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 had a little epiphany when I was a writer at 'Chicago' magazine. I sat down to dinner at the Ritz-Carlton. Somebody poured a white dessert wine with chocolate cake. It was a wine I would never have expected to make sense. The idea of any wine tasting fabulous with chocolate cake was fascinating to me.

When I come home from a shoot, I'd rather reheat food I've made than eat takeout.

Buying stock is exactly the same thing as going to a casino, only with no cocktail service.

You know the great irony is that people think you have to have money to enjoy fine food, which is a shame.

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 had a really good time with Martha Stewart, who also is somebody I really admire a lot. I've learned a lot from her and I think all of America has, about attention to detail and using fresh ingredients and making things beautiful and special.