It's too early in the day for perky.

Dammit, girl, stand up straight. As my friend notes, "worst posture on television."

Don't you just love her?!
:O)
I think she's the best thing to happen to TV cooking since, well EVOO!! You go girl!

Is that the pig face emoticon?

You know, there's actually a hate rachael ray web site? I just don't understand.
She's certainly got one of those personalities that you either like or you don't like, but, does it make sense to actually hate her? Maybe some good natured teasing, but hate? She has a bunch of books and several shows. She's very successful. But she's not hurting kids, starting wars, or trying to steal our money. Gimme a break.

I'm not (completely) ashamed to admit I like her. It's got nothing to do with her food or her products or her media empire, though. It's simply that she clearly enjoys what she does. I actually wrote a post about this a few weeks ago:

http://www.slantsixcreative.com/2007/12/17/why-rachael-ray-works/

I'm not a food person, though, and I can see how she might be bothersome if I was.

Huh ... busted ... someone is paying attention to my emoticons. It's either a pig face or a clown face. Pigs are quite intelligent and clowns make children cry, so they both have something to recommend them, right?

~ o-o/*

A dog leaning out a car window with his ear flapping in the wind?

For those who find Rachel Ray too perky, may I recommend Cookin' with Coolio? You may tune in through mydamnchannel.com, but only if there are no impressionable young'uns around. Yes, Coolio has a cookin(g) show. In a recent interview in Newsweek, he says, "I like Rachael Ray, I like Bobby Flay, I like all them cats. But they are not the Gourmet Ghetto, baby. My motto is, I cook better than your Shaka Zulu mama. And I wash my hands a lot."

One recipe is "Finger-lickin, Rib-stickin, Fall-off-the-Bone-and-into-your-mouth-Chicken." Maybe that belongs in EL's post on guilty pleasure food.

Coolio does fusion: Ghitalian (ghetto Italian), and others. You might want to check it out. I didn't notice how his posture is.

Nope. A moped. Cutty vs Buca will know what I mean.

Ok, I logged on to D@L and arggghhh! RR! So I went to collect myself and have a cup of coffee before I responded so here goes:

When RR first came on the scene I thought that she was not necessarily my style but she could be of help to some people. There are those who find cooking to be an overwhelming prospect. I thought it was great to make cooking simple, fast and manageable.
Then the RR phenomenon got rolling. I found her overly chirpy "EVOO" style to be grating but hey diff ' rent strokes for diff' 'rent folks. Then she got so many shows that FN seemed to become all RR all the time. Then she got her own talk show and magazine. Now she can be seen hawking everything from Dunkin' Donuts to crackers. RR's grinning mug can be seen on boxes of crackers, highway billboards and magazine ads (besides her own) Her cooking has devolved into canned this and premade that. Her cheery, chirpy style seems to be turned up to 11 on the saccharine scale. Why are there not more real cooks on FN?

Well at least she's not the Semi-Horrid Sandra Lee....

RR annoys the daylights out of me. First off, why can't she actually say the words "extra virgin olive oil"? Is she in that much of a hurry? At least she never claims to be a chef, she'll often say "I'm just a cook". Her skills are not that great. If the Food Network folks were looking to take "Jane Doe of the Kitchen" and put her on screen, they sort of did... why couldn't they have found someone whose voice doesn't sound like grated concrete? As far as I've seen, her biggest selling point is the bouncy, endless energy she emits as she scampers around the set kitchen.

I use to think there was a group of us who might be accused of having WAY to much time on our hands (or the alternate theory: no lives.) As happens, the cream rises to the top. Just from the emoticons posted with this thread (and the wonderful clown/children comment)Voodoopork is the clear and uncontested winner of the D@L Way WAY Too Much Time award.

Oh, and Ms. Ray: who would have thought someone who can't cook would have a cooking show? Is there any recipe she cooks that does not include hot pepper flakes? I'm amused that it takes about 20-minutes of a cooking show to discover who are posers and who can actually cook (e.g. Ms. Ray v. America's Test Kitchen.)

Who is Sandra Lee?

