here to help. This is a podcast that you don't exactly listen to.

 

It’s kinda like a TV on in the other room, a out-of-focus picture, a show streaming under your pillow, sand passing through your hands, a friend that goes on and on and on about nothing, like wind in the trees, clouds in the sky. I don't know, maybe you've repurposed an audiobook or sports events on the radio. It’s something you can kinda pay attention to, but you don't totally pay attention to it. So, just see how it goes. It’s not for everybody, but it works for the people it works for. But the whole idea of having a podcast you kind of listen to…it’s like a seminar that you can't quite stay awake for or a presentation or a teacher, nice water passing through your toes. It’s something you could listen to, but you don't need to. You can't quite pay attention to it. Then it’s also a sleep podcast, and I’m not here to put you to sleep. There is no pressure to fall asleep with this show. I’m gonna be here over an hour, 'cause my job’s not to put you to sleep; it’s to keep you company while you fall asleep, which is a bit different, right?

 

It’s…I'm not here…the reason the shows are over an hour is so you don't have to worry about falling asleep in twenty minutes. You don't have to…there’s over 600 shows ready to go 'cause I’m just here to be here for you and misdirect or take your attention off of whatever’s keeping you awake. My job is not to put you to sleep. That’s why there’s no pressure to fall asleep. It’s to be your bore-friend, your bore-sib, your bore-cuz, your bore-bruh, your borebie, your boreman, your neighbore, your bores, your Barbra Borestrand, your Boris Borelaf, your chairman of the boreds, your Big Borebowski, your bore-bae, your best bore-friend f’eva. A bore-friend just spends time talking just like a real friend would do in person or on the phone or on FaceTime when you say, I just need someone there to keep me company right now. I can't sleep at all. I just need you to be here for me and…but I’m not gonna pay attention. If I can fall asleep, I will. Oh, okay. I’ll be there for you. No problem.

 

That’s what a bore-friend does, just take your mind off of stuff and keep you company, maybe brings you some sleepy joy and delight, maybe has a dipstick or is nicknamed Meander Dipstick. I’m sorry, did you say Meander Dipstick? Yeah. Oh, okay. Great. I like your name. Oh, thank you. You're the first person. So, yeah, it’s a podcast…most people don't like it at first, it takes a couple tries to get used to, you don't listen to it, it doesn't put you to sleep. What other good news do I have? Well, let me run through the structure of the show really quick in case you're new so I can meet you where you are. If you're listening to this version of the podcast, this is the one that benefits the most amount of people it can. So, our show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, so you feel seen and welcomed in. Then there’s support so that paying for the show is optional so anybody can discover the podcast or return to it or use it whenever they need it, and we can be around.

 

Then after the support, totally separate from the support, is the intro to the podcast, which is a show within a show. It usually takes around twenty minutes or show…or so for me to explain what the podcast is. I follow a familiar structure every time, but every intro is new so that you get something that’s reassuring and you say, okay, yeah, this is…there Scoots goes again trying to explain what the podcast is. Then I go off topic about something new so that there’s always variety, so that whatever it is that’s keeping us awake feels respected and has something new to distract it, 'cause repetition never worked for me. That’s one of the reasons I made the show, so that something would be there new and fresh for whatever it is that’s keeping you awake. But every intro also follows a familiar structure. The reason it takes about twenty minutes is so you have time to ease into bedtime, to have a buffer between being awake and asleep.

 

So, most people are getting ready for bed, in bed getting comfortable, or winding down, maybe even in some other room doing some relaxing activity, looking out the window, petting pets, lying on the floor, coloring in a coloring book, maybe brushing their hair, whatever it is, to have something nice to slowly transition from being awake to asleep. That’s just what I’ve seen worked and what's worked for me personally. If you decide you just like the stories, we have a version of the podcast, Bedtime Stories from Sleep With Me, that doesn't have intros. But for most intros, this is kinda like a sleepover time where we’re all hanging out, everybody’s thinking, huh, how would you…what are the syllables of Meander Dipstick? It’s that kinda…like, I use…I did invent something many, many years ago called Meander Pants. People said, did you say me underpants? I said, no, Meander Pants. Did you just…are you talking about your under…? No, I’m saying Meander Pants.

 

I’m sorry, are you saying me underpants? No, Mean…I'm pitching you an idea. I thought this was Corporate Underwear International. I was calling to see if you wanted to do…are you…are those just pajama pants? They're like pajama pants, but you can meander around in them. They're Meander Pants. Are you sure you're not…? Who’s calling, please? Who’s calling with this idea about Meander Pants? Meander Dipstick calling, inventor of the…well, I’m…I only invented the concept of Meander Pants. I actually didn't do any work. But I do like to say it 'cause it does…I'll be honest; I do like making these calls 'cause it does sound like I am saying me underpants. But I’m saying Meander Pants. I’m Meander Dipstick reporting for Meander Pants Quarterly. Once upon a time it was Meander Pants Weekly, then it was Meander Pants Monthly. Now it’s Meander Pants Quarterly. It’s the podcast about…anyway, I gotta move on. What was I even talking about?

 

Oh, that the intro goes on and on and on. But it’s kinda like a slightly…it’s not quite funny. It’s humor-like, where we all can kinda spend some time together and get eased into bedtime. If you fall asleep fast, think about Bedtime Stories from Sleep With Me or checking out Sleep With Me+. But otherwise just enjoy the wind down and see what happens. Then after that we’ll have support, then we’ll have our coverage of the Great British Bake-Off baking show, and all told, I’ll be here a bit over an hour, and I’m really glad you're here. If you're new, give the show a few tries. You deserve it. I hope I can help you fall asleep or I hope I introduce you to something that does help. If you're a listener that turns to the show when you need it, I’m glad to be able to help, and if you're a regular listener night after night, year after year, if you could consider letting one person know about the podcast or supporting the show or these sponsors, that’s what ensures that the podcast will be here for you and all those other listeners long into the future, and it’s great to be a part of this thing. It really is amazing. We do do it together. But thanks for giving me this chance tonight. I yearn and strive to help you fall asleep, so thanks again for coming by, and here's a couple ways if you want to be a part of this thing, you could. Thanks.

 

Alright everybody, Scoots here, and we're running through…what do we got? Great British Bake-Off, Episode 4, Dessert Week. The second-half of this episode you'll hear how my lack of planning made this…original version of this…the start of the episode was…I got my just desserts for not…for trying to…just part of the podcast-planning process. So, you'll get a behind-the-scenes version of this episode. The cool thing is it’ll come out, I think, during the behind-the-scenes season of the show, right around Episode 1400 in the thirteenth year of making this podcast. What an honor, eh? Okay, so, it starts out with a smile…standing…my mouth…like, so…and mole…Noel is standing, and he’s making a joke. He makes a joke that Matthew dislikes so much he walks off. Then we get the preview of the episode. Ducks, talking heads, jackets are on…sweet tooth…vegan’s gonna be tough. We start off with a pavlova. Crisp, soft, pillowy center, marshmallow inside. You got an hour.

