After a day of writing, I love nothing more than to go into my kitchen and start chopping onions and garlic on the way to cooking an improvised meal with whatever ingredients are on hand. Cooking is the perfect counterpoint to writing. I find it more relaxing than anything else, even naps, walks, or hot baths.
What would people be surprised to know about me? That I love cooking and chopping wood for the heating system in my house.
Turn the preparing of food into a communal affair by enlisting others to help with the chopping, grating, stirring, simmering, tasting and seasoning. When the cooking is finished, eat together round the table with the electronic gadgets switched off so you can savor the food and let the conversation flow.
I don't want to get burned when I'm cooking. To avoid getting hit when pan-frying, I stand far away and use chopsticks that are almost two feet long. I learned it from my mom, who does the same thing.
My love for cooking began when I was young. Because my parents were in the army, they were both really busy. A lot of times I'd have to cook for the family; I'd rotate with my siblings. It started out as a chore, but as I got older, my mom started to see that I was really good at it. I became her sous chef.
I think cooking should be an experience, not a chore.
Christmas Day itself hasn't always been great. My parents went abroad when I was very young, and I went to boarding school. We had a few Christmases before that - I remember a big sack of presents and Mummy cooking goose.
I love cooking during Christmas, all smells like the hot apple cider, the hot spiced wine.
My belief is that my wife should be at home looking after my kids and cooking and cleaning. She's a very privileged woman to have a husband like me. Not everyone's in her position, but the ones who are are very lucky. That's my opinion.
Cooking for me is a way to wind down. It's different from cooking on camera, where you have to do everything twice, for a wide shot and a close-up.
Do whatever rejuvenates you. It might be a cooking class, cocktails with the girls, or just private time with the hubby. We all have our moments where we run out of steam because we've given everything we've got to everyone else. Whoever decided that was a good thing? It's not. Everyone needs to refuel.
I'm always cooking big veggie curries for friends with tons of spices, coconut milk, chilli - I'll saute potatoes in the spices, then cook them with all the flavours and stir in some chickpeas and spinach at the end before serving it on a bed of sesame brown rice. It's easy to do and tastes amazing!
In our house, we do everything whole: whole milk and full-fat cheeses. And I use ghee and coconut oil for cooking.
I'm not wholesome at all. I detest homey things like cooking and bed-making and Peter Pan collars. I like to wear slacks and play golf.
It's like cooks don't watch cooking programmes - I suppose maybe comedians don't watch comedy shows.
My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.
If you are the kind of person who makes homemade chicken stock on the regular and keeps it frozen in various sized containers for all your cooking needs, I truly commend you. Quality homemade stock will invariably add great depth of flavor and body to a recipe. But it's a luxury, not a necessity - it gilds the lily, as they say.
What I love about 'The Chew' is that we have these celebrities come on, and you get to see them in a different light, cooking or enjoying food, when we usually don't see them in that setting. So it's a lot of fun for their fans to see them be normal people and having that commonality of food.
If you track your organization's creativity by the number of brainstorms on your calendar, you're missing out. It's more important to capture those unplanned sparks of inspiration that so often come when we're cooking dinner, taking a shower, or commuting to work.
I think I'm pretty laid back. I like cooking, being at home, and going to concerts. And I love to shop!
