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

I don't use the word gourmet. The word doesn't mean anything anymore. 'Gourmet' makes it sound like someone is putting sherry wine in the corn-flake casserole.

I wouldn't keep him around long if I didn't feed him well.

Too much trouble,' 'Too expensive,' or 'Who will know the difference' are death knells for good food. ... Cooking is not a particularly difficult art, and the more you cook and learn about cooking, the more sense it makes.

The measure of achievement is not winning awards. It's doing something that you appreciate, something you believe is worthwhile.

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.

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.