Quotes from Rachael Ray

Good food and a warm kitchen are what makes a house a home. I always tried to make my home like my mother's, because Mom was magnificent at stretching a buck when it came to decorating and food. Like a true Italian, she valued beautification in every area of her life, and I try to do the same.

I live in, literally, the same home when I was swiping my first bank card and wondering if I'd have to put back the Charmin. We still don't have a dishwasher. My mom has done all these gardens so now my house looks like the garden shack in the middle of Versailles.

My mom, who's been in the restaurant business for 40 years, is the number-one influence in my life. But I look up to a lot of people in the industry. Tops on my list is Mario Batali. My mom and Mario taught me the same lesson: Food is love.

You can laugh or you can cry. It is up to you which one you do.

A big laugh, a glass of wine, time to talk and laugh with each other, a moment to notice the simple pleasures -- these are the keys to a quality of life.

I have a fat head - I get freaked-out looking at pictures of me.

When I do a 30-minute meal, for instance, on Food Network, that's my food you see at the end of the show and it's not perfect. And if sometimes things break or drop or the pasta hits the wall when I'm draining it, they never stop tape. They just kind of let me go with it.

Good food and a warm kitchen are what makes a house a home. I always tried to make my home like my mother's, because Mom was magnificent at stretching a buck when it came to decorating and food. Like a true Italian, she valued beautification in every area of her life, and I try to do the same.

I'm an all-things-in-moderation kind of person. I do eat a warm donut occasionally. I especially enjoy a cider donut when I'm apple picking. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I don't have to write jokes. I don't have to write insults. If you ask the man of the hour in the hot seat, my mere existence is clearly insult enough.

When men I have dated over the years whined about, 'Oh, you make no time for me' – see ya! I just dumped them. I don't need that pressure in my life.

My mom said the two most important kitchen utensils are attached to your arms... you cannot mix up meatballs with a wooden spoon, get in there, get your fingers dirty!

I started running 3 miles every morning after throat surgery to remove a cyst last year. The gym used to be my adversary. But that has all changed. Now, I look forward to it every morning.

I tried to bake a cake for my mother's birthday - it took me four hours. It was terrible, and I cried for three days.

Good food and a warm kitchen are what makes a house a home.

Decide what it is that you are and then stay true to that thing. My brand is based very much on how I live my day-to-day life.

I've never been a huge sweets eater, and I've always loved a Mediterranean diet. We eat a lot of dark leafy greens, and a couple meals each week are meat-free. We enjoy eating a balanced diet.

I do 280 episodes of TV a year, write 15 recipes for the magazine, and publish an annual book. With all of that, we try to get one weekend a month with Isaboo at our home in the Adirondacks to relax and recharge.

Since I never get on a scale, I have no idea how much weight I've lost!

Whatever it is you want to do, take a job in that field. You will learn by experience and, slow and steady, you'll get it done!

I'm not a chef. I haven't created any new technique in the kitchen. I'm not a rocket scientist. I think I'm good at writing accessible, fun, and affordable meals for the average American family. That's what I think I'm good at.

The most essential part of my day is a proper dinner.

My dream job is to be a rock drummer and the alternate drummer for the Foo Fighters.

You don't feel as self-conscious if your clothes fit.