 

Oh, you gotta bake it for an hour and then turn the oven off if you could, if you have time, and let it rest in the oven for as long as possible. It’s a meringue. Giuseppe is doing a day at the beach. Coco belo, he says. He may sell things at the beach. Peach and coconut…he’s gonna do 120 degrees at 75 in a half-hour with the oven off. Crystelle, she has a Aunt Pamela, pavlova Pamela; kiwi lime…kiwi…like kiwi lime pie. Oh, that’s a little…it was such a good pun I messed…missed me up. Key-lime pie…she’s…it’s gonna be perfectly pillowy. I try to do a lot of alliteration. Maggie says she’s getting back to basics. She’s gonna do a classic one; summer fruits. Paul gives a quiet look and says, good luck. Amanda’s doing pavlova. It’s gonna be chocolate and raspberry. Do you want to hand or pipe it? Fabulous forms is our next round of alliteration. Peach melba…slow and steady…aquafava for Freya. What do you think, people say? 140 at twenty-five? 120 at thirty-five?

 

Beautifully-balanced fillings…Chigs is doing a tropical…but his gets…party on the beach. It’s two cracks on the oven. Prop the oven door open or not? What do you think? It shrinks with cold air. There wasn't any jokes about that, though. George, he put…he says, I’m gonna put mine in my proving drawer. So, that’s George’s move. Jurgen’s doing a pavlova pasar with dates and orange. Paul says, well, that’s interesting. Lizzie; an Easter pavlova with rosemary. Will it be subtle or not? We start to see some cracks in people’s pavlovas. How do you move it without getting more cracks? Very stretchy. Now Jurgen’s also doing…he has mozza. Pavalov…is it a pavlova or a pavlovi? Crystelle the first…then we go to the judging. It looks great. Delicious. Sides are too thick, though. Flavor is great. Jurgen; untidy, unusual. Great blend of flavors. Lizzie; yours does not look good. Some of the…some of it’s spot on, but a bit stodgy, too. Amanda; we love the look, but more raspberry, less chocolate.

 

George…Prue looks…says, it looks awful. Proving drawer did not work, but tastes delicious. Maggie; they say it’s an informal look. A bit of a mess. So, then first they say…they try to be nice. Informal. It looks informal. Giuseppe, you better bake longer. Freya; it looks good, but it’s more like a Eaton mess. There’s no strong flavor. Chigs; it looks amazing. Soft, stable crunch. Wonderful. Chigs gets a handshake. Holy cow. Hollywood handshake. We get talking heads, and then we're into our gingham mystery phrase. Pruella de Vil. Multitasking…get organized. Four sticky toffee puddings and sauce with a smooth cream anglaise or something. A lot of people have never made this before. Prue, she talks about light sponge. Tuile; that’s like some sort of thin biscuit they have. Wet caramel…so, you gotta make wet caramel. Do you use water or not for wet caramel? Somebody asks. Freya drops her biscuits. Butter, sugar…use self-rising flour. Twenty minutes, fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes?

 

Custard is one part of it. Maggie left out her flour, which we see earlier, but they leave enough mystery in there. Sauce on the side? Okay, so then we go into…oh, I put a question mark. Whoever was first, that was pretty solid. Good snap. Lizzie; very good. Crystelle; thin, very unbalanced. Giuseppe; custardy, stodgy, a pity. Freya didn't do well. Too early…you gotta prove it more. Jurgen; well-balanced, decent. George; underdone, raw. Amanda; underdone, raw. Maggie…oh, dear. Unfortunately I spelled it D-E-R. D-E-E-R. But they said D-E-A-R. Chigs; baked caramel…but it’s almost like a toffee at the core. Ninth place is Maggie, then eighth place is Amanda. Seventh place; George. Sixth place; Freya. Fifth place; Crystelle. Fourth; George? Giuseppe, Giuseppe. Third; Chigs. Second; Lizzie. First; Jurgen. So, we do the talking heads. The next one they're doing is a Jocande collar. It has ground almonds in it, whisked sponge, kinda like a Mona Lisa of cakes or something.

 

Chigs is not a fan of the Mona Lisa as a painting. You could put anything inside it you want. We're looking for the best of the best. Lizzie is doing the Liverpool skyline. You're gonna pipe the designs. Jurgen is doing something based on this song, Pastime with Good Company. It’s a love song from King Henry, I think. I got it written somewhere. His wedding cake, though, was a Star Trek wedding cake, two Enterprises kissing. Amanda’s using apple jelly. We get…technical travesty is one of the…another piece of alliteration. Paul is trolling people. We're getting a Paris skyline. Chigs is doing two tiers of his sister’s bathroom tiles, and his sister…talk about a nice bathroom tile. I mean, I’m not being…she was like, man. Really nice. Everybody comments. Then I’ll spoil it; Chigs does a great job. So, then they're like, wow. This is great as a cake and a bathroom tile. George is doing a two-cheer…two-tier…two cheers for two tiers. Cheers for tiers; that was…and Tiers for Cheers.

 

Those were two tiers for Fierce cover bands that never…may have existed but just existed in my mind. Cheers for Tears; that’s like…it encourages emotional expression. We're a cover band of Tears for Fears that encourages letting it out. We don't want you to rust on the inside, so we cheer for tears. We're Cheers for Tears. Tonight we're gonna be singing songs. We're a cover band, but mostly we talk before we cover any songs. But it’s peanut butter and chocolate in George’s cake. Can you spell bavarois? I said, no. B-A-V-O-I-S? B-A-V-A-R-O-I-S? Well, let’s…how about some alliteration? Time and temperature. Don't under or over-bake it. Maggie restarts. Hers was not cooked. Multiple mousses are getting made. Giuseppe’s dad’s a baker, so…also…oh, there’s a song, and I actually did confirm that it’s not…it may not be 100% the same song. I’m not sure if I talked about this yet, but usually at this portion of the show when people are working, there’s a song playing in the background.

 

I’m assuming or presuming it’s a stock music song. While you're waiting at moments during The Simpsons Ride in Universal Studios, either for the ride to start or…it’s a background noise. It’s not airy music, but it’s like when the ride’s buying time, it will play a very similar song, though I don't think it’s the identically-same song in the background. But then I did try to research and it said, well, it could be, 'cause if it’s stock music…but anyway, it’s like a song that’s…I always think of The Simpsons Ride in this point in the episode, and it happened in the next episode, too, 'cause I already watched it. Crystelle; pina colada. Una pina colada, por favor. Are you gonna use…? If it’s vegan you can't use gelatin. You gotta use tofu. Orange…back to baking. Cake consternation or cake construction can commence. Those are some alliterations. Time to get in the moulds. It’s a tricky challenge.

 

Then this one I haven't seen really before; Paul and Prue do live commentary in the room while they're leaning against something, talking about people’s work. Amanda puts hers in the freezer. They talk about puppet walking, which I think was a thing back when this episode came out, or a meme or a trend. I don't know if TikTok was around back then or not. The cakes cool. Final layers…glazes and toppings. Jelly in the freezer with…hey, Uncle Ebenezer, you got some jelly in that freezer? Don't bother this. Out of the freezer…Amanda’s got some leakage. Maggie’s not set. Hers leaks. We start with Jurgen. Looks amazing. Lovely. Is that wine jelly? It’s clear wine jelly. Luxurious. Amanda has a good joke. Layers good. Taste delicious. No apple; more alcohol. Giuseppe; pretty, professional, soft, beautiful. Great flavors. Five stars. Lizzie; a little tough. The flavor is good. Crystelle; looks good. Layers…lovely, powerful flavor. George; clunky, lopsided. Peanut butter over…is too much.

