What gave Rachael Ray the idea to start Yum-o!?
Rachael’s mother Elsa was the oldest of ten kids in a family that gathered every day to cook and eat delicious home-cooked meals. Continuing this tradition, Rachael also grew up seeing how good food can improve the quality of your life: her grandfather grew all of the food he cooked, and cooking and eating together with her family made for great memories and time for sharing and storytelling. Reflecting on the way she grew up, Rachael says, “I was just lucky enough to be my mom’s kid!” When Rachael was young, Elsa worked in restaurants, and Rachael remembers being attached to her mother’s hip while she stirred the pots. As a teenager, she and her mother wanted to teach people who lived on a shoestring budget how to be able to cook and eat great food on a small budget; their plan was to call it “Shoestrings.” Years later, when Oprah was telling Rachael about her work in Africa, she said, “You need to do something that matters to you,” which made Rachael think of Shoestrings. Inspired by
