I had lunch the other day with my niece, Emma, and she said, 'You're so smart, Aunt Julia.' And I wanted to say, 'I'm not smart - I'm 41! You're 17!'

The first time I felt I was famous was when I went to the movies with my mom. I had gone to the loo, and someone in the bathroom said in a very loud voice, Girl in stall No. 1 were you in Mystic Pizza? I paused and I said, yeah that was me.

Something that's such a joy in my life every day - cooking - is this incredible, horrific danger to women around the world.

It's funny when people say, 'I don't think Julia likes me.' Honey, if I don't like you, you're going to know about it.

It's very important that we expand our use of clean energy and make a long-term commitment to it. Biodiesel and ethanol are better for the environment and for the air we breathe. The use of biodiesel is a positive step toward minimizing pollutive emissions and greenhouse gases. By focusing on school buses, we can affect the health and wellbeing of the people most susceptible to that pollution - our children - today.

They say I can open movies, and that's nice in that it puts into people's minds that women can do it. It's not just Kevin Costner, not just Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not just the guys.

Wit is the key, I think, to anybody's heart, because who doesn't like to laugh?