My grandpa and I, whenever we would go to Myrtle Beach, we couldn't wait to get there and have fried seafood.

When cooking for a man, treat all of his senses.

Every great summer party starts with a list. Throwing something together chaotically ends up being more work than taking 15 minutes to make a plan first.

A lot of my recipes I take from foods my grandmother used to cook, things she prepared for family reunions.

I love a waffle fry.

If you look at the cookbooks that sell the most, it's almost always people who have their own TV shows.

One of my favorite salads is spinach with pickled strawberries.

Many beach locales offer surf lessons, and you get a different perspective of the ocean when you're out on the water.

I love to have a dinner party. I love to have people over. I like the feeling it creates in my home - having guests laughing and telling their stories - and I put a lot of thought into it. I plan my menu kind of depending on whatever mood I'm in.

I love Montauk Pearl oysters. They are briny, creamy, and sweet. To me, they are the perfect oyster.

My cooking style is really simple. Not a lot of ingredients, but all good quality, so you don't have to do that much to them.

Nobody ever got fat eating vegetables.

Devising the menu for an intimate meal can be a thorny task. You want to make something your guy will go crazy for, but that usually means big and heavy. And feeling overly full kind of kills the mood.

I eat a crazy amount of vegetables. I always look at my plate and make 70 percent of it vegetables and leave the rest for whatever else I'm eating.

If I had to describe my diet in one word, it would be 'colorful.' I always think about adding color to the plate.

I've been using carrot tops to make pesto and broccoli stalks to make broccoli 'rice.' There's no reason to throw those things away - just get creative.

Some guys find eating face-to-face weirdly intense. But sitting on the same side of the table allows both intermittent physical contact and eye contact.

I don't subscribe to that no-carb thing. I'm so sick of the Atkins diet and all that. First of all, if you're not eating carbs, all you do is think about them. It's one of those things that you take out, and initially, you lose weight, but you are miserable.

I make green juice daily.

I would have loved to have been an aesthetician. I love, like, anything to do with - I know this sounds kind of gross - but any kind of zit popping is so fascinating to me.

For my Mai Tai recipe, I juice fresh orange, pineapple, and lime. It's like vacation in a glass!

During the summer, I used to hate when my mom would call me inside to eat - it was such a drag to leave all the fun.

Working on my first novel, 'Groundswell' - about a woman recovering from a bad breakup who falls in love with surfing - I spent a month south of the border. And when I wasn't writing or surfing, I was eating. A lot.

I'm all or nothing. I'm either having fresh vegetables, or I'm eating fried fish.

My grandmother Dora taught me how to cook. She's from a small town in West Virginia called Milton. I would pull a stool up to her kitchen counter after school. My love of food started there.

I have always wanted to write a novel, and I tried many times but could never find the right story. One day, I was walking on the beach, and the idea for 'Groundswell' hit me. I went into the house and started writing and never stopped.

It's hard when you get into an Instagram hole, because we live in such a Facetuned world. You see all these girls are in their bathing suits, and it's hard not to think, 'I wish I looked like that.' But you can only be your own personal best.

I come from a family of great cooks and big eaters.

By the end of the winter, I'm always battling too-tight pants. My solution: Eat lean protein, good grains, and veggies.

My favorite southern dish has to be fried chicken. I love to cook it. I love to have it in the summer.

I always think of my grandfather as the original foodie. He was the slowest eater. He savored everything. Even when everyone was gone from the table, he was still eating.

In the winter, I always buy frozen organic berries instead of fresh. They are frozen as soon as they're harvested, so they actually have a higher vitamin content than fresh this time of year.

I use coconut oil in my cooking and as a beauty product. It's great for sauteing and baking and makes the best moisturizer and hair treatment. I'm coconut-oil obsessed!

I grew up in a small town in West Virginia, and most of my family lived in our neighborhood or very close by. I had my grandparents down the street, my great-grandmother next door, and my great-aunt and great-uncle one door down.

I pretty much grew up with my grandma. She would pull a stool over to the kitchen, and I would climb up at the kitchen counter, and I'd help her make biscuits.

When I work out at home, I don't have mirrors, and I really like it. When I'm not working out in front of a mirror, I don't have those conversations with myself that I have in the gym, when my head starts drifting in all those dark spots.

My Breville juicer is one of my can't-live-without appliances in the kitchen.

If I really don't feel like cooking, I have a bowl of lentil pasta with Rao's jarred sauce.

A lot of people are kind of snobby about garlic powder and onion powder. I happen to love them.

I really thought that Billy Joel had two hits. I thought it was 'Uptown Girl' and 'Piano Man,' and that was basically it.

To me, nothing says summer like enjoying a lobster roll at my favorite spots in the Hamptons.

I'm asleep at midnight. I go to bed really early, so I don't have a midnight snack.

When you're going to meet your man's mom and dad, it's always nice to bring them something homemade and from the heart.

My grandpa and I loved Emeril. It was all he wanted to watch when he was in the hospital dying. When I met Emeril later, it was so emotional.

Bobby Flay has become a great mentor to me. He's one of my very best friends and kind of like a big brother, and I always feel like I can go to him for any kind of advice.

You can deep-fry anything, and I would eat it.

Every great sandwich starts with a great bun, and my absolute favorites are Sara Lee Artesano Bakery Buns and Rolls - they're quick, simple and work perfectly with all my favorite recipes!

I love spicy food, so I'm not sure why I have this aversion to wasabi, but I really detest it.

Labor Day means grilling outside!

I think kitchen real estate is very valuable, so something has to perform multiple functions for me to give it space in my drawers.