Paula Deen

Paula Deen is my hero! She is an outstanding example of how a single mom with two boys can start with a small home-based business and end up the Queen of the Food Network! I have a few of her cookbooks and really love her magazine. My favorite is Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics. The Gooey Butter Cake recipe she serves at the Lady and Sons Restaurant in Savannah and Paula Deen's Buffet in Tunica, Mississippi are in this cookbook.

When I found out that Paula Deen was opening a new place in Tunica, Mississippi and that she would be there I wanted to go! She is so funny she could do stand up comedy, if she ever decided to give up cooking. This appearance included Paula Deen, her husband Michael Groover (who we found out is 9 years younger than Paula...you go girl), Michael's brother (who is a priest) and Paula's brother Bubba. Oh, it was not what we expected at all. We thought it would be Paula cooking and it was Paula telling stories. She had the whole crowd laughing and clapping. At the end of the show she served everyone her Gooey Butter Cake.

Paula Deen on stage in Tunica.

Bubba, Michael, Paula and the Priest

My sister-in-law and her baby brother (my husband) at the front of Paula Deen's buffet. The front of the buffet and store looks like Paula's house in Savannah, Georgia.

This was a trip worth the drive across four states to see Paula Deen. Of course, if not for our daughter who did the driving I probably would not be making this statement. Finally the airlines have started flights from several locations to Tunica....that is how I will go next time!