"30-minute meals? Rachael Ray has nothing on my mom"
 
Sitting through Rachael Ray's 30-minute meals is not my idea of fun. Every second I watch the show I am amazed at the mediocrity that she produces "all in the span of 30 minutes!" and the never-ending variations of burgers! that she comes up with. Sometimes a whole meal consists of different kinds of burgers. Who likes burgers THAT much? Not I. Even my little sister of eleven looks at the TV and groans, "eww， people eat that??"

On the other hand, I realized that the 30-minute meal concept is not a new one, at least not in my home and probably in many others. My mother, who is a full-time professional, has made what could be termed 30-minute meals for over 20 years. She comes home at around 6 and produces a well-thought out, healthy, and balanced Chinese meal at 6:30 sharp (ok, so  阅读全文>>