 

But George says this, which I had to quote. It reminded me of the Turtle Kid. George says, I quite like peanuts. So, he doesn't agree with them. He says, yeah, I quite like peanuts. So, well, you don't like peanut butter flavor; I do. Chigs; quite amazing. Perfection. So, that’s pretty good. Freya; a bit messy. Set hard. Orange…strange. It needed some other flavor. Maggie; flavor’s lovely. What have you been doing for four-and-a-half hours? Paul is not nice. Then we get talking heads. We get ducks. Table talk…who’s up to the top? Giuseppe, Jurgen, and Chigs. Another cup of tea, another slice of cake. Is that Sally? That must be from…a quote from a show. What show? I didn't ever get that answer. Matt gets to announce Star Baker, who’s Chigs, our first week with Chigs as Star Baker as far as I know, 'cause I think Jurgen won twice and Giuseppe won once. Noel announces who’s leaving, which is Maggie. Chigs got a handshake and Star Baker. He’s only been baking for twelve months.

 

He calls his mother, which is very sweet. Okay, so, let me look up a couple facts that came up, 'cause we got the time. Might as well, eh? Then Scoots…then past Scoots will come on after this and talk about misplacing the SD card. Okay, so let’s talk about pavlovas first. So, a pavlova is a meringue-based dessert based on the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. It’s striking in its cloud-like texture. It looks like a large cake, but it’s made of whipped egg whites and sugar. It’s got a crust, an interior, and a topping. To get that signature marshmallow center, there’s two ingredients you have to add to egg whites that are different than hard meringues; some sort of acid, lemon juice, vinegar, or cream of tartar. Now strengthen it. Then corns…and/or cornstarch? No, cornstarch, yeah, binds the moisture in the egg whites so it doesn't totally evaporate. Then it’s low and slow, like they said. Now, Australia and New Zealand both claim to have invented the pavlova, but we're not gonna bother weighing in on that.

 

Aquafaba…I always thought it was fava. So, this is…it’s faba, though, F-A-B-A. I thought it was aquafava. I said…they said…one time somebody said, what is that smell? They said, oh, it’s what I’m wearing. They said, no, I didn't mean it like that. No, some other smell. Oh no, I’m wearing aquafava by Scoots Dujour. Soup dujour. Oh, wait, aquafaba or aquafava? Well, I call it aqua…Geo by…aquafava by Geo. Or, most of my aquafava is Goya, actually, 'cause I buy it at Costco, so…eight-pack, man. Get my aquafava in eight packs. It means bean water. It’s a starchy liquid found in chickpeas after boiling dried chickpeas or in the can. They foam just like egg whites. It’s an invention. Homemade…you can do it homemade. That’s aquafaba, though. Not fava. Up until just ten seconds ago I thought it was aquafava. I don't know why I’m disappointed. I mean, faba is cool, but I don't know, fava kinda gave it…why does fava…aquafava sound more high-end like a cologne or a perfume?

 

Like, I would wear a fava if it had something else in there, 'cause otherwise it’d sound like fava beans. But aquafava…the water of fava? You'd rather I wear aqua…? I don't think you can have…is there any colognes or perfumes with a B in there? Faba? I mean, I guess faba sounds…it’s fabulous. You smell fabulous. That was like…who was that? Billy Crystal’s marvellous guy. Okay, anyway, let’s go into custard really quick. Custard I always get mixed up…custard…there’s…oh, so there’s custard and then there’s frozen custard. Oh, that’s what I was mixed up…regular custard is milk, sugar, and egg yolks, and it’s put…you cook it up and it’s like a delicate, gelatinous, or creamy state. Frozen custard’s actually just a ice cream variant. In the US you have legal terms. Protect those ice cream barons, you know? They can't have anybody just putting whatever they want in the ice cream. So, frozen custard has to have 10% milk fat, 1.4% egg yolk solids.

 

So, yeah, just in case you're thinking about getting into that frozen custard game, make sure you have a mathematician on your side. Okay, what about the Mona Lisa, right? The Mona Lisa is a painting. Uses…Leonardo da Vinci. Is that who made it, hopefully? It was this idea of making stuff like the human eye sees it, right? ‘Cause we don't see things in hard lines; more blended and lifelike. Chiaroscuro, right? That’s the light and shadow giving it a 3D look. It has to look accurate. Three-quarter view…composed like a pyramid. But it’s her gaze looking out at us. She has agency, presence, and mystery. Is she smiling? What does her expression mean? What is the background? So, that’s a little bit about Mona Lisa. Okay, Pastime with Good Company is also known as the King’s Ballad. King Henry VIII. Now, we know…most of us know him as the subject in the background of the musical, Six. Great musical if you haven't seen it, by the way.

 

Also one of the rare one-act or no-intermission musicals I’ve been to. I love a well-paced musical and one…I knew nothing about it going into it. Oh boy, did I love that musical. I gotta see it again. Come and see me again sometime. Sure, I will. I’d like to. So, go and see…if you haven't seen Six, I won’t spoil it for you, other than it’s about King Henry VIII’s six wives. But this one was…so, Henry was like, I’m gonna write this song. He was seven…oh no, he became king at seventeen, 1509. Pastime was…he said, yeah, this is what I…this is a little bit about the love of love and love of dancing and all the stuff I do, and not sitting around. Doing all the stuff I do brings you virtue. Doing what other people do does not. It’s a three-part part song made for three voices. Jaunty rhythm. It was preserved so that we have a thing…so, that’s the song. I haven't listened to it yet, I’ll be honest.

 

Okay, this puppet walk…it may have been a trend — I tried to figure this out — where people dance or walk in the movement like a puppet, particularly I think…what are those puppets called with the strings? Marionettes. So, I think that was a popular thing back when this went out, or you'd show the puppet walk. ‘Cause Noel is very hip. I mean, I’m not…I mean that. Noel knows. Okay, I think that’s it. Oh, the only other thing I looked up was wine jelly, but wine jelly is just jelly with wine. The difference between jelly and jam…like, wine jelly is smooth, almost clear. It looks like lucite, the white wine jelly he made. So, yeah. I can't have it, but maybe…whatever. So anyway…oh, this is…I was getting ready to do…make this the end of the episode, but you got another twenty-five minutes of Scoots talking about his SD card to carry you off into dreamland. Goodnight, everybody.

 

Alright everybody, this is Scoots. This is our Great British Bake-Off baking show, but also a little behind-the-scenes real quick. This could be fun, especially…this rarely happens, so I might as well share it with you, right? So, this is supposed to be the fourth episode we're recording in this series, and I think it’s Desserts Week, and it should come out in October. I’m actually recording this in June of 2026. But the behind-the-scenes part is…so, yesterday I recorded the opening for this episode, which you just heard or you heard a little earlier. Then last week I recorded the first segment where I did the facts and some alliteration from my notes. Now I’m sitting down to record. I think we need about twenty, twenty-five more minutes of episode to be over an hour. This is still my current plan, is to watch the episode on my iPad and just see anything that comes…else that comes out and jump on and off it for twenty minutes, twenty-five minutes.

