Who is the Food Network Addict? He's the guy serving up the latest news and gossip on your favorite celebrity chefs. From Rachael Ray to Ina Garten, Paula Deen to Giada, he's got you covered. Stop by daily and feed your addiction.
In what I'm sure elicited a collective "huh?" and a downpour of tears from Jamie Oliver, the public school system in Savannah, Georgia has partnered with Paula Deen to create a new culinary arts school.
Say bye-bye to you chicken nuggets, kiddies... they don't have enough butter in 'em!
"Officials say the school's curriculum will be based on state standards and the recommendations of Paula Deen, the television celebrity chef whose cookbook doctors named the most artery-clogging of the past decade."
Deen set the record straight with a beautifully worded statement: "There's a dillusion [sic] out there. What people see me having fun with on my show is totally separated from actuality."
I'll believe it when I see it, Miss D!
For all you parents out there, how happy would you be to hear Paula was your kids' new lunch lady?!
Hey y'all! If y'all could get y'all's butts down to my restaurant The Lady & Sons in Savannah and run up about an, oh, forty-million dollar check... I'd really appreciate it. Best dishes!
That's what I imagine Paula Deen might be saying to her fans now that she's being counter sued by Celebrity Chefs Tours LLC for $40 million.
As you may remember, Paula Deen sued Celebrity Chefs Tours LLC back in February for defamation. She had recently canceled a 10-city tour organized by CCT and alleged the company defamed her and her sons' companies over the reason they backed out.
WELL, CCT has since filed a $40 million answer, counterclaims, and third-party complaint against Paula Deen Enterprises and Deen Brothers Enterprises, as well as Paula's hubby Michael Groover and her agent.
CCT's argument includes complaints of an alleged lack of promised publicity on the part of Paula and her sons, concerns "about the language used by Paula Deen on stage, that her show is not 'family-friendly' and the fact that audiences at her previous appearances have been disappointed by the fact that Paula Deen rarely cooks during her performance."
Also, a "sizzle reel" sent to CCT by Paula Deen Enterprises (PDE) for the purposes of marketing the performances was apparently "so full of inappropriate remarks and sexually suggestive materials" that CCT advised PDE's representatives that it would not be able to use that video. According to CCT, Deen's camp never agreed to edit the video. View the entire countersuit document.
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Yikes! Methinks Paula won't want to be giving $40 million away without a fight.
Having seen Paula Deen "perform," I can assure you that, yes, she is very racy and sexually suggestive during the live events I'd attended... but those were all 21 and over events. I have no doubt that Paula performs much differently during the many children events she does every year, but I'm not really sure how she works in this middleground, gray area where both adults and kids are potentially present.
Paula's got a LOT of dick jokes.. and she wants to tell 'em!
So many lawsuits are swirling. Who do you think will win?
Perhaps Michelle Obama's healthy eating plan for America is really working... at least for the President. Recently, while in Savannah, Obama met the Butter Queen Paula Deen (Miss Paula, if yer nasty) and admitted that, although the press and his motorcade enjoyed the culinary comforts of her restaurant The Lady & Sons, the big guy dined elsewhere.
"Let me tell you it was so funny, because he busted himself," Paula said about her conversation with the President. "He said, 'I had the most wonderful lunch today.' And I thought, 'Oh My Gosh we catered lunch for him at Savannah Tech and he's fixing to tell me how wonderful it was.' And I was getting my chest all blown out and then he said, "Yeah we went to a place called Mrs. Wilkes. I said, 'What!'"
Awww... too bad, Paula. Maybe one day you'll make it to the President's lunch table!
At first it wasn't clear why Paula was pulling out from the 10-city tour. She issued an apology on her website, and issued a vague statement saying there were "there were so many issues and logistical problems," but that was about it.
Now, after the tour promoter Celebrity Chefs Tour claimed in an article that the Deens backed out of the tour after receiving "full payment in advance", Paula Deen Enterprises and Deen Brothers Enterprises (uh... of course) have filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging defamation.
Paula says the promoter bounced a $150,000 check and sent her "bogus" wire transfer instructions.
"Although the plaintiffs were entitled under Section 7(d) of the Tour Agreement to terminate the Tour Agreement immediately after the $150,000 deposit went unpaid, they continued to work in good faith with CCT on the planning of the events," the complaint states. "As the first two events, scheduled for Charlotte and Durham on February 20-21, 2010, drew near, plaintiffs sent CCT multiple written demands for both the deposit payment, and the payments owed for upcoming events."
According to the complaint, CCT was to pay the Deens up to $130,000 for each event.
