I like almonds as a snack - keeps your energy up but doesn't fill you up.

I learned that the hardest party to pull off successfully is Saturday night dinner. This meal is expected to be elaborate: appetizers, first course, dinner, dessert, and coffee. People arrive at 7:30 or 8 p.m. and stay for hours - definitely past my bedtime - and they all go home exhausted.

The dirty little secret is that I grew up in a household where there were no carbohydrates allowed, ever. No cookies, no bread, no potatoes, no rice. My mother was very extreme in terms of what she served. Since I left home more than 40 years ago, I've been making it right for myself.

I love Alton Brown's show 'Good Eats,' about the chemistry of food. It's really thoughtful.

I get up every day, do the best that I can do, and go home and have a good time.

I use other cookbooks for inspiration. I must say I tend to cook from my own cookbooks for parties.

Fun is the most important. If you do stuff for money, it never works out.