Rachel Ray and Earth Day

Lee made a challenge to me last night. She wants both of us to not buy a single thing from Amazon during the month of May. That's good for the planet since directly and indirectly consumerism is such a plague on our biosphere. (So that's my Earth Day plug.) Of course Amazon is aware of that and is doing a big "Green" push to make consumers think they're doing the planet good by spending more.

So, this should be easy, right? Not so much. Normally I'm very careful with money and except for a few months at Christmas I rarely buy consumer goods. Unfortunately this year I never stopped spending money. Eeeek! So this challenge that Lee is making is just in time. I need to stop shopping! (sorry, Chris--I know that's against your religion)

Adding a little background stress to the month of May is that I want to cut soda out of my diet for the month. I do this several times a year but it's always difficult for me 'cause I LOVE soda. Carbonated sugar water. What's not to love????

Almost forgot the Rachel Ray thing. Food Network has a new series--as if they needed another--and it's essentially self promotion. The show is called Chefography and it's essentially a one hour bio show that focuses on individual celebrity chefs on Food Network. One episode for each chef.

Last night I watched the episode about Rachel Ray. I actually enjoyed it due in large part to Ray being so damn cute. While the cute-factor can get cloying on her numerous shows, for some reason the c-factor was mostly endearing on the bio show. Go figure.

Here's the Food Network write up on the show:

Rachael Ray

She's the girl next door that stole America's heart. In 2001 Rachael Ray was teaching cooking classes in a small market in upstate New York and working on her first cookbook. Her "30 Minute Meals" caught the attention of local radio and TV stations, and the rest is history. Five years later this "Little Girl with Big Ideas", an infectious smile, and love for life, food, and people has become a media icon. With multiple series on the Food Network, a successful monthly magazine, over a dozen best-selling cookbooks, and a hit daily syndicated talk show, Rachael Ray has proven herself to be one of the biggest names in food and lifestyle.