What's meant to be will always find a way.

What's meant to be will always find a way.

After 'Real Live Woman,' I wasn't sure I'd ever want to make another record.

And one of the reasons that I wrote the cook books was so that I could be at home more than being on the road.

As long as I can sing and hit the notes, I want to do that.

Before the show, there's about two or two and a half hours of meet and greets with radio stations, promoters, people who I need to see and thank and talk to to make sure they remember me. And then, I get - out of all that day of talking and smiling and shaking hands and getting photos, I get to sing for two hours.

Boiled peanuts are a Southern thing.

Divorce is so common and accepted in America that beating myself up over it may sound ridiculous. But I was raised to believe that divorce wasn't an option; to me, divorce equaled failure. I wasn't able to change that equation until I found myself in the right relationship.

Education was a given, only because of the way I was raised. Truth be told, I thought, at 15 years old, I should go and get a record deal and drop out of school, and my parents would have had none of that. I'm grateful now that my parents were pushing me in that way, because I wasn't mature enough on so many levels to do that.

Every health expert tells you to eat breakfast. I had the mentality, 'I'll save those calories!' But then you are starving, and you overeat.

For me, cooking is very connected to my family and friends.

Garth Fundis is a song guy. He is in it for the right reasons; he's about the music. He doesn't ever try to talk you into recording something that you shouldn't. He gets it.

Get your education, and if you see small opportunities, take them. Each one could be a stepping stone to something bigger.

I absolutely refused to make out with the gorgeous male model.

I almost never make stuff out of cookbooks because they're either too complicated or there's an ingredient in there that I can't find.

I don't interest myself that much.

I don't sign every check anymore, but I have my checks, my balances. I like the people I work with very much, but I check on them.

I don't spend time wondering what might be next; I just focus on trying to savor every day.

I don't think you can name one diet I haven't done.

I finished high school, moved to Nashville for college, and set out to break into the music business. Every night when I called home with news of my experiences, my mom and dad would encourage me to keep taking those small steps.

I get satisfaction out of making a meal for people that I love and having them enjoy it. But there's not really anything in my life that I do that's just for me that feeds my soul like music does.

I get up in the morning. I usually do a radio interview early in the morning. I usually do a book signing, because I'm also a cookbook author, so I'm at some store, at a Walmart or a Williams Sonoma, for three hours, standing up, signing autographs, and taking pictures for three hours.

I grew up in Georgia, so I grew up listening to the Allman Brothers.

I have a lot of friends who, especially in Tennessee, were looking forward to getting married who wanted to wait until it was legal in the state that they live in to get married.

I have adopted an 80/20 rule when it comes to my delicate relationship with food: 80 percent of the time, I make good choices; 20 percent of the time, I let myself splurge a little.

I hope I never have to pick between all these things I get to do.

I like a gooey cookie.

I lost my mom to breast cancer about three years ago, and it has changed me forever.

I love Southern rock; it's because I grew up on it, and no matter where I am, I'll always be a Georgia girl.

I love cookbooks, and I have a ton. I have shelves of cookbooks.

I love potatoes - they're my favorite food.

I never dreamed that they would ask me to do a TV show. I'm the most surprised person of all.

I never want to record something that I'm not proud of just because I think it might be a big hit. There's no positive about that because if you record a song you hate and it's a big hit, then you're singing a song every night that you hate. And if you record a song that you hate and it isn't a hit, then you sold out for no reason.

I really like Miranda Lambert. She has a great voice.

I think about food all the time, so making peace with eating is a daily battle for me. I won't say I've completely figured it out, but I will say that right now, I win that battle more days than I lose it, and I believe that's the key.

I want to sing because I want to sing.

I wanted to be Cher for a long time, but not for the singing. I just thought she was so cool. I wanted her long hair, and I wanted to weigh five pounds.

I was an A student and I liked creative writing.

I was very dramatic - very, like, 'It's never going to happen. My life is over at 16 because I'm not already famous. I'm not going to get my record deal. I'm not going to be able to sing for a living.'

I wrote a book with my mom and my sister for fun. I had no idea it would be a 'New York Times' bestseller.

I'd been doing circuit training and Pilates for years, but I was not consistent with food. I'm not a disciplined person. I was indulging all the time.

I'm 47, You learn life is short and it's not worth doing something if you don't enjoy it.

I'm as surprised as anybody. I never would have thought I'd be here talking about having a cooking show on the Food Network. It wasn't on my list of things, but it's fun, and I'm having a good time.

I'm like everybody: I gain the Christmas 10 or so, and then I try to exercise more and dial it back.

I'm not saying I don't enjoy the days that I'm not eating chocolate cake. But I do particularly like those days when I am eating chocolate cake.

I'm not the singing cookbook lady.

I've patterned myself after my musical heroes.

If you believe in astrology, I'm a Virgo, so I'm very controlling; I'm very neat, and I'm very organized.

If you record a song that you love, then you're going to win.