Rachael Ray

Yup - ok... my entire blog to date has been somewhat serious posts. I'm done with serious for the moment. Let's talk Rachael.

We've had this love/hate relationship (ok, so she doesn't know I exist, but still). When I first saw her on the Food Network, I DID NOT LIKE THIS WOMAN. She was so perky, so happy, so just...well, annoying. But I couldn't help but watch because she made meals & made it seem like I could make them too. So I watched. And kept watching.

And then she got her own show on a more "real" tv station - sponsored and produced by the "Big O" no less. So it was decision time. Do I continue watching her? Well, I did. And man, she has me. Now that I stay at home & work, I pretty much schedule my lunch breaks around her show (2:00pm here). That's a late lunch. And a sacrifice. My blood sugar and shaky hands prove it. But it's so worth it.

I make more meals from her magazine than I have made from all of my wedding gift cookbooks combined. They are easy, simple to duplicate & allow you just to cook. None of this analness like you get from most chefs. 1/8 tsp of this, 1/9 tsp of that, paste this, sautee this...what??!! I don't know even know what that means. She talks in my terms. A palmful, handful of this, sprinkle of that - this works for me. I am not a precise measurement person - thus, not an engineer-minded person like my hubby. And so I hate to bake. I love the finished product, if I even have one at all, but I hate the process. The preciseness. Ugh. But I digress.

So, Rachael. We are so good now. My husband's tummy is full & happy every night (yet he could probably eat cereal and pb&j everynight and be a happy camper) - but he loves your stuff. So much so that he got me a 2 year subscription to your magazine. At first I thought it was really sweet cause he knows I enjoy the magazine - but then I thought about it - and the boy just wants to eat!!!

But who can blame him? It's good stuff. Really good stuff. My only complaint now is that I cannot even THINK of opening a jar of prego and throwing it some half-cooked penne pasta with a bagged salad. My days of throwing dinner together are over. I just feel guilty now that I know better.

But a word to the wise, Rach (if I can call you that)...30 minute meals are not 30 minute meals. For the untrained, unsupervised, prone to cutting/burning/maiming yourself folks - it's a good 60 minutes. But man, it's a good 60 minutes :)