Thread "The Rachael Ray Quandry" in forum "Notes From Wonderland"

Posted at 10:04PM, Apr. 12, 2007

You can't go anywhere without seeing Rachel Ray.She is everywhere! I mean everywhere.

Television, magazines, books. She makes Paris Hilton look underexposed.

We are not too far off from her cutting an over produced pop album are we?

So what is the appeal? I was asked this very question not too long ago. While her recipes are pretty good, she is not a famous chef. She does not even bill herself as a chef, but as a cook.

She's best known for quick, easy to make meals and a show that shows you how to eat on the cheap while on vacation. Not exactly the stuff of legends.

I don't know the appeal to women, as I am not one, but I think I figured out the appeal to men.

She's appears to be attainable.

Rachel Ray comes off as the cute, perky girl next door. Somewhere in the back of your mind you think you have a chance with her.

Unlike Giada (she now of one name now that she has dropped her last name De Laurentiis), who tries to look glamorous, going so far as to use soft filters on her cooking shows that gives her a glow like Cybil Shepherd used to have on Moonlighting, Ray does not go overboard on the glamour. Sure the sweaters are a little tighter, the body a little trimmer, but overall she looks like the cute lady you could see at any grocery store in America.

Although she's worth millions, better looking than 90% of the population and is married, she seems approachable. Compared to the vast majority of women she's in pretty good shape, but by television standards she is a little thick. She's not a size Ã¢â¬â5. Add to that the bubbly personality and you almost get the feeling that if you asked her out to dinner she'd say yes.

As for women, maybe they don't feel intimidated by her. She isn't amazingly thin or have a body that can only be achieved by superior genetics, a $200 an hour trainer and a $1,000 a week nutritionist and personal chef. She's also not the robotic, Stepford Wife, perfectionist that Martha Stewart appears to be. She comes off as that nice, cheerful girlfriend who would invite you over for coffee and have flour still smeared on her shirt and have a little clutter in the doorway.

In the end Rachel Ray seems real. Forget the three (at least) television shows, the magazine on every checkstand in America and about 500 cookbooks. No, she comes off as someone we might see eating at Applebee's. And maybe, just maybe, you could buy her a drink and she'd invite you over to her table to chat.

Posted at 9:04AM, Apr. 13, 2007

I never used to like Rachel Ray, but then I heard that she went out with some friends and got drunk in the resteraunt and started dissing Oprah, who ownes her show. That made me tolerate her better.

Posted at 6:04AM, Apr. 20, 2007

I miss being able to make comments on your regular page

Posted at 12:04AM, Apr. 23, 2007

Just click latest at the top of the page and it will take you to a page to make comments.