Watching Rachael Ray

Rachael starts right off telling us about her voice and the throat - she says that her greatest gift was that she didn’t have to have surgery. She has a vocal therapist that thinks she can help without going under the knife, so she’s working with her and we’ll see what happens from there. She goes once or twice a week for over an hour, and she’s discovered that not only does she not talk right, she doesn’t stand right, so she’ll go in for a complete overhaul.

The audience has a couple questions - one asks what kind of exercises she does, and Rach demonstrates some of the stretches and chants and funny things she has to do. The trick is to sound all the time like she does while working with the therapist. Rach jokes that she even works up a sweat, which tells us how little activity she does. Ha!

Next up, Robin McGraw joins Rach at the sofa to promote her new book “What’s age got to do with it.”

They chat about Christmas for a while, and Robin shows off some of her decorations, as she’s a Christmas fanatic, and New Years. They always stay home and have a low key NYE. She didn’t drink, but her birthday is three days after Christmas so she drank a lot of champagne then! Her New Years resolution is to quit having a big meal right before bed. She eats a lot of little meals through the day, and she burns everything she eats, and I kinda hate her. Robin says her hormones are all in order, which keeps her metabolism up. She suggests that women get their hormones checked in their 20s, because you can go into peri-menopause in your thirties, so she thinks everyone should get those levels checked and keep getting them checked.

Rach reads a letter from a viewer, who wanted them to get her a scarf that Robin wore on the last show. Robin gives Rachael the scarf to send to Buela, as Beula wrote a check to have them get her one at Target - and so Rachael is sending the check back, along with the scarf so that she can have it.

Then it’s back to chatting about the book. When Robin went into Menopause, they had a family meeting. She told them she as in menopause, and that it didn’t mean they could get away with stuff, and she’d sleep naked because of the night sweats, so the boys couldn’t come into the room, etc. She told them to be nice, and her family says that it helped. Then it’s time for some affordable beauty tips.

Bag Balm - (I LOVE THIS STUFF. I used it for cracked sore nipples during nursing my own babies. It’s GOOD stuff!) It’s made for cows udders, but it’s amazing for dry skin, heels and elbows, etc.

Makeup Brushes - You can spend like 15-20 bucks for a single brush. Instead, go to the arts and crafts store, and get brushes there. They’re soft and perfect. Trim them if you have too, but they work beautifully for a lot cheaper.

Last but not least - the Egg Facial. Robin says it’s her favorite - you open the eg and apply the yolk to your face, let it stand for 10 minutes, rinse it off and then prepare a treatment with egg white by whipping it into soft peaks and apply it to your face. You leave that on as long as you want - the longer it’s there, the tighter your face gets - tight as a drum!

Click here to see what Robin’s most embarassing high school memory is!

After a stop in the prep kitchen for a Superfast Fancy Fakeout where Rachael shows ya how to make a super simple balsamic drizzle, it’s time to see if your pet is normal…

Dr. Earnie Ward is on hand to answer the questions from viewers. Xena loves to talk - she makes noise and whines and talks all the time. Xena is a beautiful Siberian Husky, but so very vocal, that it’s driving them nuts. Dr. Ernie suggests that they check with their vet for any visual and hearing problems. It’s normal behavior, but it’s better to check as some cases of vocalizing is a case of lost vision or hearing. On the whole, though - they are vocal creatures, and Xena is a breed that is generally loud, so teach the “Quiet” command. Check out how, here.

Next up, Guillotine suffers from “the sacred pee issue” - she goes on the newspapers and when they try to clean it up, the pug attacks her. She’s drawn blood, scratched, bruised, and they don’t know what to do. Dr. Earnie tells her it’s not normal, it’s aggression, and they need to get the Vet involved before it escalates and someone is seriously injured. It may be a redirected fear agression, and he wants to know why they don’t take her outside… they live in a high rise apartment, and Dr. Earnie wants them to revisit crate training. Then teach a “Drop” command, with a toy, and teach them to bring it and drop it, then work their way up to paper. And work with her indoors, sit, stay, play, hide and seek, etc. Keep her active.

Lastly, it’s Kathy and Riley - Kathy bites the scruff of Riley’s neck, ever since the dog was a puppy… is that normal? Dr. Ernie isn’t too sure how to answer. It’s normal dog-to-dog behavior, and she’s not a dog. He says it probably won’t esculate to Grizzly Man proportions, but be careful not to imitate dogs behavior too much. It can be confusing, if she was supposed to be the boss. Just be careful… etc. And don’t start nibbling on your animals coast to coast.

Dinner time! Fancy Fake-Out: Chicken version, Seafood Version and the balsamic drizzle.