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I guess we'll see who's really at fault soon. I don't imagine Paula would pull out of a tour and generate all this bad publicity intentionally, but something still seems a bit fishy.
Bottom line is: Paula's gotta get paid! She may be in her 60s, but I bet she smells bogus wire transfer instructions from a mile away.
Less than 24 hours after announcing a March 6 appearance in Cleveland, Paula Deencanceled her appearance.
Gettin' cold feet?
"A conflict required a date change, and they intend to reschedule, said a spokeswoman for show producer Promark Productions, which is scheduling nationwide appearances of 'Paula Deen & Family.'"
But since Paula's camp did not reschedule the appearance yet, the venue is considering it a cancellation and has to refund the "small number of tickets" it sold in the short period it was on sale.
Way to mess with people's minds, Paula!
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Ms. Deen should be appearing down in South Beach next week when the 2010 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival kicks off. As some of you have read over the years, I've attended three years in a row. I planned on taking this year off, but with all this snow we've received I've begun to change my mind. We'll see.........
Pauler was in Atlanta this morning, taking part in a "25,000 lbs of protein" donation to Hosea Feed The Hungry & Homeless when an errant ham hit her right in the nose.
In the video, Paula and others are playfully tossing the hams, so I assume this was just an unfortunate accident. Looked like it hurt, though! I hope Paula--and her nose-- are okay.
Those frozen hams and heavy. No tossing turkeys this Thanksgiving, mmmkay?
Tickets for the Guy Fieri Road Show, a 21-stop, 30 day "concert-style cooking tour" featuring Fee-Eddie himself that kicks off tomorrow in Lowell, MA, went on sale in September. According to his website, none of the dates have sold out.
To use one of my hated, ever-present food puns... did Guy bite off more than he can chew?!?!
Onstage with Guy will be L.A.'s DJ Cobra and— alert Sandra Lee — a 6-foot-tall, 25-gallon margarita maker.
"The show is about, if you love food like I love food and you're into the world of food like I'm into the world of food, then why shouldn't there be a food-a-palooza? Why shouldn't there be a food thing? We get together, we bring some other chefs in. We make food, we tell stories about food, we talk about 'Diners Drive-ins and Dives,' we cook food, we make some drinks, we have some laughs, we pull some antics and we just have a food concert."Guy told Pop Eater.
"Besides seeing your favorite person on TV, when do you ever get to see them live, see them real? That's the point. See it live, see it real."
Paula Deentried her hand at a food tour several years ago, albeit on a much smaller scale. And if I remember correctly, it did not sell as well as expected.
Could it be that food fans, even the most devout Guy-lovers (who are they?), still don't want to spend $250 for an "Off tha Hook" package including stage seating and the chance to sample the goods?
Giant food festivals like the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and other smaller, more regional fests in other cities make sense for celebrity chefs to appear at. They're a big draw, but not the only attraction. You have to REALLY like Guy to shell out this kind of money... and if you're only paying for nosebleeds, is it really worth it just to see him "live, see it real" in a giant stadium?
I was disturbed by Paula Deen's recent appearance on The View, and it wasn't just because she tried to "accidentally" flash her granny bits upon first sitting down. (I'm sure that was an accident, Paula, you sly puss.)
Just watch:
Where Paula, at 1:31 says, "Barbara, you remind me of my mother and my Aunt Peggy--classy, classy, so ladylike" and Barbara, without words, simply emotes what appears to be utter disgust with both Paula and the smorgasbord of fat-laden food spread out on the table before them, I knew the segment could not go well.
And then, at 2:13 after not getting a chance to ask her question, Barbara gives up and attempts to take a bite of the thing she's holding, but she looks so weirdly hesitant. It's almost like she's being asked to take a bite of human flesh or something!
Finally Barbara gets her serious question in to the very non-serious Paula. She asks: "This is a cookbook for kids. Obesity is the number one problem for kids today. Everything you have here is enormously fattening. You tell kids to have cheesecake for breakfast... does it bother you that you're adding to it? Not at all?"
Appearing kind of stunned, Paula just tries to rattle off a talking point about teaching children "moderation," all the while shoving more slices of cake down the throats of the other co-hosts.
I admit that Barbara Walters could have let loose a little and should have been a bit more generous to her guest, but come on... how many more times are we going to see this same charade from Paula Deen?
Are the "parsley is a vegetable when you garnish a giant piece of cake with it" jokes ever going to stop being funny?
