Jeff Gordon is pretty much "Mr. NASCAR". Across 23 seasons driving in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he's won everything there is to win, and broken records at every turn. He has more Cup wins in NASCAR's modern era than any other driver and has a NASCAR record of achieving at least one pole position in every season he drove in.
Gordon is still connected to the sport to this day, and even came out of retirement as recently as 2016 as an emergency substitute for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 2016 season. He lends his years of experience and expertise to Hendrick Motorsports - the team he drove for his entire career - as an executive, and he's also an announcer for FOX NASCAR. As much of $140m of his $200m fortune is believed to have come from prize money, and such is his knowledge of what makes a great race track that he was asked to design the Canadian Motor Speedway.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.