Carla Hall

I went to L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and I think French cooking is the basis for a lot of classical cuisine, a foundation of a lot of other cuisines. That said, it's not the only way to approach a cooking career.

Casseroles are one-pot-wonders!

I believe that there are no mistakes in the universe, so I think it all happens as it should!

When I first started cooking, I was very much an intuitive cook when it came to taste, but that didn't mean I didn't want to know why some things worked and why others did not. My interest took me to culinary school.

Keeping your space clean is as much a part of the end result as the dish being tasty.

The biggest challenge of being a pastry chef is that, unlike other types of chefs, you can't throw things together at a farmer's market. When you're working with baking powder and a formula, you have to be exact. If not, things can go wrong.

My plans are not to open a restaurant, but what I would like to do is open a kitchen somewhere in D.C. proper and have a chef's table where people can come and taste my food without having to have a catered event.

What I love about 'The Chew' is that we have these celebrities come on, and you get to see them in a different light, cooking or enjoying food, when we usually don't see them in that setting. So it's a lot of fun for their fans to see them be normal people and having that commonality of food.

My biggest fear has always been being 40 and hating my job. I love challenges. I'm not afraid to try anything.

For me, I love the flavors of Southern food, and people usually think of Southern food as heavy and fattening, but it doesn't have to be.

I think of New Yorkers as not taking the time to talk to someone they don't know.

When people around me are getting rattled, I may just close my eyes and do a breathing exercise.