I do watch her occasionally, mostly with the mute button activated. She has the occasional good start to a recipe that, with massive amounts of tweaking, can be quite tasty. Two things to note:

1) She should not be allowed to make up words or acronyms, i.e. EVOO, GB (garbage bowl), "stoup," and so forth. The moratorium begins now.

2) Seen her new set, the one with the bright Crayola orange cabinets? Her skin matches it. Enough with the fake tanner.

I understand there is a college drinking game now that involves watching Rachel Ray and taking a slug every time she says "yum o" or "EVOO" or one of her other catch phrases. Must be lethal!

I didn't mind her so much when she got her first FN show, but then they started sending her around the world to eat other peoples food, rolling her eyes in mock ecstasy. WHO CARES?! She's overly-perky, has an obnoxious speaking voice, and is a lousy tipper.

I hate her now. I don't buy products she endorses, because they just mean more money in her talentless pocketbook.

Feats on this Rachel Ray yummo montage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WxP6MGvO_s

Mmmm......

Several of the cable channels do all day marathons of a particular programme. Consider an all-day RR marathon: slit my throat and wrists with a dull steak knife.

My wife thinks I'm working on our taxes. Don't be jealous of my awesome emoticons RTSO! Isn't telling someone that they have too much free time an extra level of lameness on your part? :(
And why did you spell "programme" that way? Are you trying to infiltrate our Great American Blog Way? I say good day, sir.

Is everyone still having fun? :-) :-) :-)

Sanda Lee has a show called Semi-Homemade on the food channel. If you think RR just opens cans and bags, you should see Lee. Her biggest draw is her low cut tops.

"Who is Sandra Lee?"

She is the "star" of Semi Homemade with Sandra Lee on the FN. Her show usually revolves around a theme for which she (I use this term loosely) cooks several dishes from canned and packaged food. She usually has a cocktail to go with the meal. I think her strategy is to get her guests too drunk to notice that she serving prepackaged crap. To the Frankenstein-esque combo of canned and packaged slop and cocktail she adds a "tablescape" to further distract from her lack of talent. Yes, she must decorate for each show.

After typing all this I realized Voodoo pork may be joking...

Mr. Voodoopork: I am sorry. You're recent spate of postings seemed new to me. They have been numerous and pithy. As you just pointed out, your wife thinks you're doing you taxes. I was just commenting that while the R's, Janet, Dahlink, Misha and let us not forget OMG (to whatever coop he has flown) tend to admit to spending too much time on this blog, your recent contributions seemed (with the additions of emoticons) to rise to a new standard. I'm sorry you found it lame. I will my take my sputtering candle and moldy cheese and return to my garret and not bother you again.

Come back to the sandbox, Single Rob!

bijouroyal

You have stated it so well!!

I actually have never seen her. Sounds like Trailer Park cooking ... when you're cookin' meth and you don't have a lot of time for real vittles .... I just Googled her. I get it. Cutlets.

Rachael Ray's talk show is produced by Oprah Winfrey's company. Go figure both have a big fat loud mouth. One thing about Rachael I have heard she is so nice to people in personand will take the time to talk to you.
If you want to see a beautiful chef on the food network look at Giada Dii Laurentiis. She is so hot and sexy

The low cut tops or tight sweaters are a must on the food porn channels now. How about Giada de L. or (my personal favorite) Nigella Lawson?

SHAKAZULU!

Loved it.

I always like Rachael Ray - even though her "EVOO" thing just makes my hair stand on end. Even though my friends can't stand her, I give her respect because she doesn't call herself a "chef" and when she appeared on Iron Chef, she wore street clothes and never got flustered. I'm cool with RR.

If RR is nice to people in person then that's a big plus for her. I expected her to be a real snotty you-know-what.

I watch so little on the food channel any more - I mostly get my cooking fix from three - count them 3 - local PBS stations: MPT, WETA, & WHUT. I can go back and forth and get secent shows on the weekend to watch while I'm cleaning.

I really miss shows like Taste, Chef du Jour, Baker's Dozen, and anything with Sara Moulton - these were shows I really enjoyed asn well as learned from. And some of the earlier shows like Two Fat Ladies, Too Hot Tamales (an unfortunate name that), and their serious news show ,Food News & Views, were fun because the cooking part was taken seriously.

