With her trademark spiky blond hair and pumped-up personality, Anne Burrell has worked at some of the top restaurants in New York, studied the culinary landscape and traditions of Italy, and battled alongside Mario Batali as his sous chef on Food Network’s Iron Chef America. Anne makes restaurant dishes accessible and reveals concise, easy-to-master techniques for the at-home cook on her Food Network series, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. Anne also co-hosts Worst Cooks in America, and in 2011 she also starred in her own right on Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs.

Most recently, Anne launched her latest program, Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell, which involves recruiting chefs of varying backgrounds and skill sets for current executive chef positions in fine restaurants throughout the nation. In addition, she is currently writing her second cookbook scheduled for release in 2013. Anne’s first cookbook, Cook Like a Rock Star (Clarkson Potter, 2011), which gives home cooks the confidence and support to be rock stars in their own kitchens, earned a place on the New York Times Bestseller List.

As Halloween approaches, The Recipe Club has been thinking not only of candy and sweets, but also of the many things that terrify us in everyday life. We’ve partnered with our sister sites at Books for Better Living, Read It Forward, CrafterNews, and Crown, to ask our authors: What five things terrify you most? First up is Anne Burrell.

1. Rats
I am deathly scared of them. If I see one, I have to cross the street. They have a paralyzing effect on me!

2. Failure
It terrifies me that everything that I have worked so hard for could go away. If that happened I would start over.

3. Drowning Under Ice
The thought of being stuck under ice and not being able to make your way out from under it and still being able to see above, is terrifying.

4. My skirt getting caught in my stockings
This would be horrifying walking out in public……no explanation needed there!

5. Not being taken seriously
Having people think that I’m a joke, professionally speaking. Nobody takes me seriously personally!