My grandpa and I loved Emeril. It was all he wanted to watch when he was in the hospital dying. When I met Emeril later, it was so emotional.

When you're going to meet your man's mom and dad, it's always nice to bring them something homemade and from the heart.

I'm asleep at midnight. I go to bed really early, so I don't have a midnight snack.

To me, nothing says summer like enjoying a lobster roll at my favorite spots in the Hamptons.

I really thought that Billy Joel had two hits. I thought it was 'Uptown Girl' and 'Piano Man,' and that was basically it.

A lot of people are kind of snobby about garlic powder and onion powder. I happen to love them.

If I really don't feel like cooking, I have a bowl of lentil pasta with Rao's jarred sauce.

My Breville juicer is one of my can't-live-without appliances in the kitchen.

When I work out at home, I don't have mirrors, and I really like it. When I'm not working out in front of a mirror, I don't have those conversations with myself that I have in the gym, when my head starts drifting in all those dark spots.

I pretty much grew up with my grandma. She would pull a stool over to the kitchen, and I would climb up at the kitchen counter, and I'd help her make biscuits.

I grew up in a small town in West Virginia, and most of my family lived in our neighborhood or very close by. I had my grandparents down the street, my great-grandmother next door, and my great-aunt and great-uncle one door down.

I use coconut oil in my cooking and as a beauty product. It's great for sauteing and baking and makes the best moisturizer and hair treatment. I'm coconut-oil obsessed!

In the winter, I always buy frozen organic berries instead of fresh. They are frozen as soon as they're harvested, so they actually have a higher vitamin content than fresh this time of year.

I always think of my grandfather as the original foodie. He was the slowest eater. He savored everything. Even when everyone was gone from the table, he was still eating.

My favorite southern dish has to be fried chicken. I love to cook it. I love to have it in the summer.

By the end of the winter, I'm always battling too-tight pants. My solution: Eat lean protein, good grains, and veggies.

I come from a family of great cooks and big eaters.

It's hard when you get into an Instagram hole, because we live in such a Facetuned world. You see all these girls are in their bathing suits, and it's hard not to think, 'I wish I looked like that.' But you can only be your own personal best.

I have always wanted to write a novel, and I tried many times but could never find the right story. One day, I was walking on the beach, and the idea for 'Groundswell' hit me. I went into the house and started writing and never stopped.

My grandmother Dora taught me how to cook. She's from a small town in West Virginia called Milton. I would pull a stool up to her kitchen counter after school. My love of food started there.

I'm all or nothing. I'm either having fresh vegetables, or I'm eating fried fish.

Working on my first novel, 'Groundswell' - about a woman recovering from a bad breakup who falls in love with surfing - I spent a month south of the border. And when I wasn't writing or surfing, I was eating. A lot.

During the summer, I used to hate when my mom would call me inside to eat - it was such a drag to leave all the fun.

For my Mai Tai recipe, I juice fresh orange, pineapple, and lime. It's like vacation in a glass!