Sunday, August 11, 2013

The RTK/TFW Project: Collin's "Thomas" Hummus

TFW has a new cookbook coming out. If you can't beat 'em join 'em, right? Resident poster Silimom offered to give the recipes a fair shake, following them as closely as possible and getting her family's input, too. Other posters might chime in with their attempts as well as we go along. So in the spirit of the Julie/Julia Project, in which government worker Julie Powell spent one year cooking her way through every recipe of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, here is our Reality T.V. Kids/The Former Wife Project, as we cook our way through Kate Gosselin's Love Is In the Mix.

First up: Collin's "Thomas" Hummus prepared by Silimom

The Cost

Since Kate has stated in the past that she cooks with ingredients labeled “organic”, I decided to do the same in order to keep the recipe as true as possible to the way she might make it at home. With that in mind, I grabbed my reusable bags and headed to my local Whole Foods.

Whole Foods is an experience, for anyone who hasn’t been to one yet. It’s as if they filter the air with some sort of chemical to make you feel more virtuous and healthy once you walk through the doors. I don’t tend to shop here, as a rule, because they don’t tend to carry the convenience foods my family eats. I do like to go here for my meats and, until the farmer’s market opened up down the street, sometimes vegetables and fruits, especially ones my local Safeway doesn’t carry on a regular basis. We also tend to call Whole Foods “Whole Paycheck” because the prices, for the most part, tend to be higher, especially on their convenience foods.



Here’s what I bought, including the prices:

Organic 365 Vegan Pita Chips with Sea Salt 9 oz $2.79
Organic 365 Tahini $5.99
Organic 365 Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Cold Pressed, 16.9 fl oz) $5.99
Organic 365 Garbanzo Beans 15 oz $1.19 each = $3.57 for 3 cans (I couldn’t find 16 oz
cans anywhere)
Total spent: $18.29

Now, Kate also calls for 18 Tablespoons or 1.125 cups of lemon juice. Whole foods sold a 2lb organic bag of lemons for $5.99 or individual organic ones at $0.99 each. However, I have both half a bottle of Safeway reconstituted lemon juice (15 Fl. Oz. @ $2.79 per bottle) and also a lemon tree (or rather my neighbors have a lemon tree that happens to hang over my fence) and while they are not certified organic by the USDA, I feel fairly confident these lemons will be close to organic, as they do nothing to the  tree - no pesticides, no fertilizer, etc. I also had garlic and salt at home, however here’s their cost from the Safeway, where I purchased them:

Garlic (non organic) - $0.79
Safeway Iodized Salt (non organic) $0.94

So total cost of combined Whole Foods and Safeway ingredients: $26.06. Now, if I had bought all the ingredients at Safeway, which is where I usually shop, this would have been my bill:

Safeway O Organic Garbanzo Beans 15 oz: $1.33 per can/$3.99 total
Safeway O Organics Extra Virgin Olive Oil 16.9 fl oz - $8.49
Safeway Open Nature Pita Chips with Sea Salt 8 oz- $2.50
Safeway Lemons (regular - could not find the organic price online) - $3.29 for a 2lb bag
Whole Foods 365 Organic Tahini Paste - $5.99
Garlic (non organic) - $0.79
Safeway Iodized Salt (non organic) $0.94

(They didn’t have Tahini Paste at Safeway, so I would have still needed to pick that up at WF. )

Total: $25.99

I’ll admit, I was surprised here. I assumed that Safeway would be cheaper, even with  buying organic. Okay, maybe I’ve been giving Whole Paycheck a bad rap for years. But what would the cost be, I wondered, if I bought primarily non-organic, which is my typical shopping habit?

Safeway Garbanzo Beans 15 oz - $1.09 per can/$3.27 total
Safeway Verdi Extra Virgin Olive Oil 17 fl. oz. - $5.99
Safeway Open Nature Pita Chips with Sea Salt 8 oz. - $2.50
Safeway Lemons - $3.29/2lb bag
Whole Foods 365 Organic Tahini Paste - $5.99
Garlic (non organic) - $0.79
Safeway Iodized Salt (non organic) $0.94

Total: $22.77

Okay, so going organic, at least for this recipe, isn’t all that much more expensive than the non organic. However, considering a 10 oz package of Sabra Roasted Garlic Hummus runs me $5.49, I think I’d save myself the $18 and just buy that. It’s very yummy and since only my husband and I eat hummus at our house, it lasts us about a week just fine. However, to really know if “do it yourself hummus” is a value, I’d have to figure out the individual serving cost of the homemade version vs the prepared, store
bought hummus. Sabra’s 10 ounce container, which is what I buy, serves 10, so I’ll use that serving size in my comparison.