 

But there’s one wrinkle…not a wrinkle in time, but…so, the SD card…so, all our episodes get recorded on technically SD cards, but they're the tiny versions of those, right? Now, in 2026 I’ve moved, but I’m also kind of in the summer and spring of 2026 living and recording and editing and working in two different places. So, my routine has been thrown off a bit, particularly these little nuances of my routine. So, what happened was at some point…this is a Sunday that I’m recording the episode, Father’s Day, by the way. Happy Father’s Day to all the…as Ray would say, to all the fathers and father figures out there. So, last week, the week leading up to Father’s Day…I don't have the days in front of me. At some point I recorded the first segment. I also recorded what we call house ads, which are like, ‘hey, can you support the show so we can keep it going’ messages.

 

I recorded those at where I…where my recording setup is, where I normally record, but I’m also working on cleaning this cabin up on Lake Terry, Lake Ontario, at my dad and mom’s cabin, which…it’s not a log cabin. Here in Central New York they call them camps, but for people in California, at least when I’d say that, they'd imagine either a summer house or a summer camp, and it’s more of like…cabin’s kind of the most apt description of it. Anyway, I’ve also recorded up there, but I’ve been doing this long enough that I know for continuity of a listening experience…so, anything recorded in the cabin, I record the intro and the episode up in the cabin. Anything that’s recorded here where I’m living I’ll record here, even if it’s in segments spread over a week or two. But then I also have to take the SD cards out to edit things and upload things.

 

Normally I do that in the same location, but what happened was I recorded something here in Central New York where I’m recording this right now in this moment, the house ads in the first segment of the Great British Bake…this may take all twenty-five minutes. This is cool. But it may not because I may have to do this…that’s the last addendum. But it’s also a life learning experience, like a bake-off. So, I recorded the house ads, then I recorded the Great British Bake-Off first segment. So, I recorded for about an hour and a half. Then I took the SD card out and I said, okay, now I gotta drive up to the cabin where I’m sleeping and working the next day, and the next day I’ll edit these episodes, right? Where the wrinkle in time happened was…so, the SD card was fine. I took it out, I put it someplace in my backpack where I could get to it the next day to edit the house ads. Then…let’s see, how do I explain this? So, okay, the next day comes. I’m working on the house ads. Then I needed my laptop.

 

I was…then I was recording up by Lake Terry on a different setup and stuff with a different SD…micro SD card in a different device. But we do the same post-processing of everything. But anyway, I still record…the episodes are all recorded in the same place. So, then I have two SD cards that belong in two different places, but they both have to be removed so I can upload the files, and I had to upload files still from both SD cards. So, then at some point after that…and I can…pretty sure I can picture both SD cards, one in its adapter, which makes it a little bit harder to lose, and the one for this episode that I needed to record…they were both sitting on my…sitting on something where I could see them. After that moment, I don't know what happened…I know what happened to the one that was in the adapter 'cause it ended up in my computer so I could upload those files.

 

But then when I said to myself, self, we gotta upload those Great British Bake-Off files and then we're gonna go back to Central New York and record the intro and the rest of that episode this weekend…and by the way, work/life balance…I have been trying to have a better work/life balance over the past couple years. But I am taking a week and a half off…well, which means I’m only working twenty or thirty hours a week. But so, I wanted to get this recording done before I went on this family trip. So, then what happened was I retraced my steps and I said, huh, okay, did I put…where would I put the SD card? ‘Cause probably I would have put it somewhere where I could see it. Most likely that’s what I did. But again, I’m in a new place that I don't normally work in, so I don't have a common place to put it. Like, normally wherever I recorded, if the SD card was missing, it’d be like, okay, it could be in one of these three places, or it’s in the…your pockets or it’s missing.

 

Then if it’s missing, then you start to investigate. So, here, first I check the places I would have put it. Didn't find it. Then I checked where I last saw it. Couldn't find it there. Still stayed pretty calm, which is a growth…this is these growth opportunities. Then there is…I'm only putting it at 50% chance, 'cause I know myself well enough. I’m like, maybe you put it in some safe place and your mind just erased where you placed it. Or…I did check my pockets, I did check my washer and my dryer; it’s not in any of those, though it could still be stuck in a pocket of something I haven't washed, but I think everything…I don't know. But I retraced my steps. It didn't turn up. Then I was like, okay, worst-case scenario…there’s two…I don't like to bring that up, but this is pretty minor. It is…it either fell through the cracks…'cause this is a cabin, right? So, there are places that it’s like, okay, it could have fallen through the cracks of something and it’s gone. So, that’s one.

 

Or, I went outside on this deck facing Lake Terry to edit the house ads and to upload files, and there is a small chance I did a SD-card swap there, and maybe again, because I’m not used to the process, I put that S…the other micro SD card down on the railing of the deck or this plastic chair I was sitting in. So, I retraced those steps, but it was during a pretty wild rain-and-wind storm and then after it. I said, okay, I don't see it anywhere. But I’m still not…I'm still pretty calm. I’m like, okay, worst-case scenario we lost thirty minutes of recording plus whatever was on the SD card, but all that stuff had been uploaded. Second question to a lot of astute observers is was it backed up? Well, with the backup software I use…that’s a good question. I do try to get it to back up all of my SD cards, but because all my SD cards are used on similar-branded devices or similar devices, it can throw the backup…'cause it usually gets…the SD card gets formatted by the device and named by the device.

 

So, a lot of them are like, DR-40 or Z-45 or something. Sometimes I rename them. This particular SD card I don't believe I’ve renamed or backed up, but I still have to check to just see just in case. But the odds of it being backed up and that the most recent file is backed up…'cause these files are pretty sizable. But there is a chance of that. But I still am pretty confident. I say, okay, well, the good news is you're recording at the end of June. Actually, today is the first day of summer. Happy summer. To all you in autumn, kind of a autumn-feeling day today, so, good to be with you. Wow, time travel. Who would have thought a sleep podcast made time travel possible? But we're traveling time together. So, I’m like, okay, well, what I’ll do is get this work done and then I’ve gotta go back up there today 'cause I’m gonna celebrate Father’s Day. I'm gonna celebrate Father’s Day with my daughter. She’s in California, so I’m gonna celebrate it with her during this family trip that’s coming up.

 

But I’m gonna celebrate it with my brother and his two sons. So…later this evening. So, up at Lake Terry. So, that’s the status of the behind-the-scenes, is like…part of me is like, oh boy, let’s just start again. But I’m like, okay, we do have some flexibility here. Let’s just see what happens, and then after this trip, if the card doesn't turn up, then yeah, with the way our time flow works, believe it or not, that episode would kinda need to be in the queue to be edited. ‘Cause what happens is…I don't know, this is kind of a anniversary episode, so this is kinda funny. I mean, it’s in our anniversary season of making the show. Maybe I was even talking about this, the anniversary episode I recorded two or three months ago. But what’ll happen is…what happens is I usually record stuff, and I try to record it within a few days of each other, the full episode. We record the intro one day and then the episode another, or sometimes these Bake-Off episodes, 'cause they can be segmented, it just happened to be that I didn't have an open…or, no, no, I had to record those house ads, and that took a half hour.

 

I said, okay, I don't have time to record an entire episode and the house ads, but I do want to make some more progress. Let’s just record this segment. Or actually, I probably took forty-five and forty-five. So, after I record, normally…this is another wrinkle, is like, I take the SD card out and then I upload everything. But again, I was changing locations, so I said, oh, I’ll do it later. So, yeah, that’s just where we are. A little behind-the-scenes. Oh, so then they would get uploaded. Then after they're uploaded, Posty will download them and do a edit of the episode. So, let’s say this was…this episode’s…GBB 4 is how we would communicate, and there’d be a folder. Inside that folder would be…so, this is like Great British Bake-Off, making Sleep With Me. So, inside that folder, though, would be the intro file and then a file of a full episode, or in this case, two files of a partial episode. Then Posty would download those files. Now, those are all uncompressed files, which means they're large.

 

They're not what you end up listening to. Then Posty downloads them and edits them, takes out…believe it or not, I do have to pause or clear my throat or take a break or repeat things that I don't like how it sounded and take breaths and stuff like that. So, Posty will take that stuff out and makes it sound good, makes it sound free and easy. Then Posty puts those files, which are, again, still uncompressed files, which just means that they have the highest fidelity but they're not good for listening to on a device or transmitting…even though we're transmitting over the internet. We're pay…whatever. It’s part of a work thing. So, then Posty puts his files back up. Again, we have this great working relationship, all of us, that we’ve developed over the years. So, this all just happens, and that’s the luxury of working far out ahead of time, and the train is…that’s what I mean; we're always working on the train, but the train’s always moving.

 

So, we're adding cars, switching cars, all while the trains are moving. Okay, so, then at some point Russell, Rusty Biscuit, will then download those files. Now, meanwhile, behind the scenes, Russell and I…mostly Russell, but then he brings it to my attention 'cause he’s really the one that makes sure…he’s the one monitoring all the trains and the cars and the destinations…will be looking at the schedule. Well, I’m looking at the schedule right…actually across the room from me. So, right now I was brainstorming August through Thanksgiving, and also then looking at what needs to be recorded. So, what do we have? August…we have…Great British Bake-Off, one, comes out in the beginning of August. Then an on-location episode, which I don't have there but I think…I don't know. Then a crossover with the Novelizers podcast, then Checking Into Boredom 5, then a Trending Tuesday episode called Fletch Factor, then a Hilton balcony episode, then…and this is…and in addition, Russell’s also scheduling the Thursday episodes.

 

These are all the brand-new episodes. Then Nothing Works, Everything Happens 7, then Great British Bake-Off 2, then…I can't quite see…oh, a Bernie the butterfly episode, then a bored game unboxing episode, then a all-intro episode for Labor Day, then a Pickwick episode, then probably another on-location episode. That one’s not exactly set. I think it is set, though, but not on the brainstorming board I have. Then Checking Into Boredom 6, then Nothing Works, Everything Happens 8, then Great British Bake-Off 3, then a Trending Tuesday episode for September called Case of Something…Too Many…Case of Too Many Giggles, then a LA balcony episode, then an anniversary show, which we recorded a while back, then a Pickwick episode. ‘Cause you could see how the rhythm goes. Again, we’ll move these around. Like, when I put them up there and I say, okay, well, let’s move that one so there’s a little bit more space…oh, I know people like this style. Okay, then Checking Into Boredom.

 

Now we're in Oct…October was the anniversary show, Pickwick 3, or 16 if you're on Sleep With Me+, Checking Into Boredom 6, Great British Bake-Off 4; that’s the one we're supposed to be working on. So, that’s…everything up until that point was recorded. So, this is our first one that’s not recorded. Okay, then 10/18, The Great Gourd Cast; that’s a Trending Tuesday-style episode for October, or…and/or Nothing Works, Everything Happens 9. I have arrows there of like, which date fits better? ‘Cause we try to spread out the Read With Me…we try to spread everything out and keep it coming out consistently. Then now we're in a era of mystery, by the way. So, 10/25, that’s Halloween Week. We have two Halloween-style episodes scheduled, but none recorded. I have the intro recorded for the first one and I have ideas for both of those episodes, but they haven't been recorded yet. So, those need to be recorded.

 

Then November 1, probably either a Pickwick episode or a on-location or balcony-style episode, or walking episode. Then we move to Checking Into Boredom 7. That’s 11/8. That may be wrong. That may be Checking Into Boredom 8. I think I was double-checking that and my handwriting or my math was off. But either way, Checking Into Boredom episode, then a Great British Bake-Off 5. So, the Checking Into Boredom 7 is done, I think 100% done. I think I recorded the intro Friday. Anyway, I don't know. See, these…this is why I need Russell. Then Great British Bake-Off 5, then a open spot still to be decided, 11/15, then probably a Nothing Works, Everything Happens 10, then a Trending Tuesday-style episode, and then a all-intro episode for Thanksgiving. So, that’s what we're looking at there. So, then I have a list of stuff that needs to be recorded; Great British Bake-Off 4 and the open. Okay, we got the open done, but I can't determine how much of it’s…episode’s been recorded.

 

Then I have it listed by priority, but they're also listed in a brainstorm list. So, that was priority one. Next on the list is priority seven, Great British Bake-Off 5 and the open. But then I put next to it, that’s November. Okay, then priority two was recorded; Great Gourd Cast and the opening recorded. Priority six was recorded, Pickwick 17 and the open. Priority eight is a November Trending Tuesday-style episode and a opening; not recorded. Okay, then priority three, Ween 1. So, that’s a Halloween-themed Episode 1 and the opening. The opening was recorded. Priority four for October as well; Ween 2 and a opening. Okay, priority nine for November…so, further out; Nothing Works, Everything Happens 10 and the opening. Priority eight for November; Checking Into Boredom 8. Then I have further brainstorming of like, okay, we probably have seven holiday slots for episodes. So, I still have a lot to record for those months, but then it’s already starting.

 

I really like working ahead, 'cause it always comes up on me otherwise. I say, oh, wait a second, I missed May the Fifth. This year, I think it was March, I was like, oh, I gotta do a May the Fifth episode. Or, I’d like to. Or, other years I’ll remember Father’s…Father Figure Day, and Ray will want to do a episode for that, but that didn't happen this year, but that’s fine. Then…or yeah, other seasonal stuff. So, then we schedule it, and then…okay, so then to go back to finish this segment up and then I’ll get back to your bake-off…or you already heard the bake-off and this is the second segment…but it’s okay 'cause I was just gonna look through stuff. So, then after that will be…so, after we have the scheduling, then Russell is downloading Posty’s work. Then what Russell does is he assembles it because it’s in pieces and we assemble different styles of episodes. So, first what he does is he downloads it and he makes just a…I don't know.

 

We just call it 00AA, AAA, so it goes to the top of the file, and then he makes an MP3 of just what Posty worked on, like in the proper order, and then we both listen to it. Not at the same time, but separately, so…and then we…he’ll say, okay, I noticed this, this, and this. That probably has to be changed. What do you think? Then sometimes what I’ll do is I’ll take a picture while I’m listening to it of the time, and I’ll say, oh yeah, 15:21, I don't know, there was this. Let’s just get…cut that out, or it’s confusing or something. Or, yeah. So, then we exchange notes. Then Russell assembles the episode, which means…so, on Sleep…so, 'cause everything’s hosted in different places. So, Sleep With Me+ is hosted in its own place. So, he’ll make a story-only version of the show. He’ll make…I think we do make a intro-only version of the show. We don't use that in the all-intro episodes, but it’s just nice to have the files. Then he’ll make a full ad-free version of the show.

