Ray and Cusimano besides worked highly hard to rebuild the location truthful that it resembled her archetypal design. 

"The location is precise overmuch the same," the culinary star said of their caller abode. "I built my location with a batch of reclaimed barn wood from the occidental portion of New York state. And erstwhile it burned down, we rebuilt it the aforesaid way. We cleared aged wood to enactment the beam enactment into the location truthful that the caller location would look similar the aged house—which looks similar an aged location but it's not an aged house. So, that's cool."

However, this wouldn't beryllium their lone large task during their pandemic arsenic their flat successful New York City besides experienced flooding. 

"What was precise hard was trying to hole the 4 floods that happened successful our flat due to the fact that I couldn't travel to New York due to the fact that of COVID and our enactment schedule," she continued. "So virtually everything present had to beryllium beauteous overmuch redone too, and I had to bash that lone connected Zooms." 

On apical of that, Ray and Cusimano were doing a large renovation of a spot successful Tuscany that, let's conscionable say, helium was initially less-than-thrilled she had purchased.

"The buildings that I turned into what is present our location there, they had nothing," she remembered. "They had mulch, carnal carcasses, nary moving water, nary electricity. And my husband's like, 'Couldn't we get somethin' with a toilet?' It was a hard, hard merchantability connected the hubby." 

Because of the pandemic, Ray and Cusimano couldn't sojourn the Italian spot for years, resulting successful them again doing a ample information of the renovations connected Zoom. However, each the effort seems to person been worthy it arsenic she says the location is present "extraordinary" and holds a peculiar spot successful their hearts (the 2 wed successful Tuscany astir 18 years ago).

Through it all, Ray has learned to admit what they person alternatively of what they've lost.

"It's overwhelming however grateful we are and however fortunate we are," the 54-year-old shared. "I mean, surely not fortunate to person floods and fires. It's benignant of biblical. But the thought that we person survived each of that and support connected truckin' is beauteous cool." 

And she's not conscionable starting a caller section astatine home. After 17 years, Ray's self-titled syndicated daytime amusement is coming to an end. 

"I'm conscionable grateful," she noted. "We had a large time, and I'm gonna support moving with a batch of these friends and family. Even earlier the daytime show, I worked with immoderate of our staffers, our household members, astatine Food Network. I've been doing tv for 30 years, and I'm keepin' on, keepin' on."

Ray keeps connected whipping up caller dishes, too—like the yellowfin tuna and artichoke pasta she crafted for her paid concern with Genova Premium Tuna and its Ultimate Al Fresco Experiential Kit Sweepstakes (you can get the look here). Although, she noted she uses "tuna each the time. It's the large go-to affordable happening successful your pantry for a macromolecule source. And I brace it with beans, oregon I enactment it connected pizzas."

And arsenic fans hold to spot what Ray does next, she's leaving them with a small taste. 

"I person many, many, galore projects that I'll archer radical astir immoderate infinitesimal now, and they commencement up successful June," she said. "So, I'm not done by immoderate means."