i like rachael ray but i think that $40/day tips cheap to make it $40/day....any other opinions? i worked in that business and you survive on tips. here's her bio: Bio: Rachael Ray Rachael Ray was born into cooking. "My first vivid memory is watching Mom in a restaurant kitchen. She was flipping something with a spatula. I tried to copy her and ended up grilling my right thumb! I was 3 or 4," says Ray. "Everyone on both sides of my family cooks." Ray's maternal grandfather grew and cooked everything that his family of 12 needed for sustenance, and her dad's family was steeped in the food-rich traditions of Louisiana. The Ray family was also in the food business, owners of a family restaurant in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Eventually the family relocated to New York, where her mother went to work as the food supervisor for a chain of upstate restaurants. Ray's career started at Macy's Marketplace in New York, first at the candy counter and then as the manager of the fresh foods department. After Macy's, Ray helped to open Agata & Valentina, the prestigious New York gourmet marketplace, where she was the store manager and buyer. Though this New York City food fast track was exciting, Ray decided she wanted to return to the lifestyle of the Adirondacks. Once upstate, Ray managed pubs and restaurants at the famed Sagamore resort on Lake George and was then recruited by Cowan & Lobel, a large gourmet market in Albany, to be its food buyer. Ray turned the job into dual positions as food buyer and chef. As a way to increase grocery sales during the holidays, Ray began a series of cooking classes. The "30 Minute Meals" classes became so popular that the local media sent a feature reporter to cover the phenomenon, and the following week, an Albany TV station asked Ray to do a weekly "30 Minute Meals" segment for the evening news. Nominated for two regional Emmys, the show was a major success: A companion cookbook sold 10,000 copies locally. Ray's TV work grew to include a series of travel segments following the same theme of living a rich life without having to be wealthy. Today Ray's work continues on Food Network's 30 Minute Meals and $40 a Day programs. Her successful series of cookbooks, all based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, include Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals, The Open House Cookbook, Comfort Foods, and Veggie Meals. Despite her growing celebrity, Ray is determined to keep to her roots. She still lives in a cabin in the Adirondacks with beloved pit bull Boo, who reportedly "eats the mistakes."
I was just watching tonights episode and for breakfast, even though she got the special which was $1.50 off regular price she tipped on the full price.
I know she claimed to make "gimbo" or "jambalaya" one time on 30 min meals and I wanted to jump through the screen. It was horrible. I also saw on the "Best Of" the other noght some guy in Chicago make what he claimed was jambalaya when in reality it was some sort of tomato stew with a glob of white rice in the middle. I get really pissed when I see our fine Louisiana cuisine butchered like that.
I like Rachel Ray, but one of the things I have noticed from cities where I have been before is that she will show restaurants that are all inexpensive or that have value priced specials - but they are all over town.... Sure, eat on $40 a day while spending $50 on cabs.....
You nailed one of my pet peeves. I swear this is true: I once saw a cooking show on PBS where the woman made crawfish etoufee using (sit down) LIVE CRAWFISH. I was screaming at her. I absolutely hated that freakin' wino Justin Wilson. I wouldn't let him fix my dog's meals. How many cajun cooks do you know that use a gallon of muscatel in their food.
For crying out loud, Live Crawfish? Think about what would happen if the Peta people got a hold of that story!
