“I never really cook from recipes. But the worst is when something turns out great and I can’t figure out how to make it again!”

When I moved to New York, I started switching fragrances. Between different seasons I would change fragrance, or if I was going out for a big fancy night versus going out in the daytime. But I also found that I was changing and growing so much.

People gossip. People are insecure, so they talk about other people so that they won’t be talked about.

I always love somebody who makes me laugh, who’s fun to be with.

Family is at the heart of everything I do.

I just want Beyonce to be the mother of my children.

I’ve never been a big fan of gossip. Being a victim of it, I knew how much it hurt.

I’m always the person who’s taking everyone else’s kid and putting them on my hip, so I’ve kinda always been a mama.

I went straight from high school to ‘Gossip Girl,’ and both were very structured, scheduled environments, so I never had freedom to explore and carve my own path.

I’m so used to being within 10 minutes of my family.

What do you do with your best friend? You do nothing.

I feel shy when people are fussing on me.

If I wasn’t an actress, I’d be a chef. I’d love to open a restaurant.

I didn’t have a boyfriend until I was 17. There were boys at school that I would find out later had a crush on me but I was too shy to talk to them.

I thought it was a fun thing to do, but we stepped outside my brother’s school and he was mortified!

I take a cooking class everywhere I travel. I find it’s the best way to get to know a culture.

My dream as a passionate cook has been to go to Le Cordon Bleu. Never could my most incredible dream have lived up to the experience.

Our mom cooks well, and we cook poorly. We try.

Mum doesn’t like it when I mention that Dad’s a better cook than her. He was born in Spain and spent eight years in Portugal and is exceptional at lots of cuisines.

It’s too much of a drinking culture, everything tastes better with a drink. Like, watch TV: glass of wine. Cooking dinner: glass of champagne. White wine vinegar hasn’t got white wine in it. Has it?

I think an artist is anybody who does something well, like if you cook well.

I cook. I go to farmers markets in London and cook really good sort of organic foods.

Cooking is an act of love, a gift, a way of sharing with others the little secrets — ‘piccoli segreti’ — that are simmering on the burners.

The chef that grew up with the grandma who cooks tends to always beat the chef that went to the culinary institute. It’s in the blood.

Cook the truth in charity until it tastes sweet.