I'm completely unqualified for any job I've ever had.' To critics of her shortcut techniques, Ray responds, 'I have no formal anything. Ray says her late Sicilian maternal grandfather, Emmanuel Scuderi, served as a strong influence on her cooking. She claims to dislike baking desserts and to be notorious for burning bread under the broiler. Her signature tool is the santoku chef's knife. extra-virgin olive oil', 'Yum-O!', 'So delish!' and 'How good is THAT?'. On her television programs she has popularized catchphrases such as 'E.V.O.O. She says that measuring 'takes away from the creative, hands-on process of cooking', and instead favors approximations such as 'half a palmful' and 'eyeball it'.

Like many cooks, she uses garlic and chicken stock as simple ways to boost flavors, and emphasizes using fresh herbs whenever possible. This, along with a public radio appearance and the publication of her first book, led to a Today Show spot and her first Food Network contract.Ray teaches simple recipes that she says can be prepared in thirty minutes or less. With the success of her '30 Minute Meals' classes, Albany TV station WRGB asked her to continue on their newscasts. Moving upstate, she worked as buyer and chef at the Cowan & Lobel market in Albany, New York. She helped open Agata & Valentina, a New York City market. Rachael started at the candy counter at Macy's in New York, New York. Ray's family owned a restaurant in Massachusetts and her mother managed restaurants in upstate New York. She will also host a syndicated TV talk show starting in 2006. She has authored a series of cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept.

Rachael Domenica Ray (born Augin Cape Cod, Massachusetts) is a celebrity chef and author who hosts at least four different programs on cable television's Food Network: 30 Minute Meals, $40 a Day, Inside Dish, and Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels.

Rachael Ray 365 by Rachael Ray