“My sister tried to make several of her recipes (she loves her), and they turned out really, really bad.”
I might suggest that your sister’s cooking is the problem!
I think Paula is great. Try her dessert recipees. The orange brownies are kick a$$.
I was trying to think of Nigella. I also like her.
I can not stand the Barefoot Contessa. She is so over weight, she gets out of breath cracking pepper or moving from the stove to the cutting board. She starts weezing. I think she needs to be riding on a hoverround and on oxygen!
I looked at the recipe she followed, and the proportions seemed “off” to me (too much liquid in the soup, for example, to the amount of veggies and potatoes), and not nearly enough herbs and spices for my taste. Also, I leafed through a couple of her cookbooks that someone had for sale at one of our neighborhood rummage sales, and nothing stuck out for me as being something I just HAD TO try. It’s all a matter of taste, and everybody likes something different, I guess.