There's so much living to be squeeze into the cracks of one little day. You can make someone laugh, smile, hope, sing, think.

The secret to success, to parenting, to life, is to not count up the cost. Don't focus on all the steps it will take. Don't stare into the abyss at the giant leap it will take. That view will keep you from taking the next small step.

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

Sometimes you have to censor books. When I read 'Peter Rabbit,' I skip the part about Peter's father ending up in one of Mrs. McGregor's pies. I also hid the book of 'Grimm Fairy Tales.' They're just too grim for my grandkids. Reality will come soon enough.

If baking is any labor at all, it's a labor of love. A love that gets passed from generation to generation.

When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

Choice, not chance, determines your destiny. It's up to you to decide what you are worth, how you matter, and how you make meaning in the world. No one else has your gifts--your set of talents, ideas, interests. You are an original. A masterpiece.