Kicking things off with our baking plans!  Mincemeat tartlets, pop tarts, Christmas cookies, fudge, and blueberry muffins... need we say more? Well, we will.  Little article on Matt leaving... some are happy, we are not.  Then we get into a brand new era of Bake Off - the AMERICAN Bake Off!  Paul and Prue are the constants here, two NEW American hosts.  Actress Ellie Kemper (The Office, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Zach Cherry (of Apple TV's Severance) are your new hosts for this show that will be launching its first full season next year on the ROKU channel (which is free by the way!).   We give our thoughts on the show overall.  Does it hold up to traditional Bake Off?  We also give our assessment of the hosts in general - we've seen a lot of hosts in our time so we have thoughts!   Then we look at our slate of American celebrity guests: Chloe Fineman (SNL), D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place), Liza Koshy (YouTube), Joel Kim Booster (Fire Island), Nat Faxon (writer / comedy actor), and the one that was a surprise favorite of us all... NFL Star (and Actor) Marshawn Lynch. We just have to say upfront  - Marshawn Lynch stole the show.  Charming, funny, and not a terrible baker.  Every one of us found ourselves pulling for him and loving the interactions he was having with the others guests, hosts, and judges.  He was a delight.  Having 6 bakers was unusual for a holiday episode... we could not determine why they went with the number they did. Spoliers below so stop now if you haven't see the episode! For a Signature, the guests were asked to make cream puffs. This was a bit surprising that celebrity (non-baker) judges were asked to make a choux pastry as it's not a baking standard for most, but they all kinda did alright.  Each had a theme and the judges were impressed... Paul handed out THREE handshakes... but we are saying one of them was almost coerced from him... so more like two and a half.  In the Technical, another not so easy feat.  Meringue baskets formed into a wreath with sugared berries, mascarpone cream, and blueberry coolie.... needless to say, many had never heard of these things yet alone made them before.  Highlight of the segment - Marshawn asking "is this 'whisking'?"  Most of the bakers did a decent job though.  Meringues looked decent, though many underbaked not knowing how long it actually takes to make right, and there was a good job done using the fruits.   People who performed well in the first round also did well here.  One baker split their pants ... sos there's that.  In the Showstopper, the bakers were asked to make a cake that had a 3D element and told their favorite Holiday story.  The stories were heartwarming and the cakes that they made were also incredibly well done.  Paul had D'arcy's and said "the is the best cake I've had in a long time".  Lots of great flavors and for the most part, solid work.  A couple underbaked, but the decorations were good.  again, surprising the group was Marshawn and his PawPaw (his grandfather) cake.  Fantastic story and while it wasn't the prettiest ... a delicious cake!!  Marshawn rattling off a dozen ways to say "money" to Prue was what this was all about.   Paul even says at the end as far as celebrity bakers go, the American's may be better. All three of us agreed that this was one of the best (if not THE best) episode of Bake Off we have seen (UK or US).