Rachael Ray Celebrates First Christmas in Her Rebuilt Home Following Devastating Fire
This Christmas was an extra special one for Rachael Ray and her husband John Cusimano. More than a year after a fire destroyed their home in Lake Luzerne, New York, the couple spent their first holiday in their rebuilt home, with their dog Bella, who also escaped the devastating blaze, joining them for the festivities.
The celebrity chef – who spent last year's holiday season celebrating on the back porch of their detached guest home – gave fans a look at her family's Christmas festivities in a series of Instagram posts over the weekend. Now back in their home, things seem to be returning to normal for the couple, and Ray went all out with her Christmas decorations. In one post, Ray showed off the stunning Christmas tree and surrounding holiday décor as well as images of her family's mouth-watering Christmas Day feast, writing, "it's beginning to look a lot like...." The Food Network star also shared an adorable photo of herself hugging Bella, which she captioned, "Bella is so over the costumes, but she's my [Christmas] [angel]. Merry Everything, everyone! Xo."
The holiday celebrations came more than a year after Ray and Cusimano's Lake Luzerne, New York home was destroyed in an August 2020 fire. According to Ray, the fire started in the chimney and quickly spread throughout the home. Ray, her husband, and their dog thankfully escaped the blaze unharmed after the TV personality first heard the fire "climbing through the wall." Ray later revealed that she and her husband "listened to our first responders and we left with the clothes on our back and the flip-flops and Ugg shoes on our feet."
As their home was being rebuilt, the family moved into a guest house that wasn't damaged in the fire. Months later, they celebrated their first Christmas since the devastating house fire, with Ray giving fans a tour of how she decorated. While Ray and her family typically decorated with nine trees around the house, Ray told fans "we're not putting up trees because no families are coming to visit and we lost our main home, but we absolutely would not let the holidays come and go without some decoration." Ray and her husband instead opted for tons of garland wrapped around windows and doors, as well as festive bright lights and some of the items the family was able to save from the fire.
Opening up about the devastating experience in her latest book, This Must Be the Place, according to PEOPLE, Ray wrote, "we knew we'd get through this together... At the end of the day, John and I, we always come back to grateful. Some days are different than others, but we try to say, 'Okay, here's the new plan,' even when we get down.' We're like Moonstruck over here. We just keep saying, 'Stop your whining and snap out of it.'"