Rachael Ray

Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosted the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray. Other programs to her credit include 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, $40 a Day, Rachael Ray's Week in a Day, and the reality format shows Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off and Rachael Ray's Kids Cook-Off. Ray has written several cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006. Ray's television shows have won three Daytime Emmy Awards. Ray also played herself in the Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls in 2016.
Rachael Domenica Ray was born in Glens Falls, New York, the daughter of Elsa Providenza Scuderi and James Claude Ray. Her mother's ancestry is Sicilian and her father is French, Scottish, and Welsh.
When Ray was eight, her family moved to Lake George, New York. Her mother managed restaurants in New York's Capital District, including the Lake George Howard Johnson's restaurant, located near the former Gaslight Village amusement park, which attracted many entertainers. Ray also briefly worked at Sutton's Marketplace in Queensbury, New York, and later offered to do commercials for the business. She would continue to promote the establishment, especially their cider donuts and grilled raisin bread. She graduated from Lake George Junior/Senior High School.
In 1995, Ray moved to New York City. She worked first at the Macy's Marketplace candy counter. When Macy's tried to promote her to a buyer in accessories, she moved to Agata & Valentina, a specialty foods store.
Moving back to the Adirondacks, Ray managed Mister Brown's Pub at The Sagamore, a hotel on Lake George. From there, she became a buyer at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in Albany. Ray credits the concept of 30 Minute Meals to her experience working at the store, where she met people who were reluctant to cook. She taught a course in which she showed how to make meals in less than 30 minutes.
In the early 2000s, Ray came to Price Chopper Supermarkets with an idea to hold some cooking classes for shoppers and perform food demos in stores. During her time working for the chain, she also wrote her first cookbook, "30 Minute Meals. With the success of her "30 Minute Meals" classes, WRGB, the local CBS-TV affiliate, asked her to appear in a weekly segment on their newscasts. This, along with a public radio broadcast and the publication of her first book, led to a Today show spot and her first Food Network contract in 2001.
Rachael Ray was the host of the TV show $40 a Day for three seasons (77 episodes) from 2002 to 2005. She would travel to various destinations and attempt to eat three meals for $40 a day.
Ray, who favors a "quick and easy" cooking style, teaches many simple recipes that she says can be completed in 30 minutes or less, although critics claim her concept does not include preparation time.
Ray says her Sicilian maternal grandfather, Emmanuel Scuderi, and her Cajun ancestry both exert strong influences on her cooking. She uses ingredients such as fresh herbs, garlic, and chicken stock to boost flavors, and believes measuring "takes away from the creative, hands-on process of cooking." She, instead, favors approximations such as "half a palmful" or "two-pan swirl."
To critics of her shortcut techniques, Ray responds, "I have no formal anything. I'm completely unqualified for any job I've ever had." She has also repeatedly said, "I'm not a chef."
On her television programs, she has used catchphrases such as "E-V-O-O" (extra-virgin olive oil), "yum-o", "G.B." (garbage bowl), "Oh my gravy!", "delish," "entréetizer" (entrée-sized appetizer), "stoup" (cross between a soup and stew), and "choup" (thicker than a soup but thinner than a chowder). In 2007, The Oxford American College Dictionary announced the addition of the term EVOO, short for extra-virgin olive oil, which Ray had helped to popularize, and credited her with coining the phrase.
One of Ray's specialties is burgers. She has devoted one of her published works to the topic, The Book of Burger.
Ray hosted 30 Minute Meals on Food Network for 11 seasons from 2001 to 2012, as well as a revival of the series starting in 2019.
In 2005, she signed a deal to host a syndicated daytime TV talk show. The show, Rachael Ray, premiered on September 18, 2006, and aired until May 24, 2023. Recurrent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show were used to fuel the launch, much as Dr. Phil's show was spun off based on his own frequent visits to Oprah. The show tapes in New York City. In coordination with the syndication announcement, Ray said, "People know me for my love of food, but I have so much more I want to share".
On January 12, 2008, Ray's television series Rachael's Vacation premiered on the Food Network. The show was a five-part food travelogue shot in various European countries.
In 2008, Ray became a television executive producer of a short-lived Latin cooking show on the Food Network, called Viva Daisy!, starring Daisy Martínez.
Rachael Ray's Week in a Day is a 2010 reality television cooking series hosted by Rachael Ray.
In January 2012, Ray and Guy Fieri were team captains in the Food Network reality series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.
In 2016, Ray guest-starred in the second episode of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, a miniseries revival of Gilmore Girls, as a fictionalized version of herself.
In 2019, Ray fulfilled a long-time goal of voicing a cartoon character when she voiced a character on the Nick Jr. Channel program Butterbean's Café.
In 2023, Ray announced that she would be ending her talk show after its 17th season, and she will launch her new production company, "Free Food Studios."
In 2024, Ray and her show were featured in the final episode of the show The Curse. Ray played herself on the show, with her guests being Vincent Pastore as himself, and Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder as their fictional characters Whitney and Asher Siegel.
In 2003, Ray posed for the men's magazine FHM. Though she was not nude in any of the photos, this drew criticism so harsh, not least of which from Ray's own mother, that in a March 2, 2009 ABC News Nightline interview she gave to Cynthia McFadden, an ABC News correspondent, Ray defended her decision to pose in the magazine. The interview quoted her as saying, "I'd do it again tomorrow."
The Reader's Digest Association launched Ray's magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray on October 25, 2005. The magazine featured seven issues in 2006 and increased to 10 issues in 2007. In October 2011, Meredith Corporation acquired the magazine.
In November 2006, Ray became a spokeswoman for Nabisco crackers. She appears in commercials and on boxes for the many Nabisco products. Many boxes with Ray's picture have her recipes.
In February 2007, WestPoint Home launched sheets, blankets, and coverlets designed by Ray. Within six months, WestPoint expanded Ray's bed and bath line to include the "Moppine," a two-in-one dish towel/oven mitt, as Ray is often seen with a kitchen towel over her shoulder that doubles for her as an ersatz mitt.
In March 2007, the Dunkin' Donuts company announced Ray as its celebrity endorser, mainly of its coffee, since she had denied being able to make coffee herself. As part of a promotional campaign, Ray describes the company's coffee as "fantabulous."
In May 2007, Ray's recipes were made available on AT&T cellular phones via the "Rachael Ray Recipes on the Run" feature.
In July 2008, Rachael Ray's "Nutrish" pet food was introduced. The dog foods are created from recipes Ray developed for her pit bull, "Isaboo". All proceeds from the sale of these products go to Rachael's Rescue, a charity which Ray organized specifically to provide assistance for at-risk animals.
In December 2016, PulteGroup started Rachael Ray Home Collection for their interior design division. The furniture it markets is all of Ray's own design.
On September 24, 2005, in Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy, Ray married John M. Cusimano. Ray's main residence is located in Lake Luzerne, New York. She also owns a Manhattan Greenwich Village apartment which is located near the studio. The Lake Luzerne home was destroyed in a fire on August 9, 2020. The next day, a director of emergency services with the county stated that there were no injuries to Ray or her family.
In June 2009, Ray stated that "hard work was too much for her to be a [mother]".
In 2006, Ray launched the Yum-O! nonprofit organization. Its mission is to "empower kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking. This goal is achieved by teaching families to cook, feeding hungry kids, and funding cooking education."
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ray joined with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America to support a charity in Ukraine, the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv with projects and programs related to food and children.
In 2009, Ray's sole win came during the Daytime Emmy Awards as she was ruled ineligible by multiple judges during all other nominations and did not receive any awards.