There has been talk in the past few months that several staff members of Every Day with Rachael Ray were being hired by another company to fill up slots for a competing magazine. Now it looks like those rumors might be true.

Portfolio is reporting that Hearst and Scripps are going to team up with Food Network to create a new food and lifestyle magazine based on the network. This is still in the planning stages, so it's not clear what TV personalities (if any) will be involved and what format/frequency the magazine would take, though obviously Rachael Ray won't be involved.

So...would you read a Food Network magazine, or do you think the network has changed so much that it wouldn't have anything you'd be interested in?

• Lots of ideas for your Super Bowl party, including Mini Hot Dogs, Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn, and Linebacker Limeade. Readers sent in recipes too, for everything from pepperoni bread to buffalo chicken cheesesteaks.
• Here's a recipe for something called a Power Pooch Smoothie, which is a dessert for dogs, but it sounds OK for us humans too.
• Win a date with one of these most eligible singles.
• Chinese New Year starts February 7.
• Send your significant other a food-related e-card.
• More recipes: Mashed-Potato-Stuffed Chicken and Sopa de mariscos.
• Also in this issue: ideas for two more parties you might throw, for Oscar night and Mardi Gras; caramel cheesecake; ideas for winter getaways, and what's in Al Roker's fridge.

• During the crazy holiday season, everyone could use a holiday planner, with ideas for things to cook, cookie swap recipes, customized placecards, and more.
• A step-by-step video guide to making the perfect pie crust. More videos: the world's easiest mashed potatoes and how to carve a turkey.
• Some winter escapes(though not to warm weather).
• More recipes: Italian Pasta Bake, White Hot Chocolate, Infused Vodka, Turkey Gravy, and Orchard Fruit Pie.
• Also in the mag (not online yet): a Christmas gift guide, how to make your own gingerbread house, and a look inside Martina McBride's fridge.

• I haven't had a great breakfast in a while. I usually just grab a granola bar. But here are some recipes for breakfast foods, including Corn Bacon Muffins, Sausage, Egg & Cheese Turnovers, and Plum and Pecan Pancakes.
• What's in Marge Simpson's fridge?
• Some desserts to cool you down this summer: Almond Joy Mousse Cake, Frozen Caramel Hot Chocolate, and Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Sandwiches.
• Don't forget your dogs this summer. They want to cool down too.
• This month's taste test? Pickles.
• A new way to make chicken enchiladas.
• Here's a wine pairing tool to use when trying to figure out what goes with what.
• More recipes: Green Tea Champagne, Chicken Provencale, Orange Cookies with Strawberry Ice Cream, and Lillet Slushes.

In a special surprise election held yesterday, TV food icon Rachael Ray was named President of the United States.

Her challenger, Martha Stewart from the state of New York, put up quite a fight, but in the end, Ray squeaked out a win in electoral votes. Many people cite Ray's ability to seemingly be in every single state in the country at the same time, giving speeches and cooking demonsrations for crowds of supporters. Others cite Stewart's time in prison as working against her.

This is really the most logical next step for Ray, who has 27 shows on Food Network, her own monthly magazine, a daily syndicated TV show, her face on various products in the supermarket, DVDs, a Christmas CD, cookware, a new endorsement deal with Dunkin' Donuts, and her own planet named after her. Ray has said that the first thing she plans to do as President is to add the word "awesome" to the Pledge of Allegience.

After the jump, the complete statement from President-Elect Ray.

How can someone who puts out such a fun food mag put on such an unbearable TV show?

I want to like Rachael Ray, the TV show. I really, really do. Honest. But it's just an annoying hour to me. Maybe it's because I'm a guy. One minute Rachael will be teaching us how to make some cool quick meal with pasta and vegetables, and then five minutes later she'll be talking about women in abusive relationships or how someone can organize the shoes in their closets. It just doesn't work for me. (And there's also the whole thing with her voice and bubbly personality, which I can take on 30 Minute Meals but when it's an hour every day...). But it's really popular, so maybe I'm not the right audience.

But Every Day With Rachael Ray? That's a great little magazine. It has a bunch of recipes that you feel you can actually cook (unlike some mags), quick guides to eating in various cities, tips on shopping, tips on buying wine, interviews. It's well-done. If there's one quibble I have is the whole "celebrity fridge" feature in the back of every issue. It's kinda funny to see what celebs have in there, but do we have to have some quiz about what they have? On the same page where we can see the answers?!? It seems to be a quiz made for people who find the TV Guide crossword difficult.

Bananas are wonderful, versatile fruits, not to mention that they're the most consumed fruit in the world and the fourth most consumed crop after rice, wheat and maize. This doesn't mean that all uses for bananas are good ones. For example, take Rachael Ray's Banana Hot Buttered Rum recipe. The drink uses some of the classic ingredients found in normal hot buttered rum - butter, rum, sugar - but instead of cream, it uses banana liqueur. This is an unusual twist and a hot banana drink not entirely unappealing - until you add banana slices to the drink. This just seems like a bad idea. Bananas are noted or adding a creamy texture to drinks, which is why they're so popular in smoothies and milkshakes, but they're not know for being attractive when exposed to air or heat. Who wants to see a brown banana piece in or on their drink?

I'll stick to smoothies, where the bananas are blended in, not left in chunks. If you want to try RR's recipe, however, read on:

I have a food confession to make. When I was a kid, maybe from the ages of 9 to 13, I used to eat a ton of pound cake. My mom would buy one of those Sara Lee pound cakes, the ones that come cold and in that rectangular aluminum package, and I would eat the entire thing in one sitting. I'd grab it out of the fridge, get a knife and a napkin, and sit myself down in front of the television and eat it all. Usually with milk but often with a Pepsi. Yes, Pepsi.

That came to mind today after seeing this recipe at RachaelRay.com: a Grilled Pound Cake with Berry Sauce. I haven't eaten pound cake in probably 20 years, but this has me wanting it again. I've never had it hot before in any way, so this recipe, where you butter the bread and grill it in a pan and top it off with raspberries and/or blueberries, sounds intriguing.

Popular food blog Saute Wednesday has posted a hilarious reaction to his first-time read-through of the magazine from the Queen of 30-minute cuisine, Everyday with Rachael Ray.

Certainly, blogger Bruce Cole pokes the usual fun at Rachael Ray's overuse of the letters "EVOO," and her cutesy measurement of "1 turn around the pan." However, he makes some interesting points by highlighting the choice of advertisements that the magazine has placed on its pages. It's not just that fact that Hormel bacon is fully cooked, taking breakfast beyond semi-homemade, but the fact that Hormel is factory-farmed pork.

A good read.

If you have seen Rachael Ray on TV - and we know that you have seen at least an episode of one of her many shows - you have no doubt heard one of her many "Rachael-isms". A Rachael-ism is a term that refers to one of Rachael's favorite expressions and is, in fact, a Rachael-ism itself. The use of these words in everyday conversation has been termed Rachaelspeak by the editorial staff at Every Day with Rachael Ray. They have helpfully compiled a glossary of Rachael-isms that will help you to better understand Rachael and her shows. The list includes the definitions of Yum-O!, Good to go and EVOO, as well as pronunciation tips.

Their online store also stocks shirts emblazoned with Yum-O! and Got EVOO?, both of which would make great gifts for any Rachael fans in your life.