My mom was Sicilian my dad was Sicilian. Mom was a great cook but all the women were.

I love Italian food but that's too generic a term for what's available now: you have to narrow it down to Tuscan Sicilian and so on.

My family was all born in Sicily and I'm Italian-American. They're the real thing. They're authentic Italians and honestly they're the most open-minded nicest people in the world and nothing can really offend them. That's the way I think true Sicilians are.

My early childhood prepared me to be a social psychologist. I grew up in a South Bronx ghetto in a very poor family. From Sicilian origin I was the first person in my family to complete high school let alone go to college.