 

Then he’ll start to assemble the version that goes out to the public, and that gets separated into three segments which we call PP1, which is funny; PP. It’s just the letter PP. But PP1 is the teaser; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Then I say something. Then segment two is called PP2, which is like, hey, are you up all night tossing, turning? Then we have segment three, which is the story, when I was…hey, this is Scoots, and I’m trying to figure out where my SD card is. So, let me carry you off into dreamland. So, then there’s that segment. Then there’s the story-only version that will come out years from now on Bedtime Stories from Sleep With Me. Then, so we’ll assemble that. Then what happens in the ad-supported version that goes out is like, those segments get magically put together with the support so that…years ago we had to do all that assembly, but things have changed so much since we’ve been making the podcast.

 

So, yeah, that’s…and then it’ll all get uploaded to the different…so, the Sleep With Me stuff…Sleep With Me+ stuff will get uploaded to the servers that hold the Sleep With Me+ stuff and get scheduled. A lot of times we’ll listen to it again if there was more than one change, and then the ad-supported, listener-supported free version or optional pay version will get uploaded to the servers at PRX that hosts Sleep…the regular version of Sleep With Me. Then that’ll get scheduled. Then when the schedule comes, it just goes out. It just goes out to the world. Oh, and then also…but there’s others…there’s a lot of other work I’m probably missing, too. So, anybody else that works very hard…so then Russell will also pull things that he thought were funny and make little audiograms. He also takes a bunch of notes that we do have if anybody’s interested in them. I used to post them on Sleep With Me+, so I could post those links on Sleep With Me+ again.

 

But yeah, so, he takes all these notes based on the episode, 'cause I like to have…I don't know. It’s very helpful. Then also, the episode will get uploaded to Leah, who’s our transcriptionist, human transcriptionist, and Leah will…could transcribe the whole episode. This all happens ahead of time. So then also Russell will download the transcription and put everything on our website. So, on our website you can get the transcription of the show. I don't know if…I call his notes Notable Notes, 'cause I just think…I said, take a note…take notes of whatever’s notable, 'cause maybe at some point we’ll need it, and it’s always useful to know. I mean, I haven't found a need to need it yet.

 

Then that’ll get scheduled on the website. I think that’s basically…but it all comes back down to like, having common safe places and a little bit better SD card hygiene, I guess. We talk about…people talk about that related to sleep. It’s like, okay, I gotta get back. This is a good reminder for me to make sure I’m using best practices with my SD…my micro SD cards, including this one, which I will upload now, even though we still have one more segment which may be before this, maybe after this. Or I may be recording it. Who knows? But thanks so much for listening, and yeah, it’s a little bit of how we bake this show up, bakers. Thanks.

 

[End of recording]

Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes

GBBO / TV Recap

 

Oil in Cars

https://www.uti.edu/blog/industry-relationships/everything-about-motor-oil

https://www.autozone.com/diy/motor-oil/what-does-oil-do-in-a-car

https://enginelearner.com/what-is-engine-oil-why-is-it-important/

 

GBBO S12/C9 E4

https://www.nerdsandbeyond.com/2021/10/14/the-great-british-baking-show-recap-season-12-episode-4-dessert-week/

https://gingesbecray.com/gbbo-s12e04-recap/

https://thespool.net/reviews/tv/tv-recap-the-great-british-baking-show-season-12-episode-4/

 

101 Dalmatians

https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/making-101-dalmatians

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-65th-anniversary-of-one-hundred-and-one-dalmatians/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-one-hundred-and-one-dalmatians-saved-disney-180977869/

 

Tears for Fears

https://www.vice.com/en/article/youneedtohearthis-tears-for-fears-the-hurting/

https://www.loudersound.com/features/why-tears-for-fears-made-two-of-the-most-influential-albums-ever

https://www.salon.com/2022/05/30/tears-for-fears-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-consideration/

 

DOWN TO BUSINESS

What in the name of bake off?!

One of those shows that has two titles

Lost in my own meanders

 

PLUGS

Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

 

SPONSORS

Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Talkiatry; Quince; AquaTru; AirDoctor Pro; DripDrop; Cozy Earth

 

INTRO

Thoughts or feelings related to physical sensations

How can I take something off your mind if I just brought it up?

You’re in good company and you’re very welcome here

Other people are also glad you’re here

A common understanding in the deep, dark night

I don’t have a lot of silliness coming from me tonight

Dipstick for Silliness

What’s so bad about being a dipstick?

How dipsticks work

If a dipstick could talk…

Why is “dipstick” an insult? Aren’t they incredibly useful

There can’t be a dipstick for silliness because silliness is not a liquid

Silliness: A Lubricant for Life

If you think I sound like a dipstick, that’s fine

My dipstick would look like a silly straw

Meander-Dip, my new product

Meander-Dip: It Doesn’t Make Any Sense

I’m just a guy talking about almost nothing

Meander Dipstick. That’s my name, don’t wear it out.

sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou

You don’t really pay attention to this show

My job is just to be your borefriend

The structure of the show

Repetition never worked for me

Years ago, I created Meanderpants

Calling Big Underwear to pitch Meanderpants

Humor Like

Tonight will be our coverage of the Great British Bake Off

 

STORY

We’re running through GBBO Ep 4: Dessert Week

My lack of planning led to me getting my just desserts

You’ll get some BTS on this episode near the end

Noel is standing that Matt dislikes

Ducks and talking heads

Signature: Pavlova!

You gotta bake it for an hour and then let it rest in the hour

Giuseppe: Coco Bello at the beach

Peach and coconut

Crystelle: Key Lime Pie for Aunt Pamela

Maggie: Back to basics. Classic with summer fruits

Paul gives a quiet look

Amanda: Pav-love-a. Chocolate and raspberry

Freya – Peach melba with aqua faba for vegan recipe

Chigs: Tropical party on the beach

George: Putting it in the proving door

Jurgen: Pavlova Hussar- dates and orange

Lizzie: Easter pavlova with Rosemary

Cracks in the pavlovas

How do you move it without getting more cracks?

Judging

Crystelle: looks great, delicious, sides too thick, good flavor

Jurgen: untidy, unusual, good flavor

Lizzie: doesn’t look good, a bit stodgy

Amanda: love the look, more raspberry, less chocolate

George: Looks awful, tastes delicious

Maggie: informal look, messy

Giusseppe: needed a longe bake

Freya – looks good, no strong flavor, more like an Eton Mess

Chigs: looks amazing, wonderful, soft stable crunch

CHIGS GETS A HANDSHAKE!!

Technical Gingham Mystery

The clue is…Cruella De Ville

Get organized

4 Sticky Toffee Puddings and Creme Anglaise

Touille biscuit

You have to make white caramel

Freya drops her biscuits

Custard is part of it

Maggie left out her flour

Sauce on the side??

Judgment

1st: solid and good snap

Lizzie: very good

Crystelle: thin and unbalanced

Giuseppe: custard is stodgy

Freya didn’t do good, needed more proving

Jurgen: well balanced, decent

George: underdone, raw

Amanda: underdone, raw

Maggie: Oh dear / Oh deer

Chigs: baked the caramel

Maggie is last

Jurgen wins the Technical!

