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Top Chef

Soap Opera Digest: How have your career choices and goals changed since you adopted Kylie nearly three years ago?
Andrea Evans: I know it has affected some career choices I’ve made. There was an offer to do a play that was possibly going to go to Broadway, but I would’ve had to leave PASSIONS and uproot my daughter for a certain amount of time and I didn’t want to do that, not at this young age. You have to make choices. It’s not just me and my husband any more, it’s also my daughter, so I have to decide what’s best for her. Digest: What did you give new mom Liza Huber (Gwen) as a baby gift?
Evans: I knit and crochet, so I made her a baby blanket. The handmade ones are a special thing. I try to do that when I can. Digest: Last summer, you had a break from PASSIONS during the Rome storyline. Besides being a mom, what did you do during that time?

Evans: Leading up to the Rome storyline, I was working quite a bit. I had my column [in Healthy Cooking] and [as an ambassador to the organization], I had City of Hope things to do. So I had three other jobs to take up my time. It was very nice. Digest: You’ve been a celebrity ambassador for City of Hope for six years. How are things going?
Evans: Really well. We’ve raised a lot of money. I’m really proud of that. I think I’ve helped them raised around $20 million. It’s quite an accomplishment.Digest: Are you working on any other projects?
Evans: Right now, I’m trying to put together my own cookbook to go along with my column. I’ve been doing the column now for about seven years; that’s a lot of columns. That’s been a nice sideline thing.Digest: How do you find the time to do everything?
Evans: The column is not so hard. I can take my laptop and watch Kylie and work on it. That’s the good thing about writing. Digest: Do you come up with the recipes for your column on your own?
Evans: They give me assignments and I have to come up with something that fits that assignment. I scour cookbooks to get ideas, try different things, make them my own and develop my own recipe from it. That’s how you develop recipes. There is only one basic way to make a chocolate cake and then you improvise on it and make it your own.Digest: How old were you when you started to cook?

Evans: It’s hard to say because when I was a kid, my favorite toy was the Easy-Bake Oven. I’ve always loved to cook. It’s a big release to me. I’m thrilled that actually I’m now considered an expert. I have my little cooking journalist card. Digest: Does Kylie like to cook?
Evans: She loves to cook. It’s one of her favorite things to do. She loves to make “cake cake.” That’s any kind of cake. She even has a little apron. Digest: Do you have a parenting strategy?
Evans: I think strategies are a waste of time because if you had one, it would just be blown out the window because every child is different. I had a wonderful childhood and wonderful parents that I’m still blessed to have around. If I can give her the kind of environment they gave me, I’d do a great job. Digest: Has Kylie had play dates with any of the other cast members’ kids?

Evans: No, we really haven’t. If we could bring them to work more often, then they would play with each other all the time. But it’s difficult. Digest: What direction do you hope Rebecca takes in 2007?
Evans: I would love to see Rebecca become more powerful. She was a couple of seasons ago and I’d love to see that accessed again; her powerful, wicked side.Digest: Who would you like to see her paired with?
Evans: I’d like to see her paired up with anybody, either with Ben [Masters, Julian] or maybe even somebody new. Digest: Sam? That would really get Ivy!
Evans: I’ve thought about that, too. It would be interesting.Digest: Did you have fun taping the Tom and Katie spoof with Ben?
Evans: It’s a more interesting scene for him. It was all him. I just stood around and tried to act like Katie Holmes, which there was not much to latch on to. She seems like a very pretty, sweet girl, but that’s hard to make comedic. So it was all on Ben, and I think he did a great job.Digest: During the budget cuts, were you nervous that you would lose your job?
Evans: Well, I would always hope not, but if that were to happen, I think I have some other places I could go.

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