For some reason I thought Rachael Ray came from a foodie family. Not only is that far from the truth, but when she "hit it" she bought the cabin she was living in. Not some fancy swank mansion, but a cabin in the Adirondacks. Now how cool is that?

Ms. Ray and her mom drove nine hours south in a snowstorm, and she nailed the "Today" show appearance. The next day, she said, the Food Network signed her to a $360,000 contract to teach America what she had been teaching the folks upstate. The first thing she did was to reupholster the old family furniture in the cabin. Then she bought the place.

[ Being Rachael Ray: How Cool Is That? - New York Times ]