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" What I continuously remember is when I was a child in the courtyard with my grandmother and we milked the goat and we made the ricotta. The still-warm ricotta from our goat, on top of a piece of bread, and we used to sprinkle just a little bit of honey or sugar on it. That flavor, that stays in my memory. "

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" When I started as a young chef, I was Italian, and I was a woman, and everyone else in New York was French and a man. "

Lidia Bastianich

New York

Chef

Man

" Whether you talk about the olive oil, whether you talk about Aceto Balsamico, whether you talk about Grana Padano, whether you talk about Mozzarella di Bufala. These are all traditional Italian products that are hard to beat, and they're easy to transport and buy. You don't have to do much around it. Just eat them. "

" My success is that I have these two great cultures behind me. One is Italian. I've continued to nurture that. But I also feel very American. "

Lidia Bastianich

Two

American

" As a chef, I feel that it is my duty to make the most of what the earth gives us. "

" I'll get home from work on Friday night and take out some beans and soak them. The next morning, I'll put them in a pot for soup, then just keep chopping, chopping, chopping - carrots and celery and cabbage - and in two or three hours, you have this wonderful, mellow soup that fills up the whole house with its aroma. "

" Physically, women have some challenges in the kitchen, like lifting heavy pots on and off the stove. You learn to adapt; you learn to find a way. But the biggest challenge for women in this industry is how to balance a family with such a demanding career. "

" I think Chicago's a great city. Like New York, it's full of energy. "

" Italian food really reflects the people. It reflects like a prism that fragments into regions. "

" Everybody can cook. You don't have to do anything fancy. You can do a nice antipasto spread with sardines, anchovies, some meats, marinated vegetables, fruits, cheese, nuts, and crackers. "

" It's in the nature of Italians to live life with a positive tone and to celebrate the invitations that come along in life. Italian food is so conducive to all of that. "

" My grandmother had a courtyard of animals, like goats and chickens. She made ricotta cheese, cooked with potatoes warm from the garden, grew everything from beans to wheat. It was simple, seasonal food, and we all ate what was produced 10 miles from where we lived. It was that way for centuries. "

" If you're like me, food is a medium for communication. It's an expression of love and affection. "

Lidia Bastianich

Communication

Food

" I found great rewards in cooking a dish and feeding it to someone. It was a means of communicating. I was giving part of my talent or my gift and sharing it with somebody, making somebody happy. And it gave a lot back to me, and I wanted to do more and more. "

Lidia Bastianich

Great

Gift

" I had my first child at 21, my first restaurant at 24. "

" Make gifts meaningful by putting the time in creating them, whether baking and cooking, or in making arts and craft. It will all have more meaning for the giver and receiver. "

" I develop trust, and I think it's the most important to my growth. If my restaurants are always full and my books sell, it's this trust. "

" Nature recharges me. "

Lidia Bastianich

Nature

" In 1981, we opened Felidia, and the newspapers, the city papers, the big timers came, and I got invited on the 'Today Show' and so on. A lot of food luminaries would come to Felidia - Julia Child, James Beard, they all came. "

" Traditions are our roots and a profile of who we are as individuals and who we are as a family. They are our roots, which give us stability and a sense of belonging - they ground us. "

" All of my books have been about authentic Italian food in Italy and bringing that message about simple and authentic food. "

" Eating is something we all have to do. When we sit down at the table, we nurture ourselves, and hence, all our resistance goes away. We are open to receiving good and taking it in with gusto and pleasure. "

" Holidays - any holiday - are such a great opportunity to focus on bringing the family together. "

" Food is all about the story of a people through the ages. "

" When you sit down to eat at a table, you are ready to take in nourishment - we all need to eat to live. Even in primal tribes, people ate together. It's the opening for friendship. "

" Kids today are really so alienated from the source of food. If they are going to nourish themselves properly, if they are going to safeguard this environment we have and the economy that goes with it and world hunger that goes with it, they need to know about food. "

" What I learned being a young child was respect for food. Don't throw anything away. "

" We had our wheat. We made our own olive oil. We made our wine. We had chickens, ducks; we had sheep, cows, milk. So I was raised in a very simple situation but understanding really food from the ground... the essence of food and the flavors. And those memories I took with me, and I think that they lingered on. "

Lidia Bastianich

Memories

Simple

" A box of spaghetti can take seven minutes to cook, and you can make a sauce at that time with perhaps garlic, olive oil, and zucchini. Then you've got yourself a complete meal. The whole thing shouldn't take more than half an hour. "

Lidia Bastianich

Oil

Meal

" I love telling stories. You know why I love it? Because people love listening. "