As I was not part of this week's episode, I spent most of that day preparing for a Food & Wine photo shoot the next morning for an article in our December issue, for which the contestants were split into teams of two and asked to cook their best staff meal. The results were absolutely delicious and we all had a brilliant time cooking and hanging out together.

I only passed by the holiday party set for a few moments before it all began to take F&W Senior Editor Kate Krader on a behind-the-scenes tour. It was a treat to explore the Warner Brothers back lot. While our chefs sweated it out in their kitchen-trailers and the other judges walked the red carpet, Kate and I investigated the enormous, empty set. It was filled with street upon street of lovely little houses, stores and buildings, created to look like anywhere in the country, from Smalltown, USA to the Bronx, NY.