Life was a funny thing that happened to me on the way to the grave.

Most importantly nothing has happened to change my conviction that freedom and the love of liberty remain the essential defining attributes of our national character as a people.

The nice thing about the Bible is it doesn't give you too many facts. Two an a half lines and it tells you the whole story and that leaves you a great deal of freedom to elaborate on how it might have happened.

Certain things happened in the early church. Women who had never had any freedom suddenly have the ability to stand up and speak and be treated as equals within the life of the church.

Back a hundred years ago especially around Woodrow Wilson what happened in this country is we took freedom and we chopped it into pieces.

Forgiveness isn't about condoning what has happened to you or someone else's actions against you.

I remember that at the beginning of the month the kind of menus my mom and father would prepare for us would have fish chicken. But at the end of the month - because my father would be waiting for paycheck - the refrigerator would get empty. I remember that without a lot of food left some of the best meals happened right there.

I guess I feel that I was following my instincts and at the same time being guided by the best. I became totally intrigued with Louisiana - the people the food. It is a part of my life. Everything that has happened for me since moving here has just been icing on the cake.

The kitchen's a laboratory and everything that happens there has to do with science. It's biology chemistry physics. Yes there's history. Yes there's artistry. Yes to all of that. But what happened there what actually happens to the food is all science.

The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that's what's happened in our culture. Fast food has become the everyday meal.