The Rachael Ray Recipes & Show

My Inspiration for This Website...

Yes, it's true... Rachael Ray was my inspiration for this site. It might sound a bit dorky, but I'm not embarrassed to admit that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Rachael Ray recipes...

I've loved to cook since I was a kid. And since I've been an adult, I've gone through cycles of loving to cook and cooking just to live. (See my About Kathi page for more info on my progression from subsistence cook to Thrown Together Meals chef).

Anyway, in the past few years, I've been learning to cook the Rachael Ray way, by studying her cookbooks and trying all the many Rachael Ray recipes within. I also watched the Rachael Ray show quite a bit for a while there. The 30-Minute one, that is.

By doing all that, I learned tons about how to combine ingredients for the best flavors, what fresh ingredients to always have on hand, and how to improvise.

And from that experience, I had the confidence to start devising my own quick and easy meals. So, while I still have a few Rachael Ray recipes I'll always make, I also am throwing together my own recipes on a regular basis! So I feel so fortunate to have discovered her.

How Rachael Ray Came Into My Life...

Sheesh... sounds kind of like I'm writing a love story here, doesn't it? Well, I guess it is sort of... a cook to cook love story, that is. It's not a romantic love, just an appreciation of her cooking style and philosophy. And yes, I do find her sunny, quirky personality kind of charming too.

But back to the story... my mom is a big TV watcher and especially loved Food Network and HGTV for a while there, having them on just about 24/7 during the hours she was awake and at home. She enjoyed the Rachael Ray 30-Minute show and put her cookbook on her Christmas wish list one year.

Unfortunately, when she got not one, but two, of Rachael's cookbooks from my sister-in-law that year, she found that she couldn't really read them. The font is a light color and it is hard to read, even for me. My mom has poor vision, so after a year or two, she passed the books on to me.

I started playing around with them as a lark, and soon came to love this style of cooking. The books my mom passed on were Rachael's first two 30-Minute Meals cookbooks. I enjoyed them, but it was when I picked up a copy of her "365: No Repeats" cookbook that I really fell in love with Rachael Ray's recipes. You can read my review of 365: No Repeats here.

What Happened Next...

Soon, the 30-minute way of cooking became my preferred approach to dinner preparation. I own my home business, and though I really enjoy cooking, I just don't have that much time to do it. So I really appreciate being able to get dinner on the table in less than an hour... and to have it taste great.

But, I'll share something about myself... I'm not that great of a planner, when it comes to my day to day life. I do a great job of planning in my business, but that's where I seem to leave my organizational talents... in my home office. So, even though I love cooking from my Rachael Ray cookbooks, I didn't always have all the right ingredients on hand to make the recipes. So I had to start improvising, and that's how Rachael's "teachings" launched my own concept of "thrown together meals."

... And that's why I call Rachael Ray my inspiration!

You can check out her whole line of cookbooks at Amazon.com:

The nice thing about Amazon is that you can sample many of their books before you buy. And their prices and service are great too!

New Inspiration

I'm not just about Rachael Ray... I do have an open enough mind to consider other cookbook authors as well.

In fact, I'm always looking for new ideas and new inspirations, though I suspect Rachael will always be first in my "affections." Another unexpected discovery was Robin Miller's, Quick Fix Meals. Read my review here

Do you have a favorite quick, easy dinners type cookbook? If so, I'd love to hear about it! Just go to my Cookbook Reviews page and submit your review of your favorite cookbook. My other readers and I will be thrilled to learn about it!