Baking cookies is comforting, and cookies are the sweetest little bit of comfort food. They are very bite-sized and personal.
Sandra Lee
Christmas is more stressful with present buying and making sure everyone gets included, but Thanksgiving is really not that. I don't ever really get stressed out about the food.
Baking is how you start kids at cooking in the kitchen. It's fun whether it's baking bread or cookies. With baking, you have to be exact when it comes to ingredients.
Instead of doing cinnamon, nutmeg, and all those baking spices I'll have one spice that's for sweets, and that's pumpkin pie spice.
Give yourself permission to get the most out of your life. If you're spending all your time scrubbing corners with a toothbrush, you're kind of missing the point. Taking shortcuts doesn't mean shortcutting the end result.
Sure, you can mix the flour, baking soda, salt, shortening, and the whole nine yards, but why wouldn't you just pull out a box of Bisquick?
I like to create what I call 'tablescapes.' It's so much more fun when you organize your table around a theme, don't you think?
I can certainly be part of the socialite group and walk those carpets every day, but I choose not to because I prefer to be grounded. You can't be at home and on the red carpet.
When I came to the Food Network, I didn't want to do a cooking show. I told Kathleen Finch for nine months I didn't want to do a cooking show, I wanted to do a home-and-garden show.
I'm not sure that some of the food purists are in touch with what really goes on in American households.
Raising myself and caring for my brothers and sisters allowed me the benefit of a lot of information that I wouldn't have otherwise gotten. I had to be frugal, thoughtful, resourceful. I didn't have anyone to tell me, 'You can't.'
Sometimes I feel like I'm not only the engine but the caboose. I have to be in the front car and pull forward, and at the same time run around behind and push everybody along with me.
I always buy the smaller turkeys. On the pre-baste put pats of butter on the meat under the skin, put the skin back on, put a bunch of seasoning on the top, call it a day, put it in the oven. With a 10 - 12 pound turkey you are done in a couple of hours.
When I was at the Cordon Bleu things took hours and hours and hours to make. And they were beautiful dishes - and I know how to cook that way - but I was like, 'no one is cooking like this.'
As a kid, I thought John Denver was the perfect Prince Charming.
I think women today are so overwhelmed and overtaxed.
One of the things I do in my cookbooks is I will do a conversion from outdoor to indoor grilling so you can do it year-round.
Why I have had such a huge career and why I have sold over four million books, is that people can do what I share with them to do.
You don't need Montreal steak seasoning on everything.
I'm an activist for gay marriage equality and children's rights. I'm the face of Share Our Strength.
I'm the only girl on The Food Network who grills - I have two bestselling grilling books. I try to really focus on what men and women can do outside together out on the grill. I think it's really fun to have men and women out there together, having fun, working and enjoying themselves.
Nobody makes bouillabaisse from scratch. It's all a bunch of malarkey. Even the restaurants buy a commercial-grade product. I had a very famous chef tell me that.
Lack of sleep makes me less productive. I need a good seven or eight hours a night.
Yes, I love white, and I'd wear it all the time if I could. Some people think I have an issue with cleanliness, but to me it's just so pretty.
If you've attended the Cordon Bleu, you would know that no woman is supposed to be a chef - only men.
Seventy percent store-bought, ready-made plus 30 percent fresh allows you to take 100 percent of the credit.
My brand is a demography-breaker. It speaks to all homemakers and women from all walks of life and all across society.
It's really easy to figure out why I love what I love, the holidays and food. I know the difference between having them and not having them.
When I'm really stressed out, I go to church. I light candles and sit and pray. And I'll ask myself, What's the lesson? Why am I going through this? There's got to be a reason I'm here. What am I supposed to learn?
When you're young, you think you can do anything, and that was really a gift. That's why I can never understand someone telling me 'no' today. 'No' just isn't an option.
My audience knows me, and I wear beautiful clothes as a badge of honor. They remember where I came from.
The women are at an advantage - we represent the buying power in this country.
The issue I have always felt most strongly about is hunger in America, in particular the children.
I like being independent. I don't think that marriage means you're not independent, but right now I'm very comfortable, and I'm probably the happiest I've ever been. I feel solid. I feel safe.
I don't think there are any footsteps to be walked in. No one else has taken things that you can buy at the grocery store and put them together. I hope that I have a career as long as Julia Child.
How do I cope with stress? I clean and organize.
My most cherished possessions are my grandma's letters and my vintage Martha Washington cookbook.
Different types of chicken come at different price points. Filets are going to be more expensive. If it's bone-in and skin-on it's going to be less expensive.
My years of living the jet-set life were fun, but they weren't fulfilling. The perks and benefits were lovely, but all of the fabulous furs, fancy jewelry and fun fetes simply weren't enough to fill my soul.
At this point in my life I am just about enjoying my free time and my downtime and that's what is about for us. My job is about making your job easier. I take a lot of pride in the quality of what I present, especially in 'Money Saving Meals.'
I like doing food as a focal point on my table. It is not like going out and buying flowers or candles, which are expensive.
