By Terry Armour | Chicago Tribune

Patricia Heaton is finding there is life after "Everybody Loves Raymond." And we're not talking about those Jewel commercials.

Heaton--who won two Emmy awards as Ray Romano's wife in the sitcom, which ended its run in May--is trying her hand at producing. Not only does she star in "The Engagement Ring," which premieres on TNT later this month, she's an executive producer on the project along with husband David Hunt. The two also produced the documentary "The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania."

"Producing gives you a sense of control over your career that as an actor you don't have," Heaton told Armour & Co. when we caught up with her a few days ago. "And as an actor, as you get older, you want to expand your opportunities. Usually, as you get older your opportunities shrink."

Back to those Jewel commercials: Heaton says for every person who recognizes her from "Everybody Loves Raymond," there's somebody else who recognizes her from the ads. "People come up to me and instead of saying, 'I love "Everybody Loves Raymond," they say 'I love your Jewel commercials,'" Heaton said. "I don't know quite how to take that."