I'm a home cook and love to read about food, but I'm not trained as a chef. I'm just really into cooking and passionate about it.

I'm in a loft and the kitchen is in the very center of the apartment. The whole place revolves around it.

The funny thing about Thanksgiving ,or any big meal, is that you spend 12 hours shopping for it then go home and cook,chop,braise and blanch. Then it's gone in 20 minutes and everybody lies around sortof in a sugar coma and then it takes 4 hours to clean it up.

I'm a home cook and love to read about food, but I'm not trained as a chef. I'm just really into cooking and passionate about it.

Believe me, I understand the need for easy and speedy. After a 12-hour day of shooting 'Chopped,' say, I'm talking stir-fry, spaghetti, heck, peanut-butter sandwiches. But that's not about the joy of food. That's survival.

What I bring to the table is a huge enthusiasm and love for this stuff.

Because the show is popular, people do recognize us on the streets.