Whole Foods: $2.61
Safeway Organic:  $2.59
Safeway Conventional: $2.27
Sabra Hummus: $0.55

Cost grade: D - The organic ingredients were cheaper then I thought they’d be, especially when compared to conventional products, however at 55 cents per serving, the Sabra hummus is much cheaper.

The Process



I decided to use a blender rather than my food processor so I could be as true to Kate’s recipe as possible. I drained the chickpeas, putting a small, glass bowl under the wire colander to collect the juice. Normally, I would also rinse the chickpeas, but, again, I was going for authenticity here.

Next, I measured out my lemon juice. For the record, I have a hard time with her units of measurement. I mean, how hard would it have been to google “18 Tbsp to ounces?” It took me less than 30 seconds. By the way, 18 Tbsp is 9 fluid ounces. Wouldn’t that be easier for most home cooks? I mean, since lemon juice in a bottle is measured in ounces, not tablespoons, after all. Or if you wanted to use measuring cups, it’s 1 C plus 2 Tbsp of juice.

I used up my bottle of reconstituted lemon juice (non-organic, I know, but I just couldn’t  spend $5.99 for a bag of lemons.) which gave me about 6 oz and supplemented this with 3 lemons from “my” tree, which yielded 3 oz (FYI, one lemon yields about one and a half ounces of juice. I just used what I needed to make 9 oz. total).



The rest was pretty simple. My husband minced the garlic for me and then we literally dumped everything in the blender and hit “puree”. In about 3-5 minutes, we had hummus.

So, for ease of directions I give this recipe an “A-”. The minus is in regards to the how she lists her units of measurement.

The Taste Test



The guinea pigs in this situation were myself, my husband and my 8 year old daughter. The texture was not as smooth as I could make it in my food processor but overall it was pretty good. It certainly wasn’t overly grainy. It was, however, very thick. It was also EXTREMELY tart because of the amount of lemon juice. In fact, both my husband and I agreed that the acidity of the lemons really overpowered the garlic and sesame taste, making them virtually undetectable. I think reducing the lemon juice by half, increasing the garlic by 2 additional cloves, and adding a tablespoon or two of water to the blending process would help both the flavor and the thickness.

My 8 year old tasted it with her finger and said “I don’t like this hummus.” Now, in Kate’s defense, my 8 year old hates hummus anyway, but she was a good sport and tried some. Both my husband and I finished our 1/4 cup portions, which we ate with pre-bagged organic pita chips and baby carrots, so it certainly was not inedible. I would probably give it about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being inedible and 5 being the best thing I ever ate. My husband gave it a 3 also, saying “It’s a serviceable hummus”.

Grade for Taste: C - Just way too much lemon juice.

Four days later, we still have about half of the hummus left in the fridge. My husband and I are working through it slowly.

Nutrition

Because I use the app My Fitness Pal, I can use their recipe nutrition calculator to get an idea of what the nutritional breakdown of her food is. For those of you who are interested, here it is:

Total per serving:

Calories 342
Carbs 26
Fat  22
Protein 10
Sugar  4
Fiber   9

Wrap Up

My biggest issue with her recipe isn’t the taste. I can tweak that easily and honestly if I just cut the lemon juice in half, it probably would be good (a grade of B).  It is the amount of hummus her recipe makes that is more of an issue for me. It could certainly feed 9 people easily. But I personally don’t need that much food. As you can see from the picture, her recipe filled a pretty large bowl. Kate needs to remember that not everyone has 8 kids. Now, if she were just posting this on her website, that would be one thing. Sure, people can cut it in half themselves. But if you’re putting out a cookbook, you need to respect your audience and most of the people who might buy this book have 2-3 kids tops. If this is going to be the standard result, it’s going to be way too much food for my family and most will likely go to waste. I think the next recipe I make, I will try to cut it in half and hopefully that won’t alter the flavor/taste significantly.

Overall, this was a fun experiment and I am looking forward to more “Cooking Dangerously” with Kate Gosselin.

866 sediments (sic) from readers:

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Anonymous said...

I won't be buying People, although I would like to read the entire article. I have an appointment for my yearly checkup next month; I'll get there early, he usually has a copy in his waiting room.

bm

Just Down The Road said...

Kate Gosselin ‏@Kateplusmy8 10m

Thank you for your patience while the server for http://couponsbykate.com/ is being upgraded due to heavy traffic.. It WILL be back soon! :)

Okay. Whatever you say!

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...

She probably cheaped out and only bought a plan that accommodates 10 visits an hour.

More of the kids' money will ned to be spent in order to upgrade the servers to something more realistic.

