I was shy as a child. Now I'm not really shy any more, unless I'm with shy people. I find it contagious and I don't know what to say. But I don't think shyness is something one should feel apologetic about.

Cake baking has to be, however innocently, one of the great culinary scams: it implies effort, it implies domestic prowess; but believe me, it's easy.

And cooking is about balance and harmony.

You need a balance in life between dealing with whats going on inside and not being so absorbed in yourself that it takes over.

I never taste the wine first in restaurants, I just ask the waiter to pour.

At some stages of your life you will deal with things and at others you are overwhelmed with misery and anxiety.

I was brought up an atheist and have always remained so. But at no time was I led to believe that morality was unimportant or that good and bad did not exist. I believe passionately in the need to distinguish between right and wrong and am somewhat confounded by being told I need God, Jesus or a clergyman to help me to do so.