According to that journalist without peer, Ted Casablanca -- yeah, I'm sure that's his real name -- Food Network diva and Emmy-winning talk show hostess Rachael Ray is working on a new project.

No, it's not a new cookbook or anything about food or travel, her two specialties on FN. Rachael Ray is writing her memoirs, the story of a kid from upstate New York who's made in big on TV.

Rachael, who turns 40 on August 25, has had a meteoric rise on TV, and as I wrote last week, she's one of five TV stars I think have exceeded expectations. In a very short time, she's become a force with which to be reckoned.