DanielleB said...

I clicked on the blog tab on her coupon site, and it has a view counter. It said 75 total views, 1 today, which I assume was me. You'd think if so many people were scrambling to the site that it got overloaded, there would be more page views. I don't think that was for the site itself, just for the blog section. But if people are supposedly so eager to check out her site, you'd think they would be clicking on all the tabs to check everything out.


Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...

I'm sorry I cannot help myself. The TFW Wagon!!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8LHlJSBkg0

Luke's Mom said...

I agree with all the posters regarding Kate losing interest in any job once it starts to be work for her.

She spends so much energy trying to convince her fans that she is such a hard worker willing to do anything to provide for her family but her actions show just the opposite.

She is still looking for another TLC to do all the work while she gets paid millions to travel with Steve and get pampered while hoping her fans will believe the lie that she does it all.

I can not name one thing that Kate has started and worked at continually since TLC fired her 2 years ago. If Kate could not get a quick large payout, she drops interest and moves on to the next get rich scam/grift.

PJ's momma said...

Hahaha, instead of TWF Wagon, it IS the TFW Wagon! Too funny!

Nice to see you, Kate's Cart, and hope you get some relief from all those joint problems sooner than later. Good luck with your claim!

Kate is a twit said...

Saw this on Amazon's twitter:

Amazon.com Books ‏@amazonbooks 13 Aug
Fall's phenomenal cookbook lineup has us salivating! http://amzn.to/14v9xxY
@ottolenghi @thepioneerwoman @thechew @GDeLaurentiis

The link goes to a page on Amazon titled "
The Big Fall Books Preview › Cookbooks, Food & Wine". Out of the 20 books listed, guess whose is missing?

chefsummer #Leh said...

Fired Up 4 Kate ‏@MiloandJack 2h
@Kateplusmy8 It seems 2b working fine! Fr one successful business woman 2another #Kate... perfect business 4U 2wrk rt fr home! :)
_____

Didn't she work from home with CC and cafemom and while she pimped bella bars?

Kate is a twit said...

When Milo tweeted this,

Fired Up 4 Kate ‏@MiloandJack 7h
Well...guess I gotta make a trip 2the city...People Magazine is out already! @Kateplusmy8 :)

I don't think she meant that it was sold out. I think she meant that it was already placed on newsstands in some areas. Although People had said it would be on newsstands tomorrow, apparently in some places it's already available, since some of Kate's tweeties have been tweeting pictures of their copies.

Luke's Mom said...

Just a few comments regarding the PEOPLE magazine article ...

1. No effect on her cookbook sales ... still looks like she can not even sell 1,000 copies.

2. Not one Entertainment show (not even Access Hollywood) asked her for an interview. Instead they interviewed Kate Coyne or showed old clips of Kate. No One wanted Kate.

3. Comments on all the sites (even ROL, Yahoo, People...) regarding the article are so scathing towards Kate and her desperate attempt to stay in the news. No one likes her... I could even say she is very hated from the comments which are in the THOUSANDS!

4. It is proving that Kate is done and does not have the appeal or fan base to support any future in the media.

5. Kate is now left with hawking a pathetic coupon website.

foxy said...

Daily Mail has the article. It is sickening. She really knows nothing about her children and their dreams. She says she has no help at all, she and the kids do everything, all the chores, etc. A few of the comments are not nice about Jon. Notice in the picture how Collin is looking down. He never looks at a camera. His eyes are always focused down. I feel bad for that poor little boy.

Jeanne said...

The reason the kids don't look like their mom is she's had so much plastic surgery. Maybe if you compare the kids now to her old pictures.

I went to the same orthodontists' office as the G kids. I'm sure many of the dentists are different now. But my mom paid for mine. I just can't see taking in eggs whether or not your services are free. Where do the workers store them until it's time to go home? Why not a treat they can actually enjoy while working? Very odd.

Some of you suggested she could be a school nurse. I suspect not. I honestly don't believe she likes kids in general. Not sure if she likes her own but definitely not other peoples' kids.

OrangeCrusher1 said...

Is there still time in her summer for a grifted beach vacation? Schools are starting up already depending on where you live. Since she went uniform shopping weeks ago, perhaps they are headed somewhere.
Milo should know the deets, thos Deanna seems to be MIA.

prairiemary said...

Welcome back kate's cart!! So nice to hear from you, and how the wedding went! I am so sorry about your health problems, and I hope and will pray that you get some insurance. I am Canadian, so am very thankful we get such great medical care. I have heard of couples who get no insurance coverage, like your husband, will actually get a divorce, just so the one with health issues can get covered and get their problems fixed. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures. I hope the best for you.
I hope that others here will also take the time to welcome you back, sometimes when I post, then hear nothing back, I feel a little lonely here, but I keep coming back, because I love this place. Don't be a stranger!

silimom said...

