You know, not everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine. My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills.

Cooking has always brought me a happiness that I didn't think was available. I just fire up the stove, and things start to fade away.

Down South, even our vegetables have some pig hidden somewhere in it. A vegetable isn't a vegetable without a little ham hock.

I pay people very, very well - probably more than I have to. But that costs me less money in the long run because I'm not having to constantly train somebody. I pay them enough that they don't go seeking a higher scale at the next restaurant.

I wake up every morning happy for where I am in life. It's not all about the cooking, but the fact that I can contribute by using my influence to help people all over the country. In the last two years, my partners and I have fed more than 10 million hungry people by bringing meat to food banks.

I am living proof that the American dream still exists. It is still alive and well. There is only one trick, you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and work very, very hard.

I think no matter what the occasion may be, you can never go wrong by showing up at the dinner table with a hot plate of fried chicken.