I think it's kind of sad that a woman who has basically made her fortune by blatantly joking about the very real effects of shoving butter-filled pie after butter-filled pie down your throat (and selling similar, pre-made food products directly on QVC and discount outlets like Walmart), can't seem to branch out from the friend chicken-surrounded corner she's put herself in.
Paula may be able to get away with having everyone fawn over her negligent behavior on her Food Network "talkshow" Paula's Party, but I honestly do not believe people would buy this shtick day after day on a daytime talkshow. Do you?
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I've been incredibly busy with a lot of other things going on in my life lately and haven't had that much time to devote to blogging. I'm sorry, faithful readers! I hope to get back to a more regular posting schedule. It's been a crazy, three years straight of blogging about Food Network and I'm thankful to all who're reading. Have a fun thu/fri/sat/sun!
Like I said originally, I don't think Paula has the kind of MASS appeal that you need to have a successful talk show. I get why a talkshow-lite (a.k.a "Paula's Party") would work on Food Network--it's her crowd, it's cable, it's not big stakes.
So what do you do when the host doesn't have enough appeal? Ummm... hire someone who has an hell of a lot of controversy attached to her!
I twittered about this a few days ago, but now RadarOnline reports that Paula Deen is shooting a talkshow pilot this weekend with Kate Gosselin, star of the TLC... wait, do I even need to explain who this woman is? ;-) Didn't think so.
The show is supposed to be about mothers... talking. A talkshow for mothers. Got it? It's very far out there.
If anyone saw Kate's appearances on The View this past week, I don't think we're in for anything worth watching... if it even sees the light of day.
Paula Deen's line of cast iron pans, sole exclusively on QVC, are being recalled because they can "crack or shatter during heating," reports the New York Times. I guess the "extra handle" Paula put on for "a little extra stability" wasn't enough!
The manufacturer that supplied the pans exclusively to QVC, Meyer Trading Corporation, learned of the problems after consumers complained about cracked pans, said Suzanne Murphy, Vice President for Marketing of the Meyer Corporation, an affiliate of Meyer Trading. Meyer Trading notified the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission at the end of July, she said, and in August QVC sent recall letters to people who had purchased the pans.
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Is it just me, or does Paula have waaaaaaaaaaaay too many products out there? She's got the pans, the hams, the pork roasts, the nuts, the furniture line, the hair extensions, the false teeth, the butter-flavored adult undergarments, the.... well, she might not have some of those... but give her time!
On last night's episode of Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List, Kathy received an invite from Paula Deen to come stay at her home in Savannah. Paula promised to console her over her recent Grammy loss.
But before any consolation could occur, Kathy managed to hit (accidentally) Paula in the face with a switch!
Paula also informed Kathy (and her ever-present entourage) about her house's "turd alert" rule; you gotta yell it out whenever you stumble upon one of her adorable pooch's droppings. Ahhh, beautiful.
Kathy's special recipe of "cake soup" that she prepared for Paula (cupcakes mixed in a Kitchenaid mixer with vanilla ice cream) seemed right up Paula's alley! Look for it in an upcoming ep. of Paula's Best Dishes.
Rule #1,782 when you're a contestant on The Next Food Network Star is: only cook your own recipes... and if you're not cooking your own recipes, don't attribute them to Paula Deen, Eddie!
In case you haven't watched yet, Eddie told the judges in the judging room that his watermelon & feta salad that he cooked for INA GARTEN came from a Paula Deen cookbook. Here's a thought, Eddie: if you want to steal a Paula Deen recipe, steal a good one?! Make her fried chicken. Make her blueberry cobbler. Don't make some watermelon salad with raw onion that Paula probably added because Gordon Elliott told her it was watermelon week and she had to think of something.
Quite a lot of drama this week! I could have taken a little less eye rolling on Eddie's part, and a lot less of Teddy's crying. In fact, I would have been fine if both had gone home.
Paula Deen debuted a "new interactive cooking community" on her website today, along with a little video of behind-the-scenes footage at her restaurants, close ups of a lot of artery clogging food, and interviews with her family (Bobby y'all) and employees... including BRANDON, Paula's "creative director for the magazine, art director for the TV shows, Paula's personal assistant, wardrobe stylist" or as Brandon puts it concisely: "basically Paula's bitch."
Look for Brandon's "hey bitches" at around 2:33.
Brandon was the, well, bitch responsible for telling Paula Deen to wear the pants that ended up falling down at her cooking demo in South Beach this year. Thanks for that precious moment, Brandon!
Yesterday while waiting for my flight out of Chicago, I was so excited to see that SNL's Melanie Hutsell started following me on Twitter. I grew up watching Saturday Night Live and wanted desperately to be on the show (I could have done so much better than Macaulay Culkin when he hosted!).