That clip brought back great memories! I just love that musical!

silimom said...

Okay, you know what's really sad? I was going to check out her coupon site but couldn't remember the name so I googled "Kate Gosselin Coupon" and all I got were hits for articles about Coupon Cabin firing her.

I broke down and went to her site so I could get the name. Then, out of curiosity, I googled "Coupons by Kate". I got some great coupons - for Kate Spade.

I don't say this very often, but she's such an idgit. Maybe she found her web hosting company via a Groupon.

silimom said...

Her coupon site is a word press blog site. So Word Press didn't have enough bandwidth to handle the thousands flocking to her page apparently.

silimom said...

Some people might find this interesting:

http://www.statscrop.com/www/couponsbykate.com

silimom said...

One more, for those who are interested:

http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domain=couponsbykate.com&prog_id=GoDaddy

Kristine said...

I haven't read the entire new thread yet. I will read every word and procedure. There are a few coincidental things about this experiment.

1. So glad the idea came to fruition. I say this because I was posting here at the time, and suggested a Julie/Julia... we could all participate in together with Silimom.

2. I love Hummus. I use Libby's Organic Garbanzo Beans, from the dented can store-- add lemon & cilantro w/red pepper flakes and a touch of soy sauce. (Recipe on phone- more to come on that perfected dip later). I've cracked jokes about it here, and years ago on GWoP. We all know Kate buys Hummus individual snack packs at the bulk store. My organic Hummus costs about 5 bucks or less- serves at least a dozen.

3. Don't go to Whole Foods to buy anything, unless you can't get it elsewhere. You will feel healthy while shopping there, but you can buy a box of the same cereal at the dollar store. It will likely be sitting there on the shelf with truckloads of "Love is in the Mix", in a few months.

I started a new job... a real one. I sure do miss you guys.

chefsummer #Leh said...

Here's from the daily mail.

And woe betide anyone who subjects their mother to a bad attitude or smart response - as they will face a $1 fine or the confiscation of ipads and iphones.
________

So if the kids have an attitude or thoughts of their own she makes then pay $1?

Wow just wow.

Layla said...

I just saw a blurb about TFW on one of those showbiz shows, and they were talking about her People article. They said that TFW claims to have had multiple offers to do a reunion show--but only if Jon is included. She refused all of them. Well, well--looks like the TV execs understand that TFW without Jon just does not work. And you can bet that TFW is spitting mad about that. She wants to be the star, while he wallows in poverty. She'll destroy herself before she allows him to get ahead even a tiny bit.

They also talked about how TFW admitted to her diva attitude, and said she has changed. They said she needs to make some changes and re-brand herself to be likable so that she can cash in. One woman said that if TFW can become likeable, then she can cash in on her brand/merchandising, like Bethenny did. Sorry, but I think TFW is way too far gone for that. She has shown herself for the narcissistic b@@ch she really is, and people are not going to be fooled by her "Look at me, I'm nice now!" ploy. Once she got her mug back on TV, the entitled diva attitude would be right back. Only a fool would expect otherwise.

In happier news, the season premier of Duck Dynasty got 11.8 million viewers, and is now the most-watched reality show in history. Yes, even higher than J&K's divorce announcement, and no children had to be traumatized to get those high numbers. Good for them! They are all funny, down-to-earth people who really love and enjoy one another. It don't think it's just a coincidence that the men in that family all have decades-long marriages. The spouses treat one another with affection and respect, which is something TFW is not capable of. And it choked me up just a little to hear Phil say that 50 years ago, when he married Miss Kay before a justice of the peace, it was the best $15 he ever spent. I hope my DH feels that way when we hit our 50th. 23 years to go!

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...

I guess iPads and iPhones are pieces of making this all work? Expensive piece there.

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...

That is hysterical. They refuse to do a reunion show unless she includes Jon. That must kill her. So I guess her excuse to her sheeple they have to make it work with their schedule was a flat out lie. Nice.

Tweet-le De Tweet-le DUMB said...

Well, I saw a coupon for a boatload of condoms on Kate's coupon site. Her fans ought to grab that one quick.

chefsummer #Leh said...

Layla said... 14

They said TFW has so many offers did they say from who?

Kristine said...

So if the kids have an attitude or thoughts of their own she makes then pay $1?

Wow just wow.
______________________________________

Wow just wow is right, Chef. My parents used to put serious cash in the bottom of my two sister's closets in hopes of them finding it, while cleaning our/their rooms. We only had to "Pay Cora" (cookie jar) when we were adults... for saying the "F" word- in front of my Mom at my childhood home. She put most of the bills in there herself.

