I love The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, an Auberge Property in Bluffton, South Carolina. It's a spectacular corner of the world, with massive old trees lined with Spanish moss, and alligators swimming in the river.

I cook mostly vegetarian vegetable and bean stews. Quinoa salads. I make my mother-in-law’s recipe for chicken and barley stew all the time.

You know, I lose patience really easily; I’d rather shop in the grocery store than in the department store. I can pick an apple like nobody’s business.

You can’t fake being able to cook well.

There are few women in America that don’t want to lose 5 pounds, but I refuse to let that thought dominate my life. And there are too many other real problems in the world – real obesity problems and real hunger problems – to worry that much about a few pounds that I’d like to lose.

I would not say I’m an aggressive shopper. I want to be; I aspire to be an aggressive shopper. I am a meek, meek shopper.

When I’m cooking for myself, I find that I eat almost completely vegetarian, although I’m not vegetarian.

There’s not a single chef I know of that does not think about the politics of the food they’re serving.

The less you do to beautiful food, the better it’s going to taste. You don’t need to mess with it all the time.

Eating a lot is an occupational hazard but it’s a pretty great problem to have. I spend a lot of time eating sweets on TV – cake, cupcakes, donuts, and pudding. It’s a dream job, but at the same time there will be days where I wake up knowing I will eat 15 desserts!