No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize.

Food like love is a deeply emotional matter.

In my generation, except for a few people who'd gone into banking or nursing or something like that, middle-class women didn't have careers. You were to marry and have children and be a nice mother. You didn't go out and do anything. I found that I got restless.

I found that the recipes in most - in all - the books I had were really not adequate. They didn't tell you enough... I won't do anything unless I'm told why I'm doing it. So I felt that we needed fuller explanations so that if you followed one of those recipes, it should turn out exactly right.

I was thirty-seven years old and still discovering who I was.

The tomato hides its griefs. Internal damage is hard to spot.

You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made. Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always.