Kate is a twit said...

I just looked a the coupon site, and all the coupons are gone, except for 9 coupons for sports stuff that expire on Aug. 16.

Guess that "upgrade" didn't work out so well. I can just see new people going over there now and saying "WTH?".

I wonder how long it will take TFW to get it fixed. Maybe in the meantime she should just put up a notice that says "Coming Soon".

NJGal51 said...

Is there a link for the Daily Mail article?

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...

Well now I know what people mean by a soft launch.

chefsummer #Leh said...

NJGal51 said... 21

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2394951/Kate-Gosselin-reveals-struggles-single-mother-children--years-cameras-stopped-rolling.html

Kate is a twit said...

NJGal--here's the link to the Daily Mail article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2394951/Kate-Gosselin-reveals-struggles-single-mother-children--years-cameras-stopped-rolling.html

Millicent said...

Layla said:

They also talked about how TFW admitted to her diva attitude, and said she has changed. They said she needs to make some changes and re-brand herself to be likable so that she can cash in. One woman said that if TFW can become likeable, then she can cash in on her brand/merchandising, like Bethenny did. Sorry, but I think TFW is way too far gone for that.
***

I agree Layla. At one time, when the show was very popular, and Kate had not burned so many bridges and shown her true colors so obviously -- she had a chance at that point in time to "cash in" on her brand. In fact, wasn't it rumored that she was trying to work out a deal with K-Mart or some other store for a line of kids clothes, and that fell through for some reason?

There are successful narcissists out there. I personally think Wendy Williams is one. But the difference between them and Kate is that they are willing to work their behinds off to be successful. Kate has never been willing (or able) to do the same. She is not only a narcisstic person, she's got many other issues as well. One huge problem is that Kate is not good at dealing with people. She cannot handle the smallest irritation without blowing her top. She freaks out easily. She blames everyone around her for her own failings. She is anti-social.

There is simply no way, either then or now, that Kate could have successfully branched off from the temporary success of that show, into a career on her own. She is mentally incapable of any such thing.

And I think network execs finally figured that out. They found out Kate was too toxic, too unpredictable, and too irrational, to gamble on anymore. They cut their losses and have moved on. Kate still thinks she has a chance at getting back on tv. I say she never will. So Kate, if you read here - get over it. You're done.

A Mom said...

after going to the Dailey Mail article..........
the photo on cover looks like Kate arranged the kids according to her favorite; Mady, Cara, Leah, and Hannah all close surrounding Kate, while the others are standing away from Kate. Joel really looks like Jon and maybe has Jon "inside himself" He'll probably be last to get braces.
Kate looks like she's aging fast and not just because she has 8-children LOL

Ingrid said...

This article was on a local tv station. 16 kids (count 'em- 2 X's 8!) and they are not out begging to be stars and make millions. The mom has it right. "Money comes and goes, you know?” she said. “Kids are forever. You can't put a price on that, it's priceless."

http://www.news8000.com/news/usda-report-families-spend-240k-on-raising-a-child/-/326/21487618/-/dqkcskz/-/index.html

Ingrid said...

"'piecing and patching together' enough money from various projects to keep them going" GOOD God what a LIAR!

I searched for that George Gina & Lucy bag in the pic on the Daily Mail link. Cheapest I found was $104 with one choice of color. http://www.6pm.com/george-gina-lucy-anything-goes-goldiepeak

On the GG&L site it was 119 EURO which converted to $158 US. Did she use a coupon to "save" money on that pricey bag? My last and only purse was about $12 at walmart 3 yrs ago.

Iroquois said...

On the People cover, especially at the dailymail.co.uk, since it's blown up... between Aaden and the second boy (don't know his name) on the top row, look between Mady and Cara's heads... what is that? Some misplaced hand squeezing a misplaced shoulder.

Now consider Aaden's right arm opposed to his left arm. One is normal, one is pasty white and oddly shaped.

Yeah, this is photoshopped and very badly. The lighting on most of them is different, the shadows are wrong.

Vanessa said...

And woe betide anyone who subjects their mother to a bad attitude or smart response - as they will face a $1 fine or the confiscation of ipads and iphones.
************************************************
I can just imagine what she considers "bad attitude/smart response"? Behaviour that they've picked up from her? She's the only one allowed to have the bad attitude or smart responses and then she JUSTIFIES it. Suuuureee she refuses to film with Jon. I "honestly" believe she would do it in a heartbeat, it's HIM who doesn't want to film, with HER. Or maybe she knows how she'll come off to the public, if she's shown with him again?