Showstopper

Joconde Imprimé Collar

The Mona Lisa of cakes

Chigs is not a fan of Mona Lisa

Lizzie: A wonderful skyline

Jurgen: a cake based off a love song written by Henry VIII

Jurgen’s wedding cake was Star Trek themed. 2 Enterprises kissing

Amanda uses apple jelly

Paul trolls people

Chigs is doing 2 tiers of his sister’s bathroom tiles

Really nice bathroom tile

George: 2 cheers for 2 tiers

Cheers for Tiers / Tears for Cheers, my Tears for Fears tribute bands

Can you spell bavarois? I can’t

Maggie restarts because hers doesn’t cook

Giuseppe’s dad is a baker

There’s a specific background song

It reminds me of the Simpsons ride at Universal Studios

Crystelle: Piña Colada

Cake Construction Can Commence

Tricky challenge

Paul and Prue are doing live commentary in the room??

Puppet walking

Amanda and Maggie have leakage

Judgment

Jurgen: looks incredible. Is that wine jelly?? Luxurious

Amanda: layers good. No alcohol. More alcohol

Giuseppe: professional. Great flavors. 5 Stars.

Lizzie: A little tough. Good flavor

Crystelle: looks good, powerful flavor

George: clunky, lopsided

George quite likes peanuts

Chigs: quite amazing. Perfection

Freya: strange. Set hard. Needed more flavor.

Maggie: flavor is lovely. What was she doing for 4.5 hours?

Paul is pretty harsh with Maggie there

Table Talk 

Giuseppe, Jurgen, and Chigs are at the top

Star Baker is Chigs!!

Maggie is going home

Chigs has only been baking for 12 months. Wait, what??

Episode facts

Pavlova Facts

Based on a Russian ballerina

To make the marshmallow, you need to add corn starch and an acid to egg whites

Aqua Faba facts

Aqua Faba, a new scent from Scoots du Jour

I get my aqua faba in 8 packs from Costco

Up until 10 seconds ago, I thought it was aqua fava

I don’t know why I’m disappointed to learn that

Why does “fava” remind me of perfumes

Let’s get into custard really quick

Custard vs frozen custard

Frozen custard is more ice cream than custard

Ice Cream Barons are keeping this from us in the US

Mona Lisa facts

It’s a painting

It looks like the eye sees

What does her expression mean?

“Pastime with Good Companies”, by Henry VIII

I know him by the musical Six

I love a well-paced musical

The rare one-act musical

A song about having a good time

Written for 3 voices

I haven’t listen to this song yet

The puppet walk trend

Like a marionette

Wine jelly – the concept explains itself

Okay, here’s Scoots talking about messing up his SD card

A quick BTS on this episode

Yesterday, I recorded the intro

Last week, I recorded the first half

I’m about to record again

But there’s one wrinkle

I record the whole show on a micro SD card

Little nuances of my routine have been thrown off

I’m recording this on Father’s Day

I’m staying at my parents’ cabin on Lake Ontario

We call them camps, not cabins

For listening continuity, the whole episode should be recorded in the same place

Maybe this will take up 25 minutes

I recorded house ads and GBBO in my house

I was going to upload the audio and edit the episode at the cabin

Then I recorded by Lake Teri with a different mic and SD card

Two SD cards for 2 places

At some point after that, well…

I’m working on my work-life balance

I’ll kind of be taking a week off this summer

But I lost track of one of my SD cards

Couldn’t find it in any of the normal places

I was remarkably calm throughout this. That’s growth.

Worst case scenario, it fell through the deck

I still don’t know where it is

Worst case scenario, we lost maybe 30 minutes

But was it backed up?

The SD card gets formatted and named by whatever device it interacts with

I hadn’t renamed this card yet

These files are pretty sizeable

Either way, it’s not that bad

Today is the first day of summer. Happy Summer!

Who would’ve thought that you could travel time with a sleep podcast?

I do have some flexibility

I guess this is kind of an anniversary episode, so let’s dive in all the way

First, I’ll record stuff. I try to record segments close to one another

How I Bake Off an Episode

Posty downloads the uncompressed, raw files

Posty makes it sound free and easy

Then Posty uploads those uncompressed files

The luxury of working far out ahead of time

Then Rusty Biscuit will download those files

Rusty’s monitoring the schedule

I’ve been brainstorming August through Thanksgiving

Maybe you get a sense of the schedule rhythm

Recording Priorities

And sometimes I’ll forget something and we’ll have to rush record something

Back to the workflow

Then Rusty assembles the episodes

Then we both listen to it and give some notes

Then we exchange notes

Different versions for the public release and the SWM+ release

The PPs, hee hee

Then Russell will also pull audio for social media

If you want to see his notes, I can also share those

Then we upload the episodes for our human transcriptionist, Leah

Then Russell uploads the transcripts to our website

(Hello from Russell to anyone reading these notes about notes right now. Meta!)

Thanks so much for listening!

That’s a little of how we bake this show for you

 

SUMMARY:

Episode: 1485

Title: Dessert Week | Great British Bake You Off to Sleep S12/C9 E4

Plugs: Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

Sponsors: Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Talkiatry; Quince; AquaTru; AirDoctor Pro; DripDrop; Cozy Earth

Notable Language:

• Dipstick for Silliness
• Lubricant for Life
• Meander-Dip
• Meander Dipstick
• Meanderpants
• Creme Anglaise
• Oh Dear / Oh Deer
• Technical Travesty
• Cheers for Tiers / Tears for Cheers

 

Notable Culture:

• • Silly String
  • Meander-Dip, my new product
  • sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou
  • Great British Bake Off
  • Eton Mess
  • Cruella De Ville / 101 Dalmatians

• Mona Lisa

• • Henry VIII

• Star Trek

• • Tears for Fears

• The Simpsons

• • Universal Studios
  • Aqua Faba, a new scent from Scoots du Jour
  • Costco
  • Billy Crystal
  • Leonardo Da Vinci

• Six musical

• A Wrinkle In Time

 

Notable Talking Points:

