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Get Ready To Decorate And Bake With The Great Christmas Light Fight and The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition

Thank you to Disney Studios for hosting me during the Mary Poppins Returns Event, which included this interview with Carter Oosterhouse and Sherry Yard.

I really, really, really love gifts, so when three-time James Beard Award-winning pastry chef Sherry Yard of “The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition” and Carter Oosterhouse, judge and host on “The Great Christmas Light Fight” started out by handing out gifts, we were well on our way to having the best day ever. Sherry brought us chocolate, and Carter brought Christmas light necklaces. “Everywhere we go, we always see people decorated, literally head to toe, in lights. And I’m always a little ashamed, because I feel like I should be decorated in something like that as the judge,” says Carter.

THE GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT – “The Great Christmas Light Fight” features families and neighborhoods from across America decorating their homes to the extreme for Christmas with a total of $300,000 in prizes ($50,000 per episode) up for grabs. (ABC/Donald Rager)

ABC/Donald Rager

You might think that a show about over the top Christmas lights would be a bit repetitive, but according to Carter it never is. “I’ve seen a lot, but this show surprises me every time,” says Carter. “I see something new and different and creative and unique, and that’s the best part about it… The spirit of Christmas is there.”

“The Great Christmas Light Fight” airs Mondays at 8|7c on The ABC Television Network or streaming or on-demand.

Sherry said she started every season by losing 15 pounds to make up for all of the weight she’d gain throughout the show. This led me to ask what dessert if she could only have one dessert for the rest of her life. “Ice cream. Ice creeeam.” When pressed on what she’d choose if it was something baked, she went for apple strudel. “Homemade, three different types of apples, tied to the season, buttery crispy. And then I’d put ice cream with it.”

THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW: HOLIDAY EDITION – Back for a fourth season on The ABC Television Network, “The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition,” based on the hit U.K. series “The Great British Bake Off,” returns THURSDAY, DEC. 6 (9:00 – 11:00 p.m. EST). (ABC/Mark Bourdillion) PAUL HOLLYWOOD, SHERRY YARD

ABC/Mark Bourdillion

Shooting in London does create some challenges for American cooks. “They have different cup measures. Their pint is 20 ounces, and ours is 16. The flour’s a little bit different,” says Sherry. To make sure this doesn’t create any issues, she makes everything you see first at home, then again in London. “I got in the tent myself and baked every recipe with a food crew.”

“The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition” premieres on Thursday, December 6 at 9|8c with a two-hour episode, and will also be available streaming and on-demand after the premiere).

As The Bunny Hops®