Come back RTSO! Come back! (You can be Shane or Little Sheeba, your choice.) I have to admit I have gotten sucked in lately. With the absence of OMG I thought I could play with the big boys (and girls) without getting the attention of his mighty talons, but I seem to have gotten a little obsessed. Maybe OMG is in BlogHab? I feel myself headed for there soon. I also gave up drinking for, uh, Lent, yeah sure for Lent., so I do have some extra time for "taxes". I've had worse obessions and this one probably won't get me divorced (yet).

Thank you Dahlink for mentioning food porn. I read an article in the New Yorker awhile ago about the Food Network and producers at FN talked in porn lingo about getting the money shot for a dish; it's the extreme close-up of something sizzling I guess. Add to that the oven stuffer roasters some of the women are smuggling under their low-cut shirts and well, food porn.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/02/061002fa_fact

(Quietly) now i'm out of here, it's game night I'm supposed to be looking for Scrabble.

Wow, take the day off and see what trouble starts brewing? Ah, the ever popular Rachael Ray. You either love her or you hate her. I think my only problem with her is that she's EVERYWHERE! Even Emeril didn't get this much coverage nor hawk any and every product that was available. Even he has some standards. But admittedly, I haven't watched FN is a few years. I miss the old days when they had real chefs cooking real food, and even though they had no camera presence, we didn't care. We watched them like we would watch a professor lecture in a lecture hall - to gain knowledge.

Granted, RR has NEVER professed to be a chef, trained to be one etc. And maybe that is why she is so appealing to so many folks. Basically, it is a, "If I can do it, you can do it" kind of camaraderie.

There is only one last thing I will say about her... If nothing else, she is getting folks who normally wouldn't cook for themselves get into the kitchen and cook. If it wasn't for Rachael Ray, my sister's family would still be eating take-out every night, I kid you not. Someone bought my sister a RR cookbook and since then she cooks twice a week for her family. It's not much, but it's a start. So she can't be all that bad.

But she is only one step up from that train wreck Sandra Lee.

Okay, Mr. Voodoopork. Enough kissy-face. People will blog.
On point of this thread (well sort of) thanks to the other folk who don't watch the Food Network because most of the show hosts can't cook. I thought I was just too out of it 'get it.' The only show I watch (for the cooking [we'll keep the S&M for other threads]) is Nigella Lawson. She does seem to able to cook.

BTW, what about Gailor's bff. Her cooking videos I'd watch, even if she used play dough.

Thank you so much! No one ever mentioned it (it was before there was much commenting) so I didn't know what people thought of it. I loved it. I'm going to direct newcomers to it here. Also do a search for Amanda if you want to read the blog items about who she is and about her cameraman. Or just click on the Sugar Week category.

forget the annoying perky aspect. she is the WORST tipper. it is simply horrifying to watch her leave $1.50 on a $15 check. the only way she manages a trip of meals on $40 a day is by screwing the wait staff everywhere she goes. she obviously never had to work for tips and try to make a living in the real world. if she did she wouldn't be so damn perky.

Nigrella Lawson?!?! She's the porniest crumpet in the lorry. The last time I saw one of her shows it ends with her sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night wearing a cutty sark (take that OMG!) and poking her trolloppy finger into gooey things in the fridge and sucking them off. Although as fall turns to winter, fecund has turned to matronly on her. But when an English person can cook at all, it is a small miracle.

Actually, I believe that Rachael Ray grew up working in various restaurants, so when she gives a bad tip she knows exactly what she is doing. I have have to credit Nigella Lawson with keeping her chin up after the tragic death of her first husband and raising their young children on her own (before she remarried quite well, that is ...)

Not only is RR not a chef, she never worked the line in a kitchen. The most she did was work in a food gift shop. Her food training is mostly about selling honey mustard to the foodies of Plattsburgh, NY.

I'm really not that hung up on the chef part, my biggest problem with RR is her personality. She's 40 years old but she comes off like some DB in the fat girl sorority at a tier three safety school in upstate New York.

Food Network has really dumbed down in the past couple of years. It is a real shame. The David Rosengarten's and Sarah Moulton's have been replaced by likes off RR and her clones: Sara Lee the Barbie RR and Ingrid Hoffman the Telemundo RR.

