When I do a 30-minute meal, for instance, on Food Network, that's my food you see at the end of the show and it's not perfect. And if sometimes things break or drop or the pasta hits the wall when I'm draining it, they never stop tape. They just kind of let me go with it.

I tried to bake a cake for my mother's birthday - it took me four hours. It was terrible, and I cried for three days.

I never do the dishes, because my husband has an affinity for it. And I'm also not allowed to touch the coffeemaker.

You do it with your own two hands, so there's a sense of pride. You really do forget all our problems, because you're focusing on the food.

I have learned how to breathe, to use my cords differently. I had been tilting my head in a way when I talked that wasn't good for my throat. I've been working on all of that, and it seems to be helping.

Make big pots of soups, stews and chilis - they stretch a buck, and you can live off them for days!

My mom, who's been in the restaurant business for 40 years, is the number-one influence in my life. But I look up to a lot of people in the industry. Tops on my list is Mario Batali. My mom and Mario taught me the same lesson: Food is love.