Chef Carla Hall Revisits Soul Food In Her New Cookbook Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

Carla Hall on Her New Cookbook and Fave Soul Foods

The celebrity chef also reveals how many pairs of eyeglasses she owns

Courtesy of Carla Hall Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. , a free weekly newsletter from AARP.

Tell us a little about your girlfriends

AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > I’ve always worn what I wanted, and I’ve always liked colors and prints. On The Chew, the stylist helped me find my style; the clothes came in, I got to pick and choose what I wanted to wear. I tend to like mixed prints. And I like to shop in my closet, to go in and put together something new that I’ve never worn before. I think people think they can’t do it, but start with a printed top … stripes, polka dots. Then choose a floral scarf. It’s very little commitment.

And where did the glasses come from

I didn’t always wear my glasses; I wore contacts for a while. On Top Chef, I said, “I’m not going to wear contacts any more — it’s easier to just grab my glasses,” and glasses just became my thing. They’re my face art. I started becoming more deliberate in choosing them, and now I have 50 pairs, not including the ones I can’t use because the prescriptions are out of date. I choose them based on what I’m wearing, and I travel with at least six pairs at any given time. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. , a series of nationwide events intended to shine a spotlight on food insecurity and , and show how volunteer service can make a real difference. You’ve helped pack more than one million lunches for hungry seniors, food pantries and more! Why does this cause speak to you? Not only are these fun volunteer events that bring families together for something very serious, they bring awareness to the issue of seniors and food security. As my mother has been aging and I’m getting older myself, you start to see age in a very different way. I see my mother, how little she starts to eat, even at 78. It becomes very personal. As I got involved with the AARP Foundation and began understanding the statistics and how many seniors are faced with food insecurity … sometimes it can mean the difference between choosing food or medicine. But also, being a chef, it is my business and my passion to feed people. To know that so many people aren’t being fed is a travesty.

How else can people help contribute toward the cause of ending senior hunger

Donate to your local pantry. Check in on your seniors, make sure they’re not isolated, [that they’re] getting groceries and food. When you go out with your good girlfriends — I like to eat with at least four people, because I’m an over-orderer — use [a credit card that donates a portion back to help seniors in need].

In addition to helping pack more than a million lunches you ve traveled to Mozambique with the nonprofit CARE to learn about and raise awareness of the needs for solutions to global hunger and malnutrition When you signed up for Top Chef did you ever think you d one day be able to effect this kind of change

Absolutely not. I am flabbergasted when I look back on the last 10 years. I wouldn’t have done it! I would have been afraid of the success of this, and I would have said, “No, I’m not the one. Pick somebody else.” But I take having this platform, the responsibility of it, very seriously. More on health AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS