My mission in life is to try and get to a point where my insides world is not affected by the outside world.

That said, there are certainly still cooks out there who make fantastic historical cornbreads, though the old recipes have often been changed to include modern techniques and ingredients.

Sometimes you win by losing.

I tested a lot of old cornbread recipes and most of them were bland or tough.

Vanity Fair' caught me at a very exciting time in my life filled with night clubs, international fashion shows, celebrities and lots of cash to go around. Sometimes things just fall into place. 'Vanity Fair' was one of those things.

My mission in life is to try and get to a point where my insides world is not affected by the outside world.

If you have a busy natural foods store in your community, give their bulk cornmeal a try: high turnover means the product will most likely be fresh. And if the cornmeal is organic, all the better.