I have been blessed with a good, fun, and wonderful life, but I've also seen a whole lot of pain.

I want my daughter to see a strong woman who goes after what she wants.

I think children learning to cook can be such a wonderful thing. It can help build confidence, make them feel good about themselves. It helped me build my ego and even start to get acceptance at school. I'd bring things to class that I'd cooked at home.

I'm most comfortable in T-shirts, but they have to have some style to them.

These days it's cool to be ethnic and to be different, but when I was a kid, it was not cool - at all. My friends would come over and my mom would make crepes with eggs, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and spinach. And they'd be like, 'What is this?'

Lidia Bastianich, sorry, but kind of boring. I mean, I love Lidia, but you can fall asleep watching her. And Mario Batali? I love Mario to death... but he's not romantic or sensual. Those are the things I bring to the table.

For a healthy alternative to buffalo wings, slide the bone of a human finger into a block of tofu and bake.