I used to be against public television between the time I stoped watching the Electric Company and before the time I started getting into food. My libertarian instincts would tell me the market the would provide the same service. Well, I'll admit I was wrong. The market may produce cooking shows, but it won't produce shows like "America's Test Kitchen" or "Master Chef's with Julia Child". Instead, the market gives us "$40 Dollars a Day" or "Unwrapped".

Of course, RoCK. The market place gives us, after all, what appeals to the lowest common denominator. And they don't really want to learn a new dish or new technique. They want to be told that it's OK to use pre-packaged, pre-cooked, pre-etc., food products by woman who display the finished products on big backgrounds.

Even my hubby laughs at this. But then he laughed at pre-food channel people like Nathalie Dupree and Marcia Adams.

Okay, one interesting observation that seems to have not been raised so far:

She has GOT to be the most "normal" looking woman on television. In a TV universe that dotes on tall, slim size 2's (America's Next Top Model, anyone?), Rachael Ray looks like someone you would actually know--a classmate, a co-worker, a neighbor. She's still comes off as overdosed on saccharine and caffeine (thus the Dunkin Donuts coffee promo?). Now, I wonder what would happen if I sat down with her and started talking wine/beer, or travel, or politics, or good books......

Nigella Lawson was BORN well. Her father is Baron Lawson, Thatcher's Draconian Chancellor of the Exchequer, creator of poll taxes, releaser of hounds, Lord of the Realm, Viceroy of Mordor, Giver of Fancy Parties. The family used orphans as step stools.

Oh, RoCK--thank you for bringing up the late, great Julia. Never missing a chance to plug a favorite book, I can recommend "Appetite for Life," a wonderful biography of Julia and Paul Child (who deserves a lot of credit for his support over their decades together).
The chapter about the shabby way he was treated during the McCarthy era will bring tears to your eyes.

Okay, now I am sure of it. Voodoo Pork is OMG, without a doubt! Europe indeed.

Too much French. Not enough German.

The walrus was Paul. Who said he was in Europe? I would expect something much more colourful, like Mombassa or Tucumcari.

the website rachel ray suxs is far better than rr who is a looser on the tube. she,alone has lost more listeners to the food channel than one can imagine. Cant we get her off

That's what she said... :o{

Very interesting Dr. Alpern, since you are the psychiatrist, tell me, why do you feel compelled to respond to this? I'm listening. Is not spelling, punctuation and grammar a prerequisite for medical school or is "looser" a Freudian slip? "Get off her" seems similarly fraught with meaning. Oh, I'm sorry, our time is up. Here are some samples. Take one EVOO in the morning before breakfast.

Actually he said, "Cant we get her off" not, "Get off her." And it's not like anyone is too worried about spelling or grammar here.

Ooooh, "get her off", even weirder. No, spelling and grammar aren't important here, but not a lot of people list educational credentials in their posting name.

Wait. Didn't you used to be Reverend Ed? :-)

Eric said:

And it's not like anyone is too worried about spelling or grammar here

Well I worry about it, but it doesn't do much good.

My grammer, puncuation and spelling on this blog would make e.e. cummings wince.

There are only so many times you can hit Preview and self-edit (keep it clean fellow sandboxers, that's not what I meant, although at times it seems like it) when the need (and ego) to post your pithy, relevant and crushing remark becomes too strong to overcomes whatever grammatical training Great-Aunt Hypathia instilled in you. Of course as soon as you do hit Post at least two things happen. First you no longer have a of copy of your prose (purple or pearls) to edit further (which you really, really would like to do) and generally admire, until it is published (don't you just love that word: published: my writing is published). And all too often you think of an even better or additional remark that would oh, so clearly, carry the day.

[87 gimes, and I'm sure I missed probably xomething.]

Complaints about RR, Unwrapped and pandering to the lowest common denominator while there's a cry in favor of chain reviews????

There's irony in there somewhere...

RoCK - The thing I like about RR is that she never pretends that she worked the line or is a chef. She's just the girl down the street who happens to cook and giggle alot - not to mention having a penchant for saying "yum" before putting the food to her mouth. She's cute and I dig her.

horrified-
I know some people that both worked on $40 a Day and who served her at the restaurant. Don't let the show fool you. Once the taping ended, that's when they really started ordering. Food, wine - usually the works. And the tip was always generous.

