Rachael's Rays
 

The poularity of Rachael Ray, that generically handsome and perky "chef" of easy to understand and make recipies and meals, has become almost unbearable. Only if you live under a rock have you not seen her; she is ubiquitous at present, and let me tell you why:

She has the highest positive response in brain-analysed focus groups. That's how it works these days. It's not about raw talent, or intelligence, or class, or even subject matter knowledge. If the brain scans show positive response to the face, speaking style, and overall physical presence, it becomes a done deal.

http://www.wildfreshness.com/brian/a...ael-Ray-25.jpg
Isn't she cute!!! How could you NOT like her?

To women, Rachael Ray is that unthreatening friend that makes them feel good and, while attractive, is not "too" sexy and will not try to seduce and fuck their husbands (she's married, after all). To men, she is that friend of their wives who they'd like to fuck, but that they know their wives would probably not think so. Men can watch the show with their wives that way.

Other factors like the fact she won't make you uncomfortable about your general lack of skill and knowledge in the cullinary arts and that her meals are "quick" and "easy" certainly help. But in the end, it's her generic (and unthreatening) good looks, relatively small breasts, and friendly (and unthreatening) manner that takes the day...and the night, and the TV talk show she now has, and the magazines, and the numerous cooking books, and now the labels of any number of Nabisco products for which she is now the spokesperson. All because the focus group people's brain scans show purple and yellow in the right places when they watch her. Hooray for technology! Let us know when you guys get that AIDS thing under control.
http://www.wildfreshness.com/brian/a...promo_home.jpg

In a not-so-small minority of people, however, the Rachael Ray brain scans come out SCREAMING hatred and disdain. These Rachel Haters have their own Web sites where they can commiserate on their mutual disregard for the popular woman. Their main complaint is how she's "dumbed down" the cullinary arts (cooking) and that, well, she's too popular.

What do I think? I don't really care because I have no urge or need to watch her. I'm kinda annoyed that now she's plastered all over every box of Triscuits, Wheat Thins, and other Nabisco products, and you have to wonder how sophisticated her recipies are if Triscuits and Wheat Thins are important staples in her cuisine, but what can you do? This is her time.

I have apparently been under a rock. Does the lipstick always match the housewares? I think the last cooking show I saw was the SNL send up of Julia Childs bleeding on the set... good stuff!

Well mine does, but some people are slackers.

I actually have the cookbook pictured above. I had never heard of her--this is before she was on every streetcorner as Pangloss says--but the recipes looked good. In fact, this may be the last cookbook I ever bought as I realized that every recipe I needed was on the net.

I agree, I have a violent reaction to anything or anyone overcommercialized. Hopefully she'll have her fifteen minutes and move on.

(BTW, from the thread title I was expecting you to discuss her, well, headlights.)

I first disliked Ms. Ray when I watched an episode of $40 a Day. It was really the show concept that pissed me off the most--I think it encourages cheapskate travellers to tip measly, if at all--so I probably would've hated any host of the show.

Then I saw her interviewed on a talk show, and the pitch and manic speed of her talking literally gave me a headache. I don't know if she was nervous (how? She has something like five shows) or popped a pill backstage, but I couldn't keep watching.

I assumed that she is not much of a cooking expert, after I read a synopsis of Iron Chef and saw that she had to be paired with an actual chef to compete. I guess the point was to draw in her fans to watch; nothing wrong with that.

Hahaa, me too.

I can't STAND RR - her squeaky voice, her fucking dumb kindergarten-level teaching style, the horrendously boring food she cooks, the absurdity that any level-headed human could and would travel to the world's biggest cities and only spend $40 a day. Her show is like the Sesame Street of Food Network, right down to the lame acronyms and phrases she uses. (Can't you picture E.V.O.O. popping up as big, multi-colored bubble letters each time she says it?)

However, I recognize she is incredibly cute, and man would I love to let her have a taste of my all-natural, original flavor tubesteak. But my friend maintains his theory that RR would much prefer food to sex, that she would rather dive head-first into a bin of chocolate than be screwed silly by any of the thousands of men who would jump at the opportunity. I have to agree.

Right, then she'd look at you afterwards and say, "De-LISH!"

I, too, and living the ROCK lifestyle and do not knwo her. Any brain scans of me would wonder why some one needs a mouth that big. It's scary in a Julia Roberts kind of way.

