I believe anything can happen.

People have preconceptions about women of a certain age.

Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity Ive met as a result of Downton Abbey.

I can do basics, but I'm not a proper cook. I can do a roast. I can stick a chicken in the oven with vegetables.

The first meal my husband ever made me was a chicken curry. I have never tasted anything so delicious in my life.

I get invited to a lot more glamorous parties since Ive been in Downton Abbey, which has made me much more fashion conscious.

I did an O-level in domestic science when I was at school, but on the day of the practical exam, it was a cookery nightmare.

Ive been to the White House and had Hilary Clinton push through the crowd to come and meet me. Chelsea Clinton, too.

I always admire people who have passion.

As an actor, you never know where the works going to come, so you have to be flexible about it.

Ive not cooked Christmas dinner since 1982.

I miss those kisses and the way I used to sleep in your warm hug. I miss the way you made me eat breakfasts and I miss the way you made me laugh. I miss you..

In the past, I have bargained myself away, believing that price was more important than cost, quality, reliability, or reputation. In the past, I was clearly wrong.

It's 4:58 on Friday afternoon. Do you know where your margarita is?

It seems very safe to me to be surrounded by green growing things and water.

To experience life you have to kind of face a lot of fears.

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.

You can do almost anything with soup stock, it's like a strong foundation. When you have the right foundation, everything tastes good.

clothes, after all, are a form of self-expression.

They got how many trillions of dollars in gold and silver and jewelry and art and real estate and stained glass and they're passing the basket on Sunday so they can get the tomato farmers' donation?

It is not the critic who counts...The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.