I like a very clean kitchen, and when I'm cooking, I try to clean as I go.

The kitchen is definitely the room that gets used the most in my house.

I really like keeping my kitchen counters as clear as possible. I tend to function better when there's less clutter.

I love the 'Barefoot Contessa' cookbooks - they're so nicely done, and her recipes are beautiful and simple.

I just love to look at cookbooks, it's almost like they're comic books for me. I can't look at them before bed; it gets me too excited.

I think any man can be won over by being fed my Chicken with Roasted Garlic, Pancetta, and Rosemary.

Spritzers are festive yet economical. By adding seltzer and juice, you stretch the number of people a bottle of wine serves.

I love cooking except for an annoying step - cleaning up.

I like a good burger as much as the next girl, but sometimes, I say hold the beef. In fact, every week, I do Meatless Monday to feel a little healthier.

I love giving little ones fun tasks that make them feel like they're part of the team but keep them safe. My go-tos are topping pizzas, decorating cookies, stirring ingredients, and, of course, taste-testing!

My biggest cooking influence, my No. 1, is my grandma. Then it's the farmers. When I go to the farm stand and see what's available, that's where I get most of my inspiration.

I never grew up with money, and I never wanted a lot of material things.

Portion control is not an option for me. I like mass quantities, so I have to create healthy meals that I love but won't feel guilty about eating.

I can't have a party without deviled eggs.

The best thing about summer entertaining is it doesn't have to be fancy - and you can eat outdoors. You can use a tablecloth or just a piece of fabric you love. You can't go wrong with white candles; put them in jars or hurricane vases.

The grill is the summer equivalent of a fireplace; everyone gravitates to it.

I really want to write another novel, and I am trying to come up with what the story will be. As I learned with 'Groundswell,' I can't force it; I just have to wait for it to come to me.

I'm always buying glasses and teacups. I have way too many to use, but I just love them, particularly anything vintage.

I wash my hands constantly in the kitchen, so they're always dry.

One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

All bad qualities centre round the ego. When the ego is gone, Realisation results by itself. There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only.

If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear? Who sees the second? First, the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is no second.

For those who have obtained unobstructed knowledge of Self, the world is seen merely as a bondage causing imagination.

If one wants to abide in the thought-free state, a struggle is inevitable. One must fight one's way through before regaining one's original primal state. If one succeeds in the fight and reaches the goal, the enemy, namely the thoughts, will all subside in the Self and disappear entirely.

Happiness is your real nature. You identify with yourself with the body and mind, feel it's limitations, and suffer. Realize your true self in order to open the store of happiness. That true self is the reality, the Supreme Truth, which is the self of all the world you now see, the self of all the selves, the One real, the Supreme, the Eternal self - as distinct from the ego or the bodily idea for the self.

All that one gives to others one gives to one's self. If this truth is understood, who will not give to others?

Grace is within you. Grace is your self. Grace is not something to be acquired from others. If it is external, it is useless. All that is necessary is to know its existence is in you. You are never out of its operation.

He who has realized the Self in the Heart has transcended the dualities and is never perplexed.

The world is not outside you.

We are in our Self. We are not in the world.

Remove the Ego and Avidya (Ignorance) is gone. Look for it, the ego vanishes and the real Self alone remains.

In the Heart's cavity, the sole Brahman as an ever-persisting 'I' shines direct in the form of the Self. Into the Heart enter thyself, with mind in search or in deeper plunge. Or by restraint of life-movement be firmly poised in the Self.

The self is known to every one but not clearly. You always exist.

Knowing the Self, God is known.

God dwells in you, as you, and you don't have to 'do' anything to be God-realized or Self-realized, it is already your true and natural state. Just drop all seeking, turn your attention inward, and sacrifice your ego mind to the One Self radiating in the Heart of your very being. For this to be your own presently lived experience, Self-Inquiry Meditation is a direct and immediate way.

There is no reaching the Self. If Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not here and now but that it is yet to be obtained. What is got afresh will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say the Self is not reached. You are the Self; you are already That.

Realization is our true nature. It is nothing new to be gained. What is new cannot be eternal. Therefore there is no need to be doubting whether we would gain or lose the self.

Once the current of awareness of the self is set afoot, it becomes everlasting and continuous by intensification.

Grace is within you. If it were external, it would be useless.

The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is 'I'; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.

There is no mind to control if you realise the self. The mind having vanished, the self shines forth. In the realised man, the mind may be active or inactive, the self remains for him.

Whatever be the means adopted, you must at last return to the Self, so why not abide as the Self here and now?

Nearly all mankind is more or less unhappy because nearly all do not know the true Self. Real happiness abides in Self-knowledge alone. All else is fleeting. To know one's Self is to be blissful always.

Because truth is exceedingly subtle and serene, the bliss of the Self can manifest only in a mind rendered subtle and steady by assiduous meditation.

Mind is a wonderful force inherent in the Self.

What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul and God are appearances in it. Like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no 'I thought'. That is called 'Stillness'. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is 'I'; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.

How does one get rid of fear? Ramana: What is fear? It is only a thought. If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear. Who sees things separate from the Self? First the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is nothing external. For anything external to oneself implies the existence of the seer within. Seeking it there will eliminate doubt and fear. Not only fear, all other thoughts centred round the ego will disappear along with it.

He whose pure mind turns inward and searches whence does this 'I' arise, knows the Self and merges in You, the Lord, as a river into the sea.

The place where even the slightest trace of the 'I' does not exist, alone is Self.

God's grace consists in the fact that He shines in the heart of every one as the Self; that power of grace does not exclude any one, whether good or otherwise.