Remember, what you're watching is entertainment and not necessarily reality.

The spirit wasn't with me. I still am Reverend Ed, but only for tax porpoises. What's the difference between God and a doctor? God doesn't think he's a doctor. What if God used bad spelling and grammar on the Ten Commandments? What's that? Thou shall nut murder. If you say so. Cashews, up against the wall!

I don't know if anybody else saw it, but the new Saturday NIght Live this week had a parody of Rachel Ray and a separate Food Network parody (What they called "Porn for Fat People") on Daniel Day Lewis' There Will Be Blood character drinking your milkshake. No sign of Coolio.

Oink oink. You men are pigs. :o) indeed! You think she's a hot little sex muffin and if she weren't you would hate her too. I can read subtext. And the moped remark? Shame. Our son's friend used that term, moped, fun to ride, but don't let your friends see you? Really. Such hypocritters. 8-(
Give me the Galloping Gourmet any day! Now he was sexy.

RTSO, hav a fite with Book?

I don't actually watch any of those shows.. Sandra Lee and Nigella Lawson drive me even more crazy than RR. I do have several of the 30-Minute Meal cookbooks and use them regularly. She has some great ideas that I wouldn't normally think of myself.

Sometimes when I find myself home on a weekday morning I watch RR and Martha and count the number of times they take credit for something that was obviously done by a staff member - and how many times they use "I" and "my" in their speech. Trust me, it's a lot.

On a pop culture reference note, if any of you have ever seen the musical "Nunsense" you will remember that the convent's cook was named Sister Julia, Child of God. I recently assisted at a rehearsal for "Nunsense A-MEN" (yes, the show performed by men) and they changed the cook's name to Sister Rachael, Ray of God. Cute.

Sounds better than curling practice. !)

You're so right, Janet--PBS cooking shows rule, and Jacques Pepin is king!

As for FN personalities, no one uses "I" and "me" more than Emeril--you'd think he runs back to the prep kitchen to chop carrots during commercial breaks! RR is sickly sweet, Sandra Lee and Paula Deen are just "ick"! I miss the real cooks like David Rosengarten and Sara Moulton. I loved FN in the early days; now it's just junk...sigh.

Rachel Ray is horrible and an insult to all that is good...if that voice isn't bad enough along with zero skill (but hey- a few catch phrases and it's all good, right?), her and Sandra Lee are like some Dynamic Duo of lowering the bar and dumbing down cooking. My worst possible last meal would be a "sammy" made by Queen of EVOO whilst sitting in front of one of Sandra Lee's Tablescapes.

I miss Sara Moulton beyond words, who knows technique and can explain that which is difficult in a clear and concise manner (but doesn't have any catch phrases, so she's a goner). Julia Child...my god, what a source of inspiration (as opposed to the Dynamic Duo of food ignorance). One of the first, and still the best. Nigella Lawson knows technique and how to do the basics well, and...okay, she's "easy on the eyes". There. I said it.

I never cared for Emeril when FN makes him perform like a trained seal, but his 'Essence of Emeril' shows are actually good (where it's less 'bam!' and more actual cooking). If they're still on in between whatever sludge FN is serving up, 'Molto Mario' is wonderful, and Alton Brown's shows are also quite good.

PBS occasionally shows Jacques Pepin, who is a freaking titan of cooking.

It is indeed a shame the way Food Network seems to be moving toward shows that are mostly entertaining with a few food-related things thrown in rather than the other way around. Every time I see an ad for one of their new shows, I can't help but think that it's going to be more of the awful RR/SL claptrap aimed at non-foodies. They have hours upon hours of programming to fill - how about some variety? Would it kill them to develop a new show or two with recipes for the more proficient home cook to share the stage with bag salad and cream of celery casserole?

I can't believe I got to this conversation so late! Bijouroyal neatly summed up most of my feelings on RR and RoCK made me laugh with the (totally apt) "sorority girl" comment (believe me...I'm quite the sorority girl myself...I know of what I speak).