Vanessa said...

She probably cheaped out and only bought a plan that accommodates 10 visits an hour.

More of the kids' money will ned to be spent in order to upgrade the servers to something more realistic.

*******************************************

Oh, it's not as cheap as buying twitter followers? :)

Virginia Pen Mom said...

A Mom said... 37
after going to the Dailey Mail article..........
the photo on cover looks like Kate arranged the kids according to her favorite; Mady, Cara, Leah, and Hannah all close surrounding Kate, while the others are standing away from Kate.

===========

Oh, you're right! Now that you say it, it's clear that the favorites are huddled around her. It's a strange pose for a mom, not with her arms around them but them hovering around her. Typical Kate.

"'My kids, they've generally accepted that things are going to be OK, and that they're OK the way they are right now. Our lives have been such a roller coaster. They've seen that through it all, we've dealt with it, survived it, and we keep on going.'"

One of the worst things for children is for their lives be "a roller coaster." Kate just can't see that. Children need stability and security, not being yanked around like props. Usually when children are uprooted and jerked around, it's due to circumstances beyond parental control--not a money-making scheme.

Silimom, thanks reporting back on the hummus! I add my vote for writing as much detail you like. It's your project and I love reading about it.

Hello, Prairie Mary! I hope you find healing and relief, Kate's Cart. Your name still makes me smile!

TLC stinks said...

Something is definitely not right with Aaden's right arm... why so pale compared to the left arm? And it appears the tup boy standing next to him is kneeling so that is his arm and knee you are seeing, not a shoulder. Like I previously posted, Kate looks bad, very skinny with deep facial lines.

I think Hannah has some of Kate's features before Kate had all that plastic surgery.

Mady has the usual hair flip going. The Disney Channel is a pipe dream, girl. Your mom planted that seed, no doubt.

Yessir, she's making ends meet with the kids having iPhones and iPads. Ridiculous to think they don't read about themselves and their parents. Kate is lying as usual.

Can't believe People ran such drivel as their cover story. Wonder how much Kate pocketed on that. No way that was news worthy. Has to be part of the cookbook publicity. Kate 's BS is old.

url said...

So TFW arranged another People cover shoot to promote her grandiose crookbook and to gain sympathy for essentially changing nothing of her lifestyle. Her fans will buy a few books just for the pictures of her children. Her recipes are mediocre at best, need major tweaking and are not downsized for the average family. As far as another tv show, she isn't marketable anymore. There's too much competition and she isn't even remotely interesting. Not dating after a divorce that occurred four years ago doesn't help (even though she stated in the beginning of her Wipe Swap episode the divorce took place sometime during 2011, what???). Her children are just in the background and are normal children without any exceptional talent or looks. I'm sure this People cover is heavily photo shopped, but really who cares. This cover won't propel her to star dome in the entertainment business. She's disliked by many and she is also lazy (look at her mess of a website) and what a mess her recipes are. She can live on her 25 acre farm with her chickens, a 6,000+ square foot home, with three cars, private school for 8 kids, hire Steve to protect her during her one or two book signings,(other than that she's finished in the entertainment business). She obviously doesn't feel the need to downsize her home, own less cars and get a real job, to even cover the family's medical insurance and to have a steady income or to send her children to a less expensive school or even a decent private school. I believe Jon when he stated she is sitting on a pile of money and that is what keeps her going. And then there is the never ending grifting and everyone should just feel sorry for her. Well, no network will hand her a show based on feeling sorry for someone who's a pain to work with and is also abusive to their children. She's going to have to sell a lot more eggs this fall for additional income since she's so reluctant to get a real job.

Berks Neighbor said...

I would garner to suggest that the layout on the front cover of People is the grouping of the kids who spend more time with Jon and those that spend more time with TFW. Oftentimes she tweets or others tweet that she is with 4 or 1/2 of her kids. This shows who her favorites are.

Barb Gilman said...

Sillimom, thanks for sharing the web stat site. I looked up my website and my SEO rating is the same as Kate! Makes sense for my blog, it's just a personal site but for Kate, not good! No wonder people are getting Kate Spade and coupon cabin as suggestions when they do a search!

Mel said...

I thought that hand between their heads was weird, too, but realized it's that boy's hand resting on his upper leg. He's standing with that leg bent, the foot probably up on something.

Agree about the arm color differences.

What's with the foot of the boy on the right? It looks like he has a black high heel on.

And what, pray tell, is with the foot coming out of the ground behind the girl on that side? Too weird...it's pointing to the right, with red nail polish. But there's no leg or body to go with it.