I've never enjoyed her voice or her down-home speech mannerisms. HOWEVER, as someone who literally learned how to cook just in the last year, starting from absolutely nothing (sorry, we didn't all have Julia Childs for a mother), I can tell you that her "kindergarten-level teaching style" is precisely what makes her appealing. Her recipes may be boring, but they're a damn good starting place.

I think my generation was seriously neglected in the cooking arena. None of my friends learned how to cook from their parents. Someone in the cookbook thread, I think it was footfootfoot, was complaing about how pathetic it was that the new version of "The Joy of Cooking" didn't even have such basics as how to make your own mayonnaise, and the only thing I could think was "WTF? People DO that?!" For the first 18 years of my life, my family ate out at restaurants at least 2-3 times a week, and the rest of the time we ate the same 6 or 7 really simple meals, over and over and over. Rachael Ray is the halfway house between box macaroni and Julia Childs. You have to respect that she fills a legitimate niche.

On the other hand, I readily admit she is really annoying. I get all her recipes straight from the Food Network website.

Hey, I take one look at her, and all I can think about is eating. :D

Needs a mouth that big...lmao!

She's a bit much on the perk-o-meter for me. I like it when you find out these kinds of celebrities have completely out of control personal lives: in a couple years she'll get a DUI, rant about some religious or cultural group, they'll find a pound of marijuana in her van and find she beats her husband with her cooking implements.

Now THAT's entertainment.

She is waaay too perky, and the high baud rate inane chatter is annoying. But she does one thing: encourage people to actually cook.
I usually spend an hour making dinner most nights, but most of my friends are stretched to the max at the concept of opening a box of rice-a-roni. So anyone who can get these guys (yes, mostly men) to grill a chicken breast and put it on some pasta -- wow! Actual food!

I like her.

I am not sure why people enjoy soft targets so much. Especially men. I mean why not diss Bobby Flay instead?

I am not perky however my son says I could be her twin or sister.:blush:

I have a high perk tolerance. :D

I remember seeing her a couple of times making guest appearances on other shows. I liked her. She seemed very vibrant and interesting. And kind of hot. Then I think somewhere here on the Cellar, somebody mentioned that she was way to perky. That was a while ago. I saw her once since, and that had ruined it for me. Now she annoys me. A shame, because I liked her.

It's like my grandfather would often complain about dogs barking off in the distance. I usually hadn't noticed the dogs, but then they would bother me after his comments.

*voodoo eyes* You hate money, Glatt. You want to send it all to dar512.*/voodo eyes*

Sounds like you are way too open to suggestion, G.

:lol: Yeah, maybe. Or maybe I just ignore stuff and then see it when people point it out.

Flay sucks. And not even well. :right:
He is a one-note song with no originality or depth of knowledge.

Oh, and I also can't stand Gadia Delaurentis, Paula Deen, her kids, or that abomination Sandra Lee. Barefoot Contessa has an annoying laugh.

Tip of the hat to: Mario, Alton Brown, Sara Moulton, Iron Chef (original).

That enough of a stand for ya? ;)

Bobby Flay is a cocky bastard.

I have a love/hate relationship with Rachel Ray. I have made a few of her recipes and they turned out well. Yes, they were easy, but that's what I was looking for - easy and good. Rachel Ray's pork tenderloin for 8 from 30 minutes or less is spectacular. People are usually very impressed when I make it.

Rachel really pissed me off on $40 a day when she went to Durham/Chapel Hill, NC. She didn't go to any of the best spots. BUT what pissed me off the most was that her afternoon snack was a bag of Cracker Jacks at a Durham Bulls game. A BAG OF CRACKER JACKS!!!! I was appalled. I love Durham Bulls games, but when I go to them, I have a Katie's Pretzel - a local staple. You can get Cracker Jacks anywhere. I was so pissed at her for that.

Oh, and on $40 a day, she never really takes a real bite of what she's eating.

I love Paula Dean - I make a lot of her stuff because I like to add a southern flair to things. I love Alton Brown because he is so funny and his recipes tend to be pretty good, even if I don't have a kitchen aid mixer decked out with flames.

I miss the Two Fat Ladies.:sniff:

I LOVED their show!

