Watching Rachael Ray

We start off in the kitchen today, with a great food gift - a starter course to bring to your next get together - Bacon and Deviled Eggs. Everything’s better with bacon!

It’s time for Ty Pennington to join in because he says he’s good at gift giving - so it’s time for an Extreme Gift makeover. Ty is in New York City, as he tries to help other people give decent gifts instead of the oddities some folks come up with. One New Yorker isn’t shy about the worst gift he’s ever gotten: “Nothin’!” Hahah!

Ty to the rescue to help a woman give something cool for her man. He’s a techy, so it’s a Jacket with speakers in the hoodie and pockets for the mp3 player. A son - 25 years old - made a macaroni necklace for his mother last year, so Ty urges him to something a little higher end. Check out some of his ideas here. He even picked up an orange doggy kitchen timer for Rachael, that she puts up on her shelf in the kitchen.

Next up, Kristan is on the way to help a family with a DIY 911! They started a project then got in way over their heads and have been living with a huge hole in the wall for five months. “Here’s our hole, isn’t it lovely?” Kristan laughs, but is on hand with some guidance to fix it all up. She also has some tips for things best left to the professionals - electrical wires, plumbing, gas, or unknown pipes always suggest call the guys who know what they’re doing. As long as your safety is not involved - if it could involve your premature death don’t do it! - otherwise, try it!

Rachael is working on a new cookbook - The Big Orange Book - and says it’s her 14th cookbook, she thinks. She talks a bit about loving cookbooks, and how her collection and her mom’s together don’t come close to Betty’s collection. She has over 4000 cookbooks! She still has her first cookbook given to her by her home ec teacher. They had to get a separate building for her collection - she gets a number of them from garage sales and the like, her most expensive one is probably $6. She loves to cook, and loves the cookbooks too. She finds her favorite recipes by copying them off into a binder and keeping those on hand in her kitchen with 150 of her favorites. Rachael helps add to her collection with on of her favorites, The Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, and fills out her own books that Betty didn’t have yet.

Last but not least, we meet Shawn DeMartino, an Incredible Person and part of the Community of Incredible People, who struggled with his weight. At 11, he passed out when he was running, and decided to change his life. He’s 15 and fit, and helps teach other teens about healthy eating. He credits Rachael’s 30-minute meals with opening his eyes to making healthy food quickly. He runs track now, and feels that eating healthier and being active helps him feel better all around, his grades are even better.

All of that and what’s for dinner? Elsa’s Egg Cake.