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.

First she lost all that weight on Jenny Craig, and now she might gain it all back.

Actress Valerie Bertinelli is joining Rachael Ray. She'll be a celebrity content buddy, doing stories about food and family and being a working mom. Her first show will be tomorrow, October 23. Bertinelli will report from New Orleans, where she'll give women a guide to Monday Night Football and cook gumbo.

I've always liked Bertinelli. It's about time she's back on television in some way. I hope she gets her own series. Something tells me that she'll be more likable than Ray on her appearances on the show, though "celebrity content buddy" has to be one of the most annoying titles I've ever heard.

This is really great news, because I was truly afraid that Ray wasn't going to have enough work to do an might find herself unemployed of something.

Yup, the coffee and donut chain has hired the host of the syndicated Rachael Ray, the host of 30 Minute Meals, the host of Tasty Travels, the maker of her own knives and olive oil, and the editor of Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine to be their new spokesperson. As Rachael herself puts it: "Having grown up in the Northeast, I have a longstanding and deep appreciation for Dunkin'."

Besides being their spokesperson, Ray will actually help come up with new food and beverage products.

Great, Rachael Ray on caffeine. That's all we need.

Okay, now I'm getting a tad bit afraid. Last week we told you that, on top of everything else that is owned by or endorsed by Rachael Ray, three of her meals were being tested on the current mission of Space Shuttle Discovery. Now we hear that one of her trademark Rachael-isms is being added to the next edition of the Oxford American College Dictionary. Can enrichment of uranium without U.N. approval be far behind?

The word being added is EVOO, which is an abbreviation for 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil'. According to our friends over at sister site Slashfood, the announcement that the word would be added to the dictionary was made last week on her talk show by the editor of the Oxford American. During the announcement the editor spoke about how hard it was to get a word added into the dictionary. Hence, the reason 'Yum-oh' wasn't added.

You know what this means, don't you? Rachael may be surpassing friend Oprah in the race to rule the world. Yes, Oprah has billions of dollars and millions of fans. But, as far as I know, she doesn't have a word in the dictionary. Let the bloodletting begin!

Yum-O!

Oh, wait, that's the wrong explanation for this story. Maybe "O-Shit!"

One of the shows hosted by the Domestic Diva Jr. (Martha has the official title) is being sued. A radio show host, Ross Crystal (isn't that a chain of jewelry stores you see in malls?) says that he approached Food Network in 2001 about doing a show called Showbiz Chefs. It would be a 30 minute show that would feature celebs and the food they cook. Crystal says that Ray's Inside Dish, which is basically the same thing, stole his idea. He filed suit in Los Angeles, and TMZ.com has the documents. (It should be noted that Ray herself isn't named in the suit.)

The most interesting twist? Crystal got a letter from Food Network saying "we have no interest in celebrities at all. Every time we do something of this nature it fails." Inside Dish debuted in 2004.

Every year around this time, the year-in-review and best and worst articles start showing up in newspapers and magazines and blogs, and so do the predictions for the following year. Here are my predictions for 2007 concerning TV personalities and shows.

1. Rachael Ray, in the middle of pouring EVOO in a skillet for the 11,000th time, will suddenly scream "fuck this!", throw the bottle against the wall, walk over to her elevator, say "I'm sick of all the shows and the books and the appearances...so long suckers!" and get into the elevator and disappear.

I was going to do a post on how odd it was that Barry Manilow appeared on both Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray the other day, at the same time (live on Martha's and taped on Rachael's show), but one thing happened that I didn't realize when I was switching back and forth between each show.

Martha actually called Rachael out on it, live on the air!

According to the NY Post, Martha said this:

Are you a Martha Stewart person or a Rachael Ray person?

I don't know if it's on the par of Mac vs. PC or Coke vs. Pepsi, but when it comes to their TV shows, I think we lean towards either one or the other. They're on at the same time in the Boston area, and I've been watching them the past week to see what the differences are, what their strengths are, their weaknesses, etc. Here's my special investigative report.

If you're a regular watcher of Martha Stewart's daily show, you might be able to help me with this.

After she cooks her food, does she give any of it to the audience? I ask this because I know that Rachael Ray gives members of the audience the food that she is making, or at least gives them to her guests (the shows are on at the same time here in Boston and I like to switch between the two, to see the controlled tension of Martha and the absolutely hyper chaos of Rachael). Emeril gives his food to his audience, and The View always seems to have some kind of snack food for their audience since Rosie joined the crew.

I'm wondering if Martha gives the stuff to her audience or wraps it up and takes it home. Martha seems to make just once specific item (a dessert or a side dish), while Rachael makes a meal. Anyone know?