Paper Palate

If you’ve ever seen my personal blog, you probably won’t be shocked to hear that I am a proud subscriber to Every Day with Rachael Ray (”EDRR”) and have been since they started offering subscriptions. If you could get a prize for being one of the first to sign up, I would probably get it (hint, hint). So, I was excited to get the opportunity to do an e-mail interview with Silvana Nardone, the Editor of EDRR.

If you aren’t a subscriber to the magazine yet, I highly recommend it. Every single recipe has a picture and there’s a perfect amount of lifestyle and travel thrown in for good measure. The mag features celebrity chefs like Rick Bayless and reveals a Celeb Fridge in each issue, which is sort of like on MTV cribs when celebs open up the fridge and show the world what they’re eating. I also enjoy the B, L, D feature, where a celebrity lists their meals for the day. It might not sound that interesting, but just read Ed Helms’ (he plays Andy on NBC’s The Office) and you’ll see its allure.

Check out my interview with Silvana by clicking the “Continue reading” link below:

ERR: How did you find your way to Every Day with Rachael Ray?

Silvana: Every Day with Rachael Ray found me. I was just hanging out at my bakery in Brooklyn when I got a call to develop a food lifestyle magazine. Then, I found out it was with Rachael Ray and I was all over the idea. She’s awesome!

Your No Recipe Zone features are a highlight of the magazine for me, since I would love to be able to cook without relying on measurements (eyeballing it, one might say). What do you say to people like me who are still learning to cook to help them overcome the intimidation factor of a more relaxed, no-recipe, style of cooking?

What’s the worst thing that could happen? You make something that you don’t absolutely love? At least you walk away knowing that you won’t make that dish again! No, really, cook with ingredients you love to eat, play around with a couple of combinations and don’t take cooking too seriously—it’s just food.

If you did a B, L, D feature on yourself, what would it say?

Coffee, coffee, buzz, buzz, buzz. (Isn’t that an ice cream flavor?) I’d add some pasta to that—I’m an Italian girl, after all—and chocolate.

About how long does it take to create each issue from start to finish?

We start thinking about an issue about six months before it hits the newsstands.

What is an average day like for you at work?

I’m either in the office working on an issue and all the other stuff that goes into running a magazine, eating cheese and sipping wine at our frequent staff get-togethers or on photo shoots with Rachael.

What testing process do the recipes go through before they are published?

The recipes are tested in our new kitchen by our test kitchen directors. I’m lucky to sit right next to the kitchen so I get to eat delicious food all day long.

What experience level do you target with the recipes you feature?

Our recipes have a twist to them, making them fun for everyone from the beginner to the advanced cook.

Thanks to Silvana for participating in the interview. I am sure things must be pretty hectic over at the EDRR offices, so I appreciate her taking the time to answer some of my questions. If you are curious about her bakery in Brooklyn (like I was when I read that answer), it was called Fanciulla Foods, but it shut down when Silvana took her post at EDRR. To check out Silvana’s recipes, take a look at the Sweet Spot and No Recipe Zone features of the magazine.