I really didn’t have an interest in being in the kitchen until after I was married, when I was 18. It didn’t take me long to realize that Mama was not going to show up at my house every day and cook.
Talking about money is garish. It’s tacky.
Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener.
I believe that everyone should be treated equal. That’s the way I was raised, and that’s the way I live my life.
Growing up, I had a very busy social life. It wasn’t until I was a sophomore in high school that I asked Mama if I could come into the kitchen and have her teach me how to cook something.
I am guilty of buying way too many gadgets – way too many! And though I try to keep things nice and orderly, sometimes I get distracted and stick saucepans where the stockpots should go.
I wake up every morning happy for where I am in life. It’s not all about the cooking, but the fact that I can contribute by using my influence to help people all over the country. In the last two years, my partners and I have fed more than 10 million hungry people by bringing meat to food banks.
I have a lot of secret uses for sour cream, which is the magic ingredient in my mac and cheese. It’s an old-timey, Southern version, and the sour cream makes it that much creamier. Oh, it’s so good!
In order to have good fried chicken, you should wash and season the bird the morning you’re preparing it for dinner. Don’t wait and do it right before you start cooking. Throw it in the refrigerator, seasoned, that morning, and give it a chance to soak up all the salt and pepper and goodness.
The thought of eating rabbit and squirrels doesn’t appeal to me. And that was on our table quite often as a kid. In your uppity restaurants, they serve a lot of rabbit. But I just can’t help but think of Peter. And deer, I can’t go there, because of Bambi.
In my house, the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl Game have always been a grand tradition for ringing in the New Year. To serve as Grand Marshal is a dream come true and I look forward to sharing the celebration with all of the fans and viewers worldwide.
I’m making little changes in my life to take care of myself, like putting in a mile or two on my treadmill every day.
I found that when I went from Albany to Savannah, that I needed to put that white rice away, and I needed to turn that into Savannah red rice because they were big into that sausage, tomato-y, bell pepper-y rice mixture.
Would I have fired me? Knowing me? No.
I’m more spiritual than I am religious. I don’t go to church; I go to the beach.
I am proud to be a Southerner.
I can’t, myself determine what offends another person.
You never know who you will meet along life’s journey. You have to be open to risks, but calculated risks, open to winning.
There’s nothing better than being able to give your children wings so they can soar and fly in the direction they want to go in.
If you’ve got a good idea and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to pursue it, keep your head up and eyes open because you don’t know when opportunity will come knocking.
Don’t ever give up. You can’t let discouragement get you down. You can always find negative people that will try to discourage you from your goals. You can’t be discouraged, and you can’t let the word “no” stop you.