Rachael Ray

I had to think of a way to bribe Rachel Theurer into making a trip out here to NYC before Ella turned two (and became a full-price airline ticket). Luckily, I managed to get my hands on some tickets to a Rachael Ray Show taping here in NYC- and that proved to be incentive enough.

The girls were absolutely ecstatic to have Rachel and Ella in town. We were all a little bummed when we found out that their trip would only be a few short days. Thanks to Hurricane Ike, and the fact that the Theurers now live in Houston, we got to see them for much longer than originally planned because the airport ended up being closed for their return flight. Poor Matt had to brave the hurricane solo in Houston with no power, no running water, and no Ella and Rachel.

The Rachael Ray show itself was kind of lame. Well, it is always very fun to attend a taping of anything- so it was still fun. You get to see everything that goes on to make a production like this. You are reminded of many people are involved. What looks like just a simple conversation on a couch is actually the work of a make-up artist, hairstylist, camera crew, sound crew, set designer, director, producer, etc.... Watching it all play out ended up being much more interesting than the actual subject matter of the show.

Rachael interviewed Eva Mendes. I found myself totally zoning out of their interview......right after they started a lengthy discussion on their dogs and how they have their friends talk to their dogs on the phone.......weird. They also talked about how strange it was that Eva's Calvin Klein underwear commercial was banned in the US due to its explicit content. Rachael Ray made the comment, "Come on, I do not see what the big deal is, I mean we have violence on TV, I don't see why they make such a big deal about stuff like this." These are obviously the words of a woman who has phone-talking dogs and not young impressionable children.

Anyway, not a fan of that interview.

The highlight of the show was taping of the cooking segment, which was fun to see. I am a fan of Rachael Ray's cooking. I like the energy she has on film, and I like the fun ingredients she uses. Of course, I also like that most of her meals are quick and easy. She may have convinced me to cook with anchovies for the first time.

The show aired last Friday. Yes, you could see us for about 3 seconds. I think our heads were the size of pennies on the screen though:).