• Thoughts or feelings related to physical sensations
• How can I take something off your mind if I just brought it up?
• You’re in good company and you’re very welcome here
• Other people are also glad you’re here
• A common understanding in the deep, dark night
• I don’t have a lot of silliness coming from me tonight
• Dipstick for Silliness
• What’s so bad about being a dipstick?
• How dipsticks work
• If a dipstick could talk…
• Why is “dipstick” an insult? Aren’t they incredibly useful
• There can’t be a dipstick for silliness because silliness is not a liquid
• Silliness: A Lubricant for Life
• If you think I sound like a dipstick, that’s fine
• My dipstick would look like a silly straw
• Meander-Dip, my new product
• Meander-Dip: It Doesn’t Make Any Sense
• I’m just a guy talking about almost nothing
• Meander Dipstick. That’s my name, don’t wear it out.
• sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou
• You don’t really pay attention to this show
• My job is just to be your borefriend
• The structure of the show
• Repetition never worked for me
• Years ago, I created Meanderpants
• Calling Big Underwear to pitch Meanderpants
• Humor Like
• Tonight will be our coverage of the Great British Bake Off
• We’re running through GBBO Ep 4: Dessert Week
• My lack of planning led to me getting my just desserts
• You’ll get some BTS on this episode near the end
• Noel is standing that Matt dislikes
• Ducks and talking heads
• Signature: Pavlova!
• You gotta bake it for an hour and then let it rest in the hour
• Giuseppe: Coco Bello at the beach
• Peach and coconut
• Crystelle: Key Lime Pie for Aunt Pamela
• Maggie: Back to basics. Classic with summer fruits
• Paul gives a quiet look
• Amanda: Pav-love-a. Chocolate and raspberry
• Freya – Peach melba with aqua faba for vegan recipe
• Chigs: Tropical party on the beach
• George: Putting it in the proving door
• Jurgen: Pavlova Hussar- dates and orange
• Lizzie: Easter pavlova with Rosemary
• Cracks in the pavlovas
• How do you move it without getting more cracks?
• Judging
• Crystelle: looks great, delicious, sides too thick, good flavor
• Jurgen: untidy, unusual, good flavor
• Lizzie: doesn’t look good, a bit stodgy
• Amanda: love the look, more raspberry, less chocolate
• George: Looks awful, tastes delicious
• Maggie: informal look, messy
• Giusseppe: needed a longe bake
• Freya – looks good, no strong flavor, more like an Eton Mess
• Chigs: looks amazing, wonderful, soft stable crunch
• CHIGS GETS A HANDSHAKE!!
• Technical Gingham Mystery
• The clue is…Cruella De Ville
• Get organized
• 4 Sticky Toffee Puddings and Creme Anglaise
• Touille biscuit
• You have to make white caramel
• Freya drops her biscuits
• Custard is part of it
• Maggie left out her flour
• Sauce on the side??
• Judgment
• 1st: solid and good snap
• Lizzie: very good
• Crystelle: thin and unbalanced
• Giuseppe: custard is stodgy
• Freya didn’t do good, needed more proving
• Jurgen: well balanced, decent
• George: underdone, raw
• Amanda: underdone, raw
• Maggie: Oh dear / Oh deer
• Chigs: baked the caramel
• Maggie is last
• Jurgen wins the Technical!
• Showstopper
• Joconde Imprimé Collar
• The Mona Lisa of cakes
• Chigs is not a fan of Mona Lisa
• Lizzie: A wonderful skyline
• Jurgen: a cake based off a love song written by Henry VIII
• Jurgen’s wedding cake was Star Trek themed. 2 Enterprises kissing
• Amanda uses apple jelly
• Paul trolls people
• Chigs is doing 2 tiers of his sister’s bathroom tiles
• Really nice bathroom tile
• George: 2 cheers for 2 tiers
• Cheers for Tiers / Tears for Cheers, my Tears for Fears tribute bands
• Can you spell bavarois? I can’t
• Maggie restarts because hers doesn’t cook
• Giuseppe’s dad is a baker
• There’s a specific background song
• It reminds me of the Simpsons ride at Universal Studios
• Crystelle: Piña Colada
• Cake Construction Can Commence
• Tricky challenge
• Paul and Prue are doing live commentary in the room??
• Puppet walking
• Amanda and Maggie have leakage
• Judgment
• Jurgen: looks incredible. Is that wine jelly?? Luxurious
• Amanda: layers good. No alcohol. More alcohol
• Giuseppe: professional. Great flavors. 5 Stars.
• Lizzie: A little tough. Good flavor
• Crystelle: looks good, powerful flavor
• George: clunky, lopsided
• George quite likes peanuts
• Chigs: quite amazing. Perfection
• Freya: strange. Set hard. Needed more flavor.
• Maggie: flavor is lovely. What was she doing for 4.5 hours?
• Paul is pretty harsh with Maggie there
• Table Talk 
• Giuseppe, Jurgen, and Chigs are at the top
• Star Baker is Chigs!!
• Maggie is going home
• Chigs has only been baking for 12 months. Wait, what??
• Episode facts
• Pavlova Facts
• Based on a Russian ballerina
• To make the marshmallow, you need to add corn starch and an acid to egg whites
• Aqua Faba facts
• Aqua Faba, a new scent from Scoots du Jour
• I get my aqua faba in 8 packs from Costco
• Up until 10 seconds ago, I thought it was aqua fava
• I don’t know why I’m disappointed to learn that
• Why does “fava” remind me of perfumes
• Let’s get into custard really quick
• Custard vs frozen custard
• Frozen custard is more ice cream than custard
• Ice Cream Barons are keeping this from us in the US
• Mona Lisa facts
• It’s a painting
• It looks like the eye sees
• What does her expression mean?
• “Pastime with Good Companies”, by Henry VIII
• I know him by the musical Six
• I love a well-paced musical
• The rare one-act musical
• A song about having a good time
• Written for 3 voices
• I haven’t listen to this song yet
• The puppet walk trend
• Like a marionette
• Wine jelly – the concept explains itself
• Okay, here’s Scoots talking about messing up his SD card
• A quick BTS on this episode
• Yesterday, I recorded the intro
• Last week, I recorded the first half
• I’m about to record again
• But there’s one wrinkle
• I record the whole show on a micro SD card
• Little nuances of my routine have been thrown off
• I’m recording this on Father’s Day
• I’m staying at my parents’ cabin on Lake Ontario
• We call them camps, not cabins
• For listening continuity, the whole episode should be recorded in the same place
• Maybe this will take up 25 minutes
• I recorded house ads and GBBO in my house
• I was going to upload the audio and edit the episode at the cabin
• Then I recorded by Lake Teri with a different mic and SD card
• Two SD cards for 2 places
• At some point after that, well…
• I’m working on my work-life balance
• I’ll kind of be taking a week off this summer
• But I lost track of one of my SD cards
• Couldn’t find it in any of the normal places
• I was remarkably calm throughout this. That’s growth.
• Worst case scenario, it fell through the deck
• I still don’t know where it is
• Worst case scenario, we lost maybe 30 minutes
• But was it backed up?
• The SD card gets formatted and named by whatever device it interacts with
• I hadn’t renamed this card yet
• These files are pretty sizeable
• Either way, it’s not that bad
• Today is the first day of summer. Happy Summer!
• Who would’ve thought that you could travel time with a sleep podcast?
• I do have some flexibility
• I guess this is kind of an anniversary episode, so let’s dive in all the way
• First, I’ll record stuff. I try to record segments close to one another
• How I Bake Off an Episode
• Posty downloads the uncompressed, raw files
• Posty makes it sound free and easy
• Then Posty uploads those uncompressed files
• The luxury of working far out ahead of time
• Then Rusty Biscuit will download those files
• Rusty’s monitoring the schedule
• I’ve been brainstorming August through Thanksgiving
• Maybe you get a sense of the schedule rhythm
• Recording Priorities
• And sometimes I’ll forget something and we’ll have to rush record something
• Back to the workflow
• Then Rusty assembles the episodes
• Then we both listen to it and give some notes
• Then we exchange notes
• Different versions for the public release and the SWM+ release
• The PPs, hee hee
• Then Russell will also pull audio for social media
• If you want to see his notes, I can also share those
• Then we upload the episodes for our human transcriptionist, Leah
• Then Russell uploads the transcripts to our website
• (Hello from Russell to anyone reading these notes about notes right now. Meta!)
• Thanks so much for listening!
• That’s a little of how we bake this show for you