Well, she doesn't cheat, doesn't have pre-made food waiting in the oven that is pulled out just minutes after the uncooked version has gone in. She's one of the few on television actually cooking in the time she says she does and I respect that, regardless of the smiles and cheer that might be a bit over the top.

You want to dislike one of the chef personalities on television? How about the New England wannabe-cajun Emeril Lagasse. Nothing makes a cooking show suck like cued audience cheering with each addition of butter/garlic/alcohol and the endless use of pointless buzz words. Never try replicating any dish this man creates. Whatever takes an hour on television thanks to the help of a trap door in the back of his oven and a full kitchen crew behind the scenes will take you four.

Right after my post I sought solace in a few stoned wheat thins and cream cheese with capers and who is on the box in four colors, but what's her name?

Her perkiness is not so apparent in the still photo, the crackers were good.

Our most popular tv chef at the moment is Gordon Ramsey. His speciality is telling people to fuck off.

:rotflol: :lol2:

Hell's Kitchen can be amusing summer fare, and I do watch very occasionally his show on BBC America where he still swears a lot but there's a lot less humiliating of others.

I liked RR before there was this hideous national explosion of exposure. Usually Mr Fargon and I will just refer to her as "Perky Girl" when checking the Food Network lineup.

If you can't tip decently, you CAN'T AFFORD IT!:mad:
She is an asshole.
I miss Paul Prudhomme.

Sob. I miss Justin Wilson

Did you see the show where he goes out to a base and does a cook off with the captain there? Another chef came out to judge it and gave the win to the captain serving with our troops of course. He lost gracefully. Of course he had to!


I actually found the link to the exact episode I am talking about.
http://www.slashfood.com/2006/07/21/...n-with-steaks/

He seems to be losing more often than not on the "throwdown" show. Maybe that'll teach him a little humility.

yeah, that was a great episode.

I admit, I've never seen her show. I just bought her first book, before she really blew up, and sneered at her overmarketing.

But I have to admit, if she does cooking in real time on her show, then I'm moderately impressed.

I cannot stand her. Her voice hits the same frequency as fingernails on a chalkboard. And she is too perky. I do not respond well to perky.

However, her Salmon Dip from the back of the Ritz box is a total winner.

The only cooking shows I genuinely like are Iron Chef (original) and Top Chef on Bravo. But neither of them are really about the food.

Exactly, where is she on the perkiness spectrum?

I think she makes a good point for easy cooking, that you can substitute this for that and generally use what you have instead of making a special trip for one item that only goes in one recipe; HOWEVER, I hate repetition and the constant "Yum" and "Delish" got old real quick, not to mention the E.V.O.O. and then (seriously, every time) says the words Extra Virgin Olive Oil. What's the friggin point of using an abbreviation if you're then going to say what it means? She does this in the cookbooks too! I can't stand it.

Hey, I know that picture! I linked to it in the word famous Cellar erect nipples thread, which is apparently no longer #4 on Google, like it used to be. In fact, I couldn't find it at all in a Google search for "erect nipples"

The only thing positive I'll say for R. Ray is that she has made a success of herself. I belive it was only 5-6 years ago that she was demonstrating cooking gadgets at Macy's in NY. Now she is a millionairess or close.

I have been a viewer of the Food Network for some time, I'm home in the late afternoon and ususally do the cooking for dinner. I get tired of the news as I listen to NPR and BBC during the day and check the Internet and I find cooking entertaining. That being said, I am getting really bored with their current trend towards home chefs with little proffesional training and their survivor type shows.

In the early days, I enjoyed Two Fat Ladies, Ready Steady Cook and Doorknock Dinners. I liked Sara Moulton, the chocolate/desert chef with the french accent and the other dessert chef-Sween treats. I could put up with Emeril, Mario and Bobby as pro chefs but preferred Ming Tsai and Tyler Florence as they are less showy and pretentous. Jamie Oliver was nuts but at least fun to watch.

My number one favorite was the old Iron Chef, so well done, campy and funny as well as entertaining. I especially liked the old chef who would always take the time to write out his menu before cooking as the opponents ran around the kitchen trying to get ahead of him. The dubbing voices were as good as Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lily?" I remember one show where the secret ingredient was ocotpus and the competitor insisted on beating the dead thing with a melon because that is what they did in his prefecture, so typically Japanese.