And, wow, does Kate look rugged. I really wish she would wash her hair for these things. Those lines in her face are getting really deep. What's with that? She's too young to be that deeply etched. Even smokers aren't that badly etched until more in their fifties.

Bitchy Pants said...

"Sharon Osbourne would scratch her eyeballs out."

If Sharon Osbourne had problems with Holly Robinson Peete, who is both intelligent and classy, think what a field day she'd have with TFMJG! I'd almost pay to see that.

formerly Readerlady

JonFan said...

Does anyone remember a terribly photoshopped picture of Cara from the past? Just going on memory but I think we've seen that picture before. To me it looks like Cara was re-photoshopped into the current picture.

And I agree, that is Collin's hand on his bent knee. They probably put a little stool there for him to prop his leg on so they weren't lined up like soldiers.

url said...

I will add to my last comment, regarding downsizing and the possibility of sending her children to a decent public school i.e, Bucks County for instance. There are plenty of homes that are affordable to her, with good school systems and would be closer to major airports, i,e., Philadelphia, Newark., and access to the NY metro area. The school cost alone would save her a lot of money if she put her children in public school. On the other spectrum, moving to Pittsburgh would be another option for housing and schools. With new and old wealth in this area, no one would care about her or her children. If she wants to pursue her website/blogs, she can do so in either area.

Tweet-le De Tweet-le DUMB said...

And what, pray tell, is with the foot coming out of the ground behind the girl on that side? Too weird...it's pointing to the right, with red nail polish. But there's no leg or body to go with it.
______________

That's Cara's foot. They're all squished together for the shot. Cara is sitting with her legs out to the side. You can see how she's leaning a bit toward Mady, probably holding herself up with her right arm and her legs are to the left.

Layla said...

Chefsummer (29),

They didn't say who the offers were from. They were quoting TFW, so you have to consider the source, too. It's more likely that TLC thought it might be okay to do a reunion special with Jon (they realized that TFW by herself--with or without the kids--just isn't worth it). And TLC inflated that to be lots of offers. She likes to pretend she's in demand.

As for the grouping, it really does show which kids are her favorites. I always noticed that she does not seem to include Alexis with the girls. She always groups her with the boys. Even now, in pictures, it's always Hannah and Leah together, Cara and Mady together, and Alexis with the boys. Maybe that's why Alexis had a bullying problem. She feels rejected and left out. In the RV episode, when TFW was doing her half-mile of driving, the kids were holding hands (If we die, we die together!), and Leah refused to take Alexis's hand. It just does not seem that the other girls are encouraged to include Alexis. That's sad--so many kids, and Alexis doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. When Jon said that some of the kids want to live with him--I bet he means Alexis and the boys. And Kate is fighting to keep all the kids because she thinks they're more marketable when they are together. A mom with 4 kids is nothing unusual, especially if the tups are split up. And she can't claim to be need such a big house or a Mercedes BBB or any of her other super-sized crap with only 4. She has to "own" all 8.

Dottie said...

I cropped Cara's photo and zoomed in as far as I could go and it's obvious Cara has been photoshopped into that picture. If you look at her hair on the left there's a straight line going down with no blur between her hair and the background. Now look at Mady, Kate, Leah and Hannh's hair - it has a windblown look with fine hairs all over. It's hard to explain without being able to point out the discrepancies, but I'm convinced they added her later. Poor girl it's easy to understand why.

Roxy said...

Kate is a twit said... 31

I just looked a the coupon site, and all the coupons are gone, except for 9 coupons for sports stuff that expire on Aug. 16.

Guess that "upgrade" didn't work out so well. I can just see new people going over there now and saying "WTH?".

I wonder how long it will take TFW to get it fixed. Maybe in the meantime she should just put up a notice that says "Coming Soon".


&&&&&

Its a do it urself website linky: http://www.appthemes.com/themes/clipper/

Notice this little gem that comes with the package deal she bought.


Advanced Link Cloaking & Tracking

Affiliate links are unsightly and can deter your visitors from clicking them. Fortunately, Clipper automatically hides your coupon and store affiliate links. Not only that, Clipper tracks key metrics like page views, clicks, & click thru rates (CTRs).

Roxy :)

Tweet-le De Tweet-le DUMB said...

Does anyone remember a terribly photoshopped picture of Cara from the past? Just going on memory but I think we've seen that picture before. To me it looks like Cara was re-photoshopped into the current picture.
_______________

It has to do with perspective. Cara is sitting farther away than she looks because Kate's legs, etc. are in front of her (Cara) and behind Mady. Because Cara is sitting somewhat farther away, she looks smaller as if she were "inserted" into the shot.

Dottie said...

If you look how choppy and unnatural Alexis' hair is, that's what photoshop does, to put the People banner behind her. That's why the kids on top look so unnatural and out of proportion to each other. It must be hard to do a cover with that many people and squeeze in the People banner, but People needs a better graphics department. They must be the same people who forgot to put Kate's belly button back on after they completely remade Kate's body to look like a Barbie doll in the infamous Mexico shoot.

Susan said...

Does anyone else think Hannah's right arm looks totally botched the way it crosses behind her other arm then comes out at a weird angle? I know they have to do a lot of work to these pictures and maybe had to squeeze them together to fit on the cover. Maybe most covers with multiple people look completely fake but we don't scrutinize them like we do when they involve K8.

Knows Quality said...

I normally don't like to comment on the children's appearance...but since Kate has them plastered on the cover of a national magazine....

What struck me is...the teeth. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of the girls have beautiful, perfectly straight teeth. No gaps. No missing teeth. Perfection. Almost like "Barbie" smiles....

The boys? Have typical teeth for 9-year olds - gaps, a bit crooked, etc.

Is this pure coincidence? Or has Kate been shelling out time and money for orthodontia for the girls - but not for the boys?

Just very interesting....

Formerly Duped said...

Layla, I agree with you about Alexis. In the old house, she had to sleep in the basement! She was blamed for causing Hannah's headaches.In the Philly hotel TFW tricked her into sleeping in her bed with her so "Hannah and Leah could sleep next to each other." Yes,I have also noticed she is grouped with the boys- even one twit pic, H and L had pink cups and I think A had an orange one.Small example, but still.... It seems TFW is making Hannah and Leah 'twins' and BFFs like she claims Mady and Cara are ( they are so dissimilar I often wonder if that's true) I always felt Alexis was slightly bullied or put down by her tup sisters. And her mother.

Just Down The Road said...

I will add to my last comment, regarding downsizing and the possibility of sending her children to a decent public school i.e, Bucks County for instance.

------------------------

Why would she want to send them to school in Bucks County, just to be near the airport? I'm not understanding your comment. She lives in Berks County. If she wanted to send them to a public school, she could do so within the Berks County school system. What does the location of their school have to do with her blog/website, which she does from home? I don't think it matters where she lives, she's still going to be known. How would moving help her with her website?

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...


Oh, you're right! Now that you say it, it's clear that the favorites are huddled around her. It's a strange pose for a mom, not with her arms around them but them hovering around her. Typical Kate.

&&&&

That's the first thing I noticed about this, that it's an odd arrangement. TFW sprawled across the ground with the kids lined up around her. Almost like an Olympian and her trophies. It's weird and not very maternal looking IMO.

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...


I can just imagine what she considers "bad attitude/smart response"?

&&&&

I hope it doesn't include a child who tells the world that actually, she's glad the trips ended or they would have all ended up spoiled brats.

Kind of sounds bad attitude/smart to me.

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...

There's this web site for bad photoshops on professional publications. Some of them are hysterical. Some I have a hard time finding the issues. The photoshop community is very talented and has eagle eyes. I can't remember the web site, but this cover would be a fine submission.

Tweet-le De Tweet-le DUMB said...

The photos TLC had done of Kate and kids were horribly photoshopped,too, absolutely ghastly.

chefsummer #Leh said...

Realitytvkids.com (Administrator) said... 63
.

Kind of sounds bad attitude/smart to me.
_____

IDK about that look at it like this Mady's 12yrs and she knows that she has to work to get trips.

She knows that the only way mom will take her on a trip if is their on TV working for it.

Maybe she happy that she doesn't have to work in order to get trips and have fun outside the home.

It's like when she said on CWS all she knows is work. What normal 12yr kid can saying that?

Realitytvkids.com ~ Administrator said...

Which ones? I thought most of TLC's photos were rather nice compared to the hatchet job People and other magazines have done. I think the kids should just look like themselves, real. Why would you want to airbrush a child? What message does that send to that child?

Virginia Pen Mom said...

Oh, you're right! Now that you say it, it's clear that the favorites are huddled around her. It's a strange pose for a mom, not with her arms around them but them hovering around her. Typical Kate.

&&&&

That's the first thing I noticed about this, that it's an odd arrangement. TFW sprawled across the ground with the kids lined up around her. Almost like an Olympian and her trophies. It's weird and not very maternal looking IMO.

===========

I like your description of the Olympian and her trophies. That's it! No, it's not maternal at all. Most moms would kind of be behind their children, letting them be out front, and with some semblance of her arms and hands outstretched and embracing where she could.

What you all have aptly pointed out about Alexis's treatment makes me sad for her. She had anger issues at school. No wonder.

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