Awesome question, @kareul! My answer is Rachel Ray all the way! The reason? The name of her magazine says it all: "Everyday with Rachel Ray." Martha Stewart was great prior to her brief stint in federal prison, and her ideas are extremely creative, but she mostly does elaborate decorating ideas, tips for the home, and crafts anymore. Even if you focus on just her cooking and recipes, she often uses complicated dishes that are best served when hosting a party, attending an event, or having a company. How often do you actually need to cook something this fancy? Also, he voice is very monotonous to me, but that wasn't a deciding factor.

Speaking of voices, I just find Paula Deen's voice to be terribly annoying, and it is NOT because of the southern accent. I live around several people that have a moderate to thick southern accent, and it is not nearly as annoying as hers. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that bugs me about it, but it is like nails on a chalkboard to me. She has some good recipes, but they are often loaded in fat and calories. I have cooked some Paula Deen recipes that turned out well, but for the most part, she offers comfort foods that should only be consumed every now and then.

Rachel Ray, on the other hand, offers the kind of recipes that you can use every single day. She also offers many great time-saving tips. Like me, she doesn't measure anything when cooking, and eyeballs a lot of things. This saves a great deal of time in the kitchen, but it is not for everyone. I have several of her cookbooks, and she also has several recipes intended just for kids. While not all of her recipes are the healthiest thing on the menu, a larger percentage of them are much healthier than those offered by other celebrity chefs.