I kind of missed out on the early days of Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, et al (I caught up on them later) so my early days were during the Chris Farley, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Melanie Hutsell era.
Anyhow, check out this awesome video of Melanie doing her Paula impression. The part at 4:07 where she shows us her "Chocolate Covered Stick of Butter Popsicle" recipe is the best.
Paula Deen was on the Today show this morning, cooking it up with Matt Lauer in the kitchen. She mixed some rice and ham and some other stuff up into something and got about halfway through a skillet coffee cake demo, but it was her declaration that she doesn't like goat cheese because "there was a goat in [her] life" that "wee-weed in his beard and would stink so bad."
So even though Paula Deen has repeatedly refused to comment on the longstanding union issues with pork-peddlers Smithfield, claiming she isn't an expert in union negotiations, she's somehow done become an expert in something else that's causing major trouble for the company she receives a big ole' check from: H1N1, better known as swine flu.
"You can eat all the pork you want. You are not going to catch the flu from eating pork," says Paula.
While this is all fine and dandy (and true -- you can't get the flu from eating pork), it strikes me as odd that Paula would come out now to defend the company when, to use her reasoning, she's not an "expert" in these "kind of issues."
Sales on pork products must be really bad, though. Otherwise I doubt Paula would include this statement in the Smithfield press release:
"'Honey if you want that pork chop, eat it'," Deen said. "In fact, you come down to (my restaurant) the Lady and Sons, and I'll even cook it for ya. And sit down and have one with ya!"
********* Yeahhhhhhh... if anyone sees Paula Deen cooking porkchops herself in that restaurant, you let me know.
Paula Deen is just like us regular folk. I bet a lot of you have several TV shows, your own magazine, a line of products on QVC, a line of candles at Wal-Mart, a seafood line, a nuts line, a furniture line, two restaurants, countless speaking appearances lined up, and the like... right?
But even with all that, Paula must be tightening the collective belt at the Deen household, as she's announced, via Twitter, the rental of her beach house in Tybee Island, Georgia.
For the low, low price of approx. $3,000/week, you can sleep in the very same bed that Paula and her husband Michael Groover have... well, let's just not imagine that.
Take a look: Hey y'all and welcome to my beach house. It's just lovely, and with almost 2100 square feet, it's very spacious. It has lots of windows for that bright, breezy feel that I just love! Of course it has a fully equipted kitchen with a stand-up mixer, blender, toaster and coffee maker. I've stocked the kitchen with dishes and cookware from my personal product line, and y'all know any kitchen of mine isn't complete without cast iron.
For those who can't, or don't want to climb the stairs, there's an elevator with access to every floor. All of the bedrooms have high definition televisions and 2 guest rooms have DVD players. Of course the house is kid friendly, and while y'all can't smoke inside, y'all can smoke on the balconies surrounding the house. There's a fully stocked laundry room with plenty of linens and even an ironing board with iron (just in case y'all need it). All y'all need to bring are your beach towels.
The two car garage houses a grill, but please don't grill in the garage or on the balcony, and two bicycles so y'all can explore the island. Now, after much consideration, I decided on this particular place because of it's location. Nestled on the North end of Tybee Island, it's exactly 4 blocks from a major beach entrance, so y'all can walk or ride the bikes to the beach. At night, you're surrounded by peace and quiet. It's the best of both worlds!
Every rental will receive a custom canvas tote bag filled with goodies I selected myself. From signed cookbooks, to sauces and spices, to Captain Michael's coffee, all goodies are yours to take home with you. I'm also gonna throw in a couple of surprises y'all are just gonna love! So, get away from it all and come stay at my house!
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Not the best time for ole' Paula to be asking for three grand, I would think. The house sounds nice... just a little weird to be hawking it on Twitter.
Maybe Ashton and Demi will take Paula up on the offer?
Paula Deen on her new furniture line that launched over the weekend: "I hope that when people walk in and see it, they'll feel these invisible arms coming around them and pulling them in and saying hey ya'll come on in."
Note to readers: If you ever walk inside any place and feel invisible arms pulling you in, run.
CMT apparently has a version of the old MTV show Cribs. I did not know that. For some reason I never thought that country stars would have homes that are as crazy extravagant as the rappers' "cribs" (stripper poles, Escalades in the front yard, bathrooms the size of a normal home) that made up the original, but maybe I was wrong.
In Paula Deen's appearance, she shows off her Mercedes and Lexus and even recounts a tale of being caught hot tubbing nude. Ahh, Paula. Wouldn't expect anything less from you!
