Marilyn Monroe on Matzo

"Isn't there any other part of the matzo you can eat?"
— Marilyn Monroe, on being served matzo-ball soup three days in a row.

Marion Cunningham on Home Cooking

"Home cooking is a catalyst that brings people together. We are losing the daily ritual of sitting down around the table (without the intrusion of television), of having the opportunity to interact, to share our experiences and concerns, to listen to others. Home kitchens, despite the increase in designer appliances and cabinetry, are mostly quiet and empty today. Strangers are preparing much of our food. And our supermarkets, which once considered restaurants and fast-food places the enemy, have joined the trend by enlarging their delis and offering ready-to-eat food they call "home-replacement meals." But bringing ready-cooked meals home is not the same as cooking in your own kitchen, where you are in control of the ingredients you use, where you fill the house with good cooking smells, and where you all share in a single dish, taking a helping and passing the platter on to your neighbor. Nothing can replace that." — Marion Cunningham, from the introduction to Lost Recipes.

Edward Espe Brown on Zen Cooking

Zen cooking means:

cooking as a personal spiritual act

personally selecting foods

recycling leftovers and waste

respect for and hospitality toward guests

an absolutely clean kitchen

use of the freshest seasonal ingredients

the ability to cook anywhere in the world with whatever is on hand

being equally capable of cooking frugally and extravagantly

using food to enhance health

— Edward Espe Brown, Preface to Zen and the Art of Modern Eastern Cooking by Deng Ming-Dao