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Rachel Ray has become a powerhouse because she cooks like a real Mom--only better and with more variety.

Real cooks who love cooking shows get sick of watching chefs with an army of sous-chefs and the neat little rows of mise-en-place...what relevance does that have to someone who needs to feed a hungry, busy family? For years, TV chefs only cooked frou-frou restaurant meals, bristling with chive whiskers. Remember Nouvelle Cuisine, artsy fartsy?

Have you ever noticed just how many different meals she's cooked over the past couple of years? I watch frequently, and have seldom seen a repeat. She's taught me techniques of planning more than actual dishes--how to shop, gather ingredients and get the meals done quickly before the kids raid the cookie drawer after school.

She's not a pro, and people love that. Recently Emeril poached a salmon to use in simple patties, and scolding the audience--how hard is that, he said. Well, that's not hard if you've gone to the grocery store and bought the fresh salmon, something that takes a good part of a REAL cook's day. But the canned salmon out of a well-stocked pantry still makes a pretty good pattie, and you then have the juice in the can to whip up a caper sauce. That's why I'm tired of the chefs, and want to watch real cooks feed a picky family every day.