Christmas cookies can't help but be retro - they are memory first, sugar-flour-egg-redhot-gumdrop-sparkle reality second.

I don't want to be a reality retro star.

We never really had any kind of a Christmas. This is one part where my memory fails me completely.

Every Christmas there is going to be this memory. But we all believe that they are happy looking down on us and they are in a better place. It's just that we miss them so dearly.

Food as a hobby used to be an elite pastime, and it has become something that is totally ordinary for people of every background. In that way, we see the growing up of the American food scene: that it's okay to be a regular person and be really into food.

I love trying new restaurants.