I know when you think about the South, you think about fried foods, but we eat a tremendous amount of vegetables. I have my own garden, so vegetables have always been a big part of my life. I love broccoli. I love fresh beets. It's not all about the fried chicken and the biscuits.

Her parents died before Paula Deen was 23 and an early marriage ended in divorce. You tell them to have chocolate cake and meatloaf for lunch. In 1989 Paula Deen divorced her husband Jimmy Deen to whom Paula Deen had been married since 1965.

Deen resides in Savannah Georgia where Paula Deen owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant with her sons Jamie and Bobby Deen. She has publiPaula Deend fourteen cookbooks.