I think people are more savvy about cooking food and dining. I notice they are looking for more value for their money - not in larger portions but more in terms of healthier fresh farm-to-table dishes with a nice presentation.

I think the biggest thing is clean as you go. Wash all your knives cutting boards dishes when you are done cooking not look at a sink full of dishes after you are done. Cleaning as you go helps keep away cross contamination and you avoid having food borne bacteria.

I love inventive food but I want the classic dishes to taste like how I remember them. I get a little bummed out when there is too much fancy stuff going on and it doesn't resemble the original dish at all.

They eat the dainty food of famous chefs with the same pleasure with which they devour gross peasant dishes mostly composed of garlic and tomatoes or fisherman's octopus and shrimps fried in heavily scented olive oil on a little deserted beach.

Of course I will continue to share my favorite Southern recipes just like my mama grandmother and family shared with me over the years. And now I'll be adding a little bit of a lighter touch to some of these wonderful dishes.

These songs are old friends I have entertained myself with when I'm washing the dishes driving to the store and walking down the aisles. The ones that you sing when you're driving in the car and as a singer you always go back to them.

For my birthday my husband learned to cook and is cooking one day a week for me. But he only likes to do fancy dishes. So we end up with weird obscure things in the refrigerator.

The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes.