So I was watching TV and avoiding my homework (already!), when I saw a commercial for Rachael Ray’s new talkshow on ABC. The show premieres on September 18th @ 9am on ABC. Doesn’t this woman ever sleep?! She already has 3 shows on the Food Network, plus she writes cookbooks and just launched a magazine last year! Crazy.
It seems like everyone and their mother has a blog nowadays. I’m not saying that I was early to jump on the bandwagon or anything, but blogging seems to have exploded. Which, conveniently, means that there’s probably a blog out there dedicated to anything and everything you could possibly think of- and FOOD is one of the most popular, it seems.
Poking around online led me to Can’t Boil Water, a blog that you should totally check out. “Can’t Boil Water” seeks to help the novice cook and has mostly recipes, all organized by both type of food and by level of difficulty.
I also ended up at this article: “Rachael Ray: Why Food Snobs Should Quit Picking on Her.” Ok…so with Rachael Ray, it seems like you either love her or you hate her. Snobby Foodies hate her because she has no real culinary training (other than experience, which I think is the best training) and because she uses simple ingredients and occasionally takes a shortcut. But is she not one of the Food Network’s most popular stars, if not the most popular? She’s hugely successful- with 3 shows on the Food Network, her own magazine (Everyday with Rachael Ray), and oodles of cookbooks published. And everyone knows who she is.
On the other hand, she can be overly perky and kind of annoying with her zealous hand-gesturing and overuse of phrases like “YUMMO” and “Deeelish!”. But I like her because she’s got spunk. That’s right, she’s spunky. Her recipes may have stupid names and take slightly more than 30 minutes, but they’re usually pretty good. I admire her for being so successful, despite the fact that she’s never worked in a real kitchen (other than HoJo’s) or been to culinary school- I mean, who cares? She can cook and she knows her audience- the people who watch her show or buy her books are truly looking for quick, easy, and tasty meals. So, if I were Rachael Ray, I’d tell all those haughty chefs that they can shove their truffle oil and homemade pastas where the sun don’t shine. They’re just jealous!
Thoughts?
So I’ve been home for a week, using my own kitchen and grocery shopping and its just wonderful! Oh, and watching Food Network, of course..I don’t know how I survived a whole semester without it. Summer has officially arrived!
You know what else has officially begun?! Grill Season! That’s right, we broke out the grill last night. I’ll grill anything, from veggie burgers to romaine lettuce to watermelon to corn to…ok, you get the point. I’m going to learn how to grill meat this summer, for other people of course. I don’t eat meat but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t know how to cook it. I also plan to try that “beer-can-chicken” thing, where you shove a beer can up a chicken’s butt and place it precariously on the grill…which I’ve heard is good. Anyways, the boys made steak, chicken sausage, and Rachel Ray’s Chicken Cacciatore Burgers, accompanied by sauteed zucchini and mushrooms, a green salad, and garlic bread.
First on my to-grill list is Dave Leiberman’s Grilled Caesar Salad. Sounds crazy, I know – but it’s worth firing up the grill.
still cookin' 
