Hallmark For All Seasons

 

Well, so far Hallmark’s Love Ever After series has been the clear winner over Winterfest for movies that I’ve enjoyed.  On February 15, 2020 they aired the very fun movie, “The Secret Ingredient.”  This movie represented the first time a Hallmark Publishing novel was made into a movie!  It was written by Nancy Naigle, who did a great job with this sweet romance. The movie was filmed primarily in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

In a nutshell

I’ve criticized Hallmark’s portrayal of TV cooking shows in the past, but this was their strongest effort to date.  And while I once again had some issues with the baking show itself, the movie was still really enjoyable and Erin Cahill and Brendan Penny did a great job!

Plot

Small-town baker, Kelly (Erin Cahill), gets a big surprise when she is invited to compete on a Valentine’s Day baking show in New York City – and an even bigger surprise when she runs into her ex-fiance, Andrew (Brendan Penny).

Actors/Chemistry

Let’s just start by saying Erin Cahill is wonderful.  She is quickly rising in the ranks to become one of my favorite leading ladies at Hallmark.  She is just so personable and natural when she’s on screen.  And this time around, I really liked Brendan Penny.  I’m not a fan of his Vineyard movies and could never figure out why, but now I’m thinking it is more to do with the lack of chemistry in those movies because he and Cahill were great together in “Ingredient.”

Six Degrees of Kris Polaha:  Penny is two steps away thanks to being a long-time star of “Chesapeake Shores” which also co-starred Treat Williams.  You may recall that Williams co-starred with Polaha in “Rocky Mountain Christmas.” “Shores” also featured Emilie Ullerup, who co-starred with Polaha in “Hearts of Christmas.”

Tropes in “The Secret Ingredient”

There were a few tropes in this one.  Furry best friend in George, Kelly’s adorable Australian Shepherd.  Plenty of baking montages, obviously.  Kelly wore a couple of large scarves, thanks to the movie still taking place in a wintery New York City.  And the biggest one – they were exes.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

There were a few things that stood out about the baking show.  First, while I appreciated that the show went to great lengths to talk about Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and how she’d have to be in NYC for 10 days filming a few episodes, I also thought it was weird that they basically filmed four episodes in 10 days.  Why not film one episode a day and do the entire competition over a long weekend?  They could still have the big finale reveal on Valentine’s Day.

I thought it was weird that the four bakers were essentially all in one big warehouse room, with open doors facing the judges, and yet supposedly could not hear each other.  Sure, maybe room 1 and room 4 would not be able to hear each other, but room 1 and 2, and so on surely could hear the conversations taking place right next door with the judges.

The finale came down to a tie.  Um…there were three judges.  What kind of tie could there be, unless they assigned POINTS in the final round, which could conceivably cause a tie?  Did I miss an announcement as to how the competition was scored?

At the beginning of the movie, Kelly goes to visit her parents’ cafe and the mother is on the phone taking a reservations for Valentine’s Day.  Y’all, that restaurant was a DINER.  Nobody makes reservations at a diner for Valentine’s Day unless it is TRULY the only place in town and the largest nearby city is more than an hour away.

They never said which part of North Carolina Kelly and her family call home, but it must have been the mountains near Tennessee because my part of NC/SC never gets that much snow.  Y’all, I don’t even own a winter coat.  That’s how rare cold snowy weather is in my part of the Carolinas.

Feelgoods

I didn’t necessarily come away with any deep feelings from the movie, but I LOVED the way Andrew decorated his finale cake compared to Kelly.  I did love all the macarons on display in the movie, and will always have a fond memory of trekking all over Paris in one day with my daughter last year, and splurging on a box of heavenly macarons from Ladurée.

Re-watchability

This was an enjoyable movie featuring a couple sharing fabulous chemistry and some tasty treats for the eyes as well.  I probably would watch this one again!

The Ranking

“The Secret Ingredient” is in the Top 3 thus far. Not a bad place to be!

1. Matching Hearts (air date: Feb 8) – 640 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
2. Winter in Vail (air date: Jan 4) – 623 pts – weighted score: 108.8 (76.4%)
3. The Secret Ingredient (air date: Feb 15) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
4. A Valentine’s Match (air date: Feb 1) – 562 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
5. Love On Iceland (air date: Jan 18) – 563 pts – weighted score: 99.4 (69.7%)
6. Hearts of Winter (air date: Jan 25) – 561 pts – weighted score: 98.2 (68.9%)
7. Love in Winterland (air date: Jan 11) – 508 pts – weighted score: 90.7 (63.6%)
8. Amazing Winter Romance (air date: Jan 20) – 487 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.1%)

To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!

What did you think of Hallmark’s “The Secret Ingredient”?  Comment below and let me know!

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