Giada De Laurentiis: People say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...

Pasta doesn't make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat.

Giada De Laurentiis

funny-diet dieting pasta

Food brings people together on many different levels. It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love.

Giada De Laurentiis

soul-and-body together people

I'm into very colorful food. Obviously lots of flavor, but I think we eat with our eyes first, so it has to look great. The presentation has to be great.

Giada De Laurentiis

eye looks thinking

You just need a little perspective. Warmed chocolate can give you that.

Giada De Laurentiis

perspective chocolate giving

My goal is to make Italian food clean and accessible and beautiful and tasty, with simple ingredients that people can find at a local grocery store, because people don't want to go to a gourmet shop in search of items that will sit in their pantry for years after they use just a teaspoon or pinch of them.

Giada De Laurentiis

italian simple beautiful

The holidays stress people out so much. I suggest you keep it simple and try to have as much fun as you can.

Giada De Laurentiis

holiday stress fun

Opportunities present themselves and you have to enjoy the ride. All of us get so worried about the next step that we don't enjoy the moment we're in right now.

Giada De Laurentiis

next-steps opportunity positive

When I was a kid, for my birthday every year, my mother made me pasta bechamel, which is rigatoni with a white cream sauce.

Giada De Laurentiis

mother birthday kids

It's more intimate. Food can connect people in a forever sort of way.

Giada De Laurentiis

forever people way

I have been blessed with a good, fun, and wonderful life, but I've also seen a whole lot of pain.

Giada De Laurentiis

pain blessed fun

I made lemon spaghetti in an early season of 'Everyday Italian,' and to this day people still come up to me and say they love it. It's very, very simple. Basically, you cook the pasta and mix together Parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and zest and pour it over the pasta.

Giada De Laurentiis

oil italian simple

I want my daughter to see a strong woman who goes after what she wants.

Giada De Laurentiis

strong-women daughter want

With my crazy schedule, that often means cutting into my sleep. But yoga gives me the energy and focus I need to get through my day. I'm not saying I don't need a cup of coffee in the afternoon sometimes, but it's the yoga that definitely keeps me centered.

Giada De Laurentiis

coffee crazy yoga

My mother and I, our favorite part of any baked pasta is the top, where the cheese gets crusty.

Giada De Laurentiis

pasta cheese mother

I write everything down. I e-mail the second I think of something, or I write notes in my BlackBerry calendar. I set up reminder alerts on my phone. And I have a notebook by my bedside so I can write down any last-minute ideas.

Giada De Laurentiis

notebook writing thinking

Talking to other people while you're cooking, it doesn't come naturally.

Giada De Laurentiis

cooking talking people

I count on chiropractic sessions to keep my body aligned. Standing for hours can impact my posture, and that can throw the rest of my body out of whack. Acupuncture helps me relax and release stress. I'm also very into massage to help release tension in my back, neck, and shoulders.

Giada De Laurentiis

impact relax stress

As long as you're eating well and moving your body every day, age is just a state of mind

Giada De Laurentiis

eating-well long moving

It helps immerse yourself in what you potentially want to do. Being involved, learning firsthand and observing the craft and absorbing all you can, makes it easier to define what you want. It will also ultimately make you a better Chef. Culinary school, or even a single class, is a great bet too.

Giada De Laurentiis

crafts class school

Any time you do anything different in this life, it's risky. But I've only done things differently, and it's gotten me quite far. If you want to make a splash, you've got to step out on that ledge and jump. And I could land flat on my face and it would be the biggest nightmare of my life. I'm willing to risk it. I want to help change the way male chefs see females. I want to show them that, yes, we're emotional and, yes, sometimes we make irrational decisions, but we're passionate about what we do, and that passion will propel us to the next level.

Giada De Laurentiis

passion emotional decision

People say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Because people do wild and crazy things in Vegas that they probably wouldn't do any other time. Which is why I feel like, if you're gonna open your first restaurant, this might be the place to do it.