Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Is It Me? Or is Rachael Ray On Speed?

The host of Food Network’s “30 Minute Meals”, “$40 a Day” and “Inside Dish”, Rachael Ray, is going bonkers and is losing her marbles, quickly!

This once calm, svelte and softly spoken “celebrity” was actually interesting and easy to watch while hosting “30 Minute Meals” which focuses on providing tips, tricks and recipes that will assist the viewer/cook in preparing complete and healthy meals in less than 30 minutes. That’s a tall order and unless you have superb knife skills, don’t count on your meals being done in only 30 minutes unless you are preparing a sandwich. Or as Ms. Ray loves to call them, “sammies.” Maybe she thinks it’s samwich, who knows…Nor expect to create a sizeable spread for a party with more than 4 friends because if you believe what Rachael claims as far as portion size, you are going to be left ordering take out! I have tried a couple of her recipes and these were edible, however, I find that my palette differs from hers and I have made adjustments to the recipes to ensure there is enough to go around and to satisfy MY family’s taste buds. Try it and decide for yourself.

I wonder if during the Martha Stewart fiasco, if the Food Network needed a new “Queen” and if Ms. Ray seemed like the most likely candidate to them considering they replaced Martha’s slot with Rachael Ray’s “30 Minute Meals.”

Rachael Ray also started hosting a new show, “$40 a Day” where she tours the country in search of great food on a limited budget, hence, “$40 a Day.” She offers tips on how to enjoy “gourmet fare” on a “pauper's budget” no matter where your travels take you. And as if that wasn’t enough, she also started hosting the newest of her shows “Inside Dish” where she meets with celebrities and simply “interviews” them on their favorites foods and special diets and they share some of their recipes with her. I consider this show to be such a waste of airtime. Not to mention how obnoxious Rachael Ray has become! Naturally, both of these shows entail constantly being on the road and even worse, taste testing all the food from all featured locations and celebrities. Now, unless you suffer from bulimia or are anorexic or have a super fast metabolism, I would assume that you would start packing on the pounds and our dear little Rachael isn’t as little any longer.

I have tried to continue to tune into her “30 Minute Meals” show, but I find myself feeling quite uncomfortable and uneasy with her personality lately. Her facial expressions constantly remind me of The Joker in “Batman”; her hand movements remind me of someone shooing off a swarm of bees; her intonation on every single one of her words feel like nails scratching on a chalkboard and she won’t shut up at all for one second and she repeats herself over and over as if she can’t remember she just said it a couple of minutes earlier and she is loud; she is scattered about hurrying to get these meals done and is so out of breathe that I get too tired and out of breathe myself just watching her!

So, I wonder: She’s gained weight and that is obvious. Compare the older episodes with the new ones and you can see it for yourself. She is loud and boisterous and all over the place. Again, compare the older episodes with the new ones. Is she on diet pills to lose the weight? At least that would explain her behavior, no?


So if you feel like watching a high octane, low performance, an insincere food host giving the "dish" on her impossible 30 minute meals, I would then suggest Rachael Ray. Otherwise, for the real star, and most humble star, of the Food Network, you can do no better than tuning into Ina Garten, the host of “Barefoot Contessa.”

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lately I've noticed, too, that Rachael is very, very hyper. She used to be relaxing to watch, now she makes me nervous. What has happened? Is she in a hurry just to get it over with because she is burned out about her 30 minute meal show? The show about her dog today blew me away and I thought this show was a joke, although I felt bad that she did lose her dog.

2:06 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home