Jennifer Steinhauer on Birthday Cakes

"While there is an argument to be made for the aesthetic pleasures of a bakery cake — all those gorgeous piped roses and fondant images of Hello Kitty so perfect that they are probably copyright infringement — there is really nothing better than a homemade cake. Even if the layers are lopsided, the frosting a bit gritty or thickly plastered to camouflage baking sins, homemade cakes are generally moister, denser and dreamier than their bakery brethren." — Jennifer Steinhauer, NY Times Magazine 3/19/06

Walter Page on English Vegetables

"The English have only three vegetables — and two of them are cabbage." — Walter Page

James Beard on Vegetables

"No vegetable exists which is not better slightly undercooked." — James Beard

Love & Eggs

"Love and eggs are best when they are fresh." — Russian Proverb

Anonymous on Lemons

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." — Anonymous

Reyniere on the kitchen

"The kitchen is a country in which there are always new discoveries to be made." — Grimod de la Reyniere, Almanach des Gourmands

Brillat-Savarin on Potatoes

"I appreciate the potato only as a protection against famine, except for that I know of nothing more eminently tasteless." — Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, La Physiologie du Gout

Andre Simon on Cookery

"Cookery is a wholly unselfish art: as 'art for art's sake' it is unthinkable. A man may sing in his bath every morning without the least encouragement, but no cook can cook just for his or her own sake in a like manner. All good cooks, like all great artists, must have an audience worth cooking for." — Andre Simon, A Wine and Food Bedside Book

Clare Connery on Irish Food

"Although Ireland has never been noted for having a sophisticated eating tradition at any stage of its history, it nonetheless has an enviable reputation for good wholesome dishes made from a wide range of unadulterated, indigenous products, most of which still off the finest quality to be found in Europe." — Clare Connery, In An Irish Country Kitchen

Lewis Carroll on Soup

"Beautiful soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!"
— Lewis Carroll

Shakespeare on Potatoes

"Let the sky rain potatoes." — Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

Marilyn Kaytor on Condiments

"Condiments are like old friends — highly thought of, but often taken for granted." — Marilyn Kaytor, Condiments:the Tastemakers

Alton Brown on Butter

"With a melting point just below the body temperature of a (normal) human, butter melts smoothly and slowly in the mouth, thus creating a rich mouthfeel that can't be matched by any other fat." — Alton Brown, I'm Just Here for More Food

Julia Child on Cooking

"Until I got into cooking, I was never really interested in anything." — Julia Child