I have long enjoyed the friendship and companionship of Republicans because I am by instinct a teacher and I would like to teach them something.

Value your freedom or you will lose it teaches history. 'Don't bother us with politics' respond those who don't want to learn.

When I was teaching in the 1960s in Boston there was a great deal of hope in the air. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive Malcolm X was alive great great leaders were emerging from the southern freedom movement.

The message of Passover remains as powerful as ever. Freedom is won not on the battlefield but in the classroom and the home. Teach your children the history of freedom if you want them never to lose it.

When I am able to resist the temptation to judge others I can see them as teachers of forgiveness in my life reminding me that I can only have peace of mind when I forgive rather than judge.

Taste is developed by the diversity of the products one can sample. I think our children today may be missing an education about food. We must teach them to know their cuisine and to know the equilibrium of nourishment. That is very important for health.

This June I'll travel once again to the Food and Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen Colorado. For many years my dear friend Julia Child and I have teamed up to teach classes together at the event for the past seven years my daughter Claudine has been my cooking partner on stage.

We're adults. We're the ones who should teach the kids what's good to eat. I don't think the government should ever regulate what we eat at home but we're feeding them in school with tax dollars. Quite frankly if my tax dollars are being spent to feed kids I'd rather feed them better food.

I love doing demonstrations. I think to be a great chef you have to be a great teacher. I love doing classes with people who love food and enjoy food bringing them all around one table so to speak.

I think what I do differently from a lot of TV chefs is that I break down barriers and make fine food more accessible to the regular person who might be intimidated. I try hard particularly with wine to make it not intimidating. It's sort of a teaching job.