Also, I have actually heard that she is NOT very nice to the people around her, and that she's grown into a first class diva. Six weeks ago, I wrote a post about her (here) behavior at a Dunkin Donuts photo shoot and I am still getting emails and comments on it. She certainly is polarizing.

As annoying and omnipresent as she is...she obviously sells cookbooks. And magazines. And advertising. And coffee.

Oh yeah - and did anyone else see that Bourdain show - I think he's in Charleston maybe - where he asks a waitress about her experience when Rachael visited her restaurant? I don't remember it super clearly, but I definitely didn't get the impression that she was a very good guest...

Speaking of Tony Bourdain, how great was it when he was in New Orleans and he apologized to Emeril about all the jokes he made at Emeril's expense, but then Bourdain turns to the camera and assures not to worry because he still hates Rachel Ray.

I was forced to watch the Brunette half of the Dyanmic Duo in her show on dining in DC; beyond horrible. It's the culinary short bus.

Daria- that's my whole thing. I watch Sara Moulton (or, god rest her soul, Julia Child), even Nigella Lawson, Ina Garten and Giada, and I want to cook something and cook it well (same with Alton, Mario, and Pepin). The Dynamic Duo (Rachel Ray and Queen of All Tablescapes- Sandra Lee) on FN now...what's the number for Pizza Hut?

I'm sorry, but RR has zero technique (she handles a knife like a complete rube, and watching her use a fork and knife at the table is painful), zero culinary skill, and a voice that is slightly more annoying than chewing glass while listening to Fingernails on Chalkboards.

The dynamic duo are truly Satan's own, but let's add a few lines of that special D@L love for Martha Stewart. Okay, she can actually cook, but in her pre-prison days she had a Christmas special with Julia Child as a guest. MS, the complete control freak, started correcting what Julia was doing.

My wife has once again informed me that I am a dork. I didn't mean for the moped thing to be vulgar, just suggestive. Like, I secrety (used to) think she's cute, but I wouldn't want my friends to know about it, like riding a moped. Sorry terrier, but you're a little over-juiced there: sex muffin? Yikes. My apologies for not realizing the full meaning of slang well below my age range. Fo shizzle, my blizzles.

EVOO

They tell us that
We lost our tails
Evolving up
From little snails
I say its all
Just wind in sails
Are we not men?
We are EVOO!
Were pinheads now
We are not whole
Were pinheads all
Jocko homo
Are we not men?
E-V-O-O
Monkey men all
In business suit
Teachers and critics
All dance the poot
Are we not men?
We are EVOO!
Are we not men?
E-V-O-O
God made man
But he used the monkey to do it
Apes in the plan
Were all here to prove it
I can walk like an ape
Talk like an ape
I can do what a monkey can do
God made man
But a monkey supplied the glue
We must repeat
O.k. lets go!
We are EVOO!
We are EVOO!

I haven't heard the actual song in years. I'll have to dig out my old Devo album. Ear worm...

Does anyone remember a show called "Two Fat Ladies"? I used to watch it (I think it was on the food network) with two very rotund english women. I used to love that show, does anyone know what happened to it?

One of the ladies died in 1999. R.I.P.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/416231.stm

The Two Fat Ladies show was on MPT for a few years. I liked that show as well.

So I'm watching Dinner Impossible (entertaining, perhaps not instructive, but fun) and one of Food Network's upcoming specials is being promoted. Its one I know all E@Lers will want to record and save to give to their grandchildren.

Rachel Ray Cooks Dog Food

Okay, so maybe that's not the exact title FN gave it, but it is the subject. I think RR has found a cusine she can master. (I just hope the SPCA doesn't get wind of this.)

You really can't make up this stuff. Wouldn't you love to have been in that production meeting when some fool raised her/his hand and said the immortal words: Let's do dog food. (No children, that's not the punch line. The punch line comes next)

Great idea. Do it.

(My line, not EL comment, I know the rules.)

Rachel Ray terrorist? Or just covering up a fat neck?

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/23/of-donuts-and-dumb-celebrities/

Great post. Ready to read more.

Anete Smith
agencia escort mexico

Snarl! Saucer of milk, table six...

RR is cute and she can cook and this is a combination a lot of women just can't handle.

Why are women so threatened by her?

Nobody complains about Paula Dean and her cooking will put you in a butter and lard coma.