Rachel Ray was born in Glens Falls, New York on August 25, 1968. While a buyer at the gourmet market Cowan & Lobel, she taught a course in which she showed how to make meals in less than thirty minutes. These 30 Minute Meals classes eventually lead to her first cookbook 30 Minute Meals in 1999 and her first Food Network contract in 2001. She has written numerous cookbooks including Comfort Foods, 30-Minute Meals 2, Rachael Ray 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds, Rachael Ray's Look + Cook, The Book of Burger, My Year in Meals and Week in a Day. Her 30 Minute Meals television show received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Service Show in 2006. In September 2006, The Rachael Ray… Show premiered as a daytime talk show and received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment in 2008. With the help of Bill Clinton, she launched the Yumo-O! Organization in 2007 to help combat childhood hunger and to educate children and families on healthy eating.