The only one worse then Rachel Ray is Sandra Lee, a dingy blond who dresses up in the wierdest costumes and then prepares the meal in them. I crack up over her term "table scapes" and her closing "keep it simple, keep it fun and always keep it semi-homemade". I read where she was the replacement for Martha Stewart, old Martha must be chocking on that one!

Giada De Laurentiis is pretty to look at and her show is well filmed but I think she uses Botox in her lips and her teeth look fake. And you know she can't be eating all that Italian food because she would weigh 400 lbs! Ina Garten's husband is one spolied puppy; he comes home every night to a big fancy meal. I rate Alton Brown's shows highly as they are informative and amusing, he really gets into the satire which is entertaining.

That's the way I see it and I agree that maybe R. R. will move on to something else!

Point well taken, I'd bite the heads off chickens at a rode show if it made me a millionaire, a couple of years of that and I'd be ready to retire.

I liked the galloping gourmet, but then that was 30 sumpin years ago when cooking was simpler.

Paul Prudhomme's original recipe is about the only blackened fish seasoning that tastes as it should. Everybody else's is just too damn bland.

Here is a Rachel vid for you all ,
Rachel Ray's $40 a day orgasm

And he was still drunk. Once he sobered up and discovered low cholesterol cooking, he was no longer entertaining.

I enjoyed the Jamie Oliver mini series when he took the VW van through Italy while turning 30.

Rachel is like that annoying sister-in-law, she seems to mean well.

Like Alton, although his humor can be a bit too forced. he means well.

Emeril needs to go away. Ramsey F-off. Flay, get a job. Bayless...shave that thing already.

My favorite is still Anthony Bourdain. sigh. (maybe its that Ramones T shirt)

Anybody read Heat by Bill Buford? I found it a damn good read, much like Bourdain's books.

I really want that book, like really really; his previous book "Among the Thugs" was the most amazing work, participatory journalism amongst the football hooligans.

King Crimson pwns!!!

yay! i'm under the rock too, yay!

there's something to be said for only watching football on tv.

zippy, that reminds me of that pulp fiction where they only show clips of people saying fuck.

it would suck to have to react to your food on camera so often. how many different ways can you say yum? without cussing......

Well, she's right up near a 10, but then she's only about two years older than 10 as well, so it is sort of moot.

Rather reminds me of the Blind Faith album cover.

oh, that's nice child porn, spode

Sure looks like it. Reminds me of a certain Scorpions cover that I dare not post.

I just watched Rachel Ray for the first time yesterday. I liked her. :)

Have you guys ever noticed her ass? I would love to have an ass like that.

Anyway, her meatloaf thing-y and pasta with broccolini looked good. And not so intimidating. Even I could do it.

Yeah, I don't think that album cover would fly much today. What...you guys didn't know about that one? Great album, despite the kiddie pron cover.

How can anyone not know blind faith backwards and forwards?

Isn't that grounds for banning? I mean Qu'est-ce que fuck?

wait, did someone say ass? did I skip over that part? links?

I can't take her show anymore... just once I'd like to see her take a bite of something and instead of that 1/2 glazed semi-orgasmic look I'd LOVE to see her just grimmace and spit it out swearing the whole while and say something like "oh my GOD!!! that is the worst piece of shit I have ever eaten!!!!" just once... although I do respect the fact that she has made something of herself, and yes... her recipes are solid and simple. giving more people confidence (sp?) to try new things in the kitchen.. although for my money if it's not Alton Brown or Jacques Peppin I'm not too impressed..

I like her. I do agree that her show $40 a Day upsets me because of the tipping issue. But I am pretty sure she didn't come up with it, so I cannot really hate her for it.

Almost everyone my age doesn't cook. They don't know how. They burn water. Her teaching methods may be elementary, but in all honesty many people need that.

I prefer Alton Brown though. I love his show. But I still like Rachel Ray. But then again, it is almost impossible for someone to be annoying to me. I have a super high tolerance for annoying people.

what's the tipping issue?
Throw me a frickin' bone here! I'm the boss! Need the info.

If she did the show, she has to own it.

Be confident in your confidence. It's -ence. Coincidence, senescence, quintessence... :cool:

Well, bagpipers probably wouldn't. :D