Rachael Ray, the no-holds-barred Food Network phenom, has taken the haute out of cuisine by making cooking fast, fun and informal. In just a handful of years, the wide-smiling cookbook author has made herself a household staple.Raised in the restaurant business, Ray graduated to fame in 2001 when both the Today Show and the Food Network got a taste of her 30-minute cooking shows for an Albany, N.Y. TV station. The Food Network brought Ray's approach to food – sloppy, loud, accessible – to the national stage with her show, 30 Minute Meals. Ray's every-girl guide to cooking persona transformed into a multimillion dollar brand, with four hit Food Network shows, 12 million copies of her 13 bestselling cookbooks, a self-titled monthly magazine and an Emmy-winning daily talk show.
