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Faces of Food Network: Paula Deen

by Stephanie Jackson
06/19/2008

Hey Ya’ll! For anyone who watches the Food Network, and a good many more, these words have instantly recognizable as the catchphrase of Southern-style chef Paula Deen.

Two-time Emmy winner Deen is the Savannah-based host of Paula’s Party and Paula’s Home Cooking, two Food Network shows that feature her unique Southern style. Often parodied for her refusal to make anything remotely healthy, Deen is well known for her love of butter, cheese and fried food. She works with her hands whenever possible and her reactions to eating her food are legendary.

Deen learned to cook from her Grandma Paul, who’s name appears in many of Deen’s recipes. In 1997, at age 50, Deen self-published The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cooking and its sequel, both of which featured Deen’s takes on traditional Southern foods. Beginning in 1999, she began making guest appearances on popular Food Network shows like Ready, Set, Cook! She was given her own show in 2002, quickly becoming popular and appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the QVC network and the movie Elizabethtown.

Since then, Deen has crafted a large line of products for her fans, from T-shirts with phrases like “The Lady Can Cook!” and “Ya’ll Come Eat,” eye glasses, sauces, dressings, and cookies, all available on her website.

She has published ten cookbooks, including her most popular, catchphrase-coining Ya’ll Come Eat. Her most recent is Paula Deen Celebrates!, which includes ideas for every occasion, including Elvis’ Birthday. If you can’t wait for her sporadic cookbook releases, she began publishing a bi-monthly magazine called Cooking With Paula Deen in December 2005, which is available at magazine stands everywhere.

Also available online is her 2007 memoir It Ain't All About the Cookin' and her line of Michael's Captain's Choice Coffees, the beans of which are purchased at cooperatives. Paula Deen recipe cards, ornaments, cups and even dried flower arrangements are also available.

Most important of course are the recipes. Every Paula Deen recipe is featured on her website, searchable by ingredients or by the typical “desserts,” “drinks,” etc. categories. Her ten most popular entries (including three of the Food Network’s total top ten) have their own special section. You can even build your own page of favorite recipes.

If you’re a health nut, or just have a weak system, these recipes are not for you. For example, her Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding calls for two dozen donuts and a can of condensed milk. Almost a quarter of the food is fried, a policy Deen embraces.

Not everyone enjoys frying up hush puppies and oysters in their own kitchen, but that’s no reason not to enjoy some down home Deen cooking. Deen owns and operates two restaurants in historic Savannah, The Lady and Sons and Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House. The Lady and Sons began in 1989 as a in-home sandwich delivery business and is now one of the busiest restaurants in Savannah. The Oyster House comes complete with an oyster pit in the middle of the restaurant. Prices are better than Deen’s star status would suggest. Open for lunch and dinner, both menus offer appetizers for as little as $5 with meals never surpassing the $25 mark.

While Deen’s cooking may not be for everyone (or anyone with a cholesterol problem), she’s made a name for herself as everyone’s favorite Southern grandma. Years of struggling to make it as a successful woman and a history of panic attacks, due to social anxiety, have not taken the spice out of this over-the-top, drawling queen of cooking. Whether or not your willing to coat you arteries with her unapologetically unhealthy yet delicious cuisine, just watching one of her shows is likely to brighten up anyone’s day.