Here is how it all started: About two weeks ago, I was perusing through the weekly Publix advertisement flyer from the office copy of the AJC and just happened to see Paula’s picture. One of the many, many Publix stores in the Atlanta area was having a cooking class on May 29th with special guest Paula Deen. When I called about tickets, they were sold out at $150 each! And they could not even guarantee that she would actually be cooking during the class. But, they mentioned the Book Signing from 5:30 to 6:30 before the class. I was so excited! I called Hubby and made his co-worker interrupt his meeting just to tell him that I was going to meet THE Woman!
So today was the day and I got my friend, J-San to go with me. Please note that J-San is NOT from the South (Lord please forgive her) and when I told her about the Book Signing, she had the audacity to respond with, “who’s Paula Deen?” (Lord, please double forgive her). So I told her that she was now definitely going to meet her…I mean every Northerner should be graced with the presence of the Goddess of Southern Cooking, right? What an opportunity! Anyhoo, we arrived at 4:30 and the line had only 25-30 folks in it. The Publix folks were so nice and kept bringing around trays of fresh cut-up pineapple and chicken nuggets while we waited in line. It was heart-warming to see a group of ladies from an assisted living home there to meet her- they all had on matching hot pink T-shirts that stated, “The Veranda Loves Paula Deen”. I took their picture for them all together in line. So cute! And then it was our turn… I have to tell you that Paula has the biggest blue eyes and when she smiles it makes you feel so happy. I told her I was a huge fan and that Hubby was taking me to her restaurant in Savannah for our 2-year anniversary in September. I informed her that I wanted to try the Shrimp-n-Grits because even though I was from Pine Mountain, GA, I had never eaten any. She was so surprised! She was telling me about all the different ways they liked their grits with fish or roe… I then told her that we didn’t mix seafood with breakfast where I grew up. And besides, she was much closer to the coast than Pine Mountain…. We are next to Alabama and the closest thing we have is bass, bream or catfish! She just laughed and laughed at that! She and her Hubby both autographed my cookbook and were so pleasant to talk to… J-San just kept snapping pics. I finally walked away with Paula telling me that she looked forward to seeing us in September… What a great day for me!
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