Ah, the not-so-lazy days of summer! Vacation may be over, but the Gosselin house was still full of summer fun on the Tuesday, December 22, episode of Kate Plus 8. After getting back from Florida, Kate Gosselin wasted no time finding new activities to keep her eight kids busy, even if one of her picks led to a cold dose of reality for the 40-year-old mom.
Freak Out With Your Antique Out
First on the list was an adventure made just for Mady: a trip to an antique store! Mady has a real eye for design, as viewers learned when we got a peek inside her perfectly decorated room, complete with a light-up ceramic “M” and a record player with plenty of vinyls. To complement the room’s new look, Kate and her friend Deandra took the twins antiquing to find new end tables.
Unfortunately for Kate, there was more than a set of new tables in store for her at the vintage retailers. As they went from shop to shop, Kate felt older and older, especially when Mady called a radio “so cute and vintage,” and Kate admitted she had the same one in her childhood bedroom.
“It made me feel like I should be sitting on one of those shelves,” she told the camera.
Following her mother’s existential crisis, Mady ended up finding some vintage cabinets and enlisted Aaden to help her spray paint them to match her room’s current gray theme.
Horse Sense
The next adventure was one Kate, at least, was looking forward to more than the last one. She took the kids to a farm called The Land of Little Horses, which — you guessed it — was full of miniature ponies!
Kate admitted that, even though the family already has plenty of pets, they’re always looking for more, and she had been researching what they would need to take in a “teeny-tiny” horse.
While Hannah braided manes, and Kate looked on, impressed, Alexis quipped, “Aww, a Hannah and Mommy moment.” Meanwhile, Aaden and Joel got into an argument over whether or not boys can say “aww” about animals, prompting Kate to say, “Manly men have a caring heart for all living things.”
It turns out that it takes more than a caring heart to deal with all living things, though! When they met another family at the farm who happened to own a miniature pony and described all the work it took, the Gosselins quickly realized that they were not quite ready to saddle up. Ultimately, they decided to just visit the farm more often to get their teeny, tiny horse fix.
Master Chef, Jr.
The biggest event of the episode was what Kate called the "Cooking Basket Surprise Challenge." The kids split into two teams and were given baskets full of random ingredients that they were expected to turn into a meal and a dessert, both in an hour’s time each.
As she explained the challenge, Kate was very clear that there would be a definite winner chosen at the end.
"Isn't it about fun?" asked one of the kids. Kate shot back, "Winning is fun."
To the camera, Kate said, "I'm not a mom that's going to tell my kids everybody wins. You have to work really hard to be first place in life."
Cara and Mady helmed the teams. Cara chose first, selecting Joel and rounding out her squad with Alexis and Leah. Mady took Collin, Aaden and Hannah.
Each of the twins displayed her own special type of leadership, which made Kate proud but made the little kids somewhat uneasy.
"They’re bossy, but they’re leaders," conceded the girls. The boys were more hesitant to comment on Mady and Cara’s leaderships styles, whispering to one another in the confessional not to say too much because “they’re going to see this!”
In the first round, Cara's team created a Mexican-themed open salad on a tortilla, while Mady’s team made chips from their tortillas and mixed scallions and sesame seeds with tuna to create a dip, earning extra style points for using a red plate.
During the dessert round, Cara mused, "I think this is the first time I’ve baked where I haven’t doubled it or tripled it or quadrupled it…" She quickly proved herself to be the most proficient baker. Meanwhile, Mady and her team messed up and had to throw out all of their ingredients but still finished their cookies in time to present first. When pressed, she wouldn’t tell Kate what was in the cookies. “Eat it, then I’ll tell you more,” Mady hinted before Kate bit into the cookie and realized it had been made with diced avocado!
Cara’s team made delicious chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, but it wasn’t enough to secure the win. Ultimately, Mady’s team won because of their perseverance even after messing up their first batch of desserts.
Tell Us: Was it right of Kate to devise a project that pitted the kids against each other and ended with a clear winner?
Kate Plus 8 airs on TLC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST.
