Giada De Laurentiis: No Pasta? Politics Please!

Giada de Laurentiis gets silly with her JJ coasters at the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival last month in Miami, Flor.

The 40-year-old celebrity chef sat down with JustJared.com for an exclusive interview and dished about her favorite band – Kings of Leon, what she’d like to pursue if she wasn’t a chef and what she has cooking for her daughter’s 3rd birthday party!

Click inside for Just Jared’s exclusive interview with Giada…

JJ: How has this weekend at the Food Festival been?
GD: I think it is really fun and I think that is what I love about South Beach! It is kind of like this college party! Because we are all in a very close proxomity with each other and as much as people think we all (the chefs) hang out together all the time – we really do not. We are all really busy – We all live in different places! We travel a lot so we do not get to see each other as much we would like to. So this is a really fun venue and who does not want to get away from the cold in the middle of winter?
JJ: How was it been shooting the Next Food Network Star and your show, Giada at Home?
GD: I was shooting both simultaneously and it was pretty hectic! But I wrapped up At Home about a week ago and I am still doing Star. We wrapped in L.A. and now I am moving to New York with six of the finalists. It has been an unbelievable journey and a roller coaster ride of emotions I must say this season. It’s craziness – But it is really fun!
JJ: So you certainly have a lot of fun with food, but what would you do if you weren’t cooking?
GD: I think I would be in politics somehow! Politics fascinates me and I think that there is so much that needs to be done especially for the kids in this country. And for the way people eat that I might be doing something there.
JJ: Your daughter Jade’s 3rd birthday is coming up soon what do you have planned?
GD: She is so into movies lately and kids’ movies obviously. How to Train Your Dragon is number one on her list so I was thinking of maybe somehow getting a bunch of kids together doing lunch and a movie which is what I used to do when I was a kid. My parents used to do it for us!
JJ: I know you’re a big fan of Kings of Leon – what’s your favorite song?
GD: I love them all – but “Use Somebody” is my favorite!
JJ: What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve done?
GD: Helicopter snowboarding in Canada! Yes, jumping out of a helicopter and snowboarding down a mountain that you know nobody has been on. It is just kind of a wilderness. My husband is an extreme athlete. That is what he loves to do, so in order to keep up with him I kind of have to push the boundaries a little. We have been together 20 years!