When the holiday season arrives in Vermont, snow caps the green mountains and powdered sugar falls like snowflakes in Gesine Prado's kitchen. To celebrate the season, Gesine hosts a gingerbread house-making party for her friends, and the menu is equally festive. She bakes Pistachio Cinnamon Stars and Gingerbread Cookies in cheerful shapes, and she sets out Sugared Spicy Almonds for snacking. Gesine's centerpiece is a Chocolate Yule Log with a Gingerbread Ax Topper that knocks her guests off their feet.
Bakery owners come to Carlo's Bakery to show Buddy Valastro their signature dishes including a Chocolate-Cinnamon-Pecan Roll, Salty Sweet Pretzel Bark, a Fancy Almond Cake and a Savory Meat Pie. The difficult obstacles lead to the nail-biting final moments of the competition where one baker is forced to change their recipe on the fly and another has a full-on machine meltdown. In the end, Buddy and his advisors are left with making the difficult decision of whose signature dish was best.
Guy Fieri has an all-star lineup of chefs cooking game day grub in his ranch kitchen. Alex Guarnaschelli serves finger foods like the classic Pigs in a Blanket and her take on New England's favorite chocolate sandwich treat, Dark Chocolate Almond Whoopie Pies. Justin Warner makes savory Smoked Cauliflower Bites with Caesar Salad Spread and breaks out the chemistry set to create Spherefied Pickle Back whiskey shots. Marc Murphy takes advantage of the wood-fired oven for a Grilled Flatbread with Wild Mushrooms and an authentic Big Paella with Chicken and Shrimp. And Eric Greenspan makes Spicy Garlic Chicken Wings with Carrot Celery Chow Chow and Blue Cheese and then slathers his melted homemade American cheese all over Chorizo Chili Potato Chip Nachos.