I think that celebrities are just people, like everybody else, and they've got the foodie bug in them too.

Whatever it is that you're successful at, that has to be the No. 1 goal. In my case, it's accessibility. So all of my products have to be usable, accessible, affordable.

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.

Work hard. Laugh when you feel like crying. Keep an open mind, open eyes and an open spirit.

I measure in my palm and use my eyes to estimate amounts; a tablespoon is a full palm of dried spices.

I was always a person on my mother's hip in the kitchen. My mom really wanted her kids at her side as much as possible, and she worked in restaurants for over fifty years. And my grandfather had ten children, and he grew and prepared most of the food. My grandmother, on my mother's side, was the family seamstress and the baker. So my mom, the eldest child, was always in the kitchen with my grandpa and I was always in the production and restaurant kitchens and our own kitchen with my mom. And it's just something that has always spoken to me.

I've never been a huge sweets eater, and I've always loved a Mediterranean diet. We eat a lot of dark leafy greens, and a couple meals each week are meat-free. We enjoy eating a balanced diet.