While I hold my own views, it's important not to get too wrapped up in individual candidates and personalities, but instead to focus on the real issues

In Ethiopia, where I was born, all the cooks are women. When I grew up in Sweden, my mom and my grandmother did predominantly all the cooking. Then I changed to restaurant kitchens, where all of a sudden there were just more men than women, and I always thought that was weird.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite American traditions. I quickly picked it up when I moved to the U.S. from Sweden.

Cooking is in an honest profession where you cannot hide and let others do the work for you. You have to show up, work hard and prove you can do it faster and better. And find a mentor who will recognize your talent and push you in the right direction.

Hard work IS its own reward. Integrity IS priceless. Art DOES feed the soul.

But one of the things I have learned during the time I have spent in the United States is an old African American saying: Each one, teach one. I want to believe that I am here to teach one and, more, that there is one here who is meant to teach me. And if we each one teach one, we will make a difference.

We can all agree that government cant solve the obesity crisis alone. Its an ongoing issue that will require a collaborative effort across private and public sectors if we want to see some long-term success.