Hey, Paula!

Paula Deen's cooking show was my first experience in watching a specific program on a cable channel.  I used to tune in to her program when my baby grand daughter was taking her nap.  I liked the way Paula's smiling face always appeared above those pots and pans that were way too full of butter and oil.  I admired her homey kitchen and was especially intrigued when she was joined by her family members. Those themed meals of hers where everybody went outside to the patio to barbecue pork and heat up baked beans to serve along with fruit salad bowls made up as if to decorate magazine covers were scenes right out of the movie in my head about cooking and eating. I even bought one of her cookbooks so I could have some Paula Deen cheer whenever I wanted to pretend in my own kitchen.

Uh-oh, Paula. Whether you said anything or not and whether it was recently or long ago, it's not a good idea to say bad things about the help.  We don't all understand Life in the South.  But we do understand that we live in a day and age when we all need to show respect for one another.  It's probably too much that all your endorsements, future book sales, appearances and cooking shows are being compromised. But take heart, girl; you can re-figure your empire and get back to earning millions.  It will take some time but that's a commodity that you can afford right now.

I'd like to think that I can have more TV fun with Paula.  I want to hear her talk about living with diabetes and see how she continues to incorporate its management into her cooking style.  I'd like to see those fancy hairdos again and listen to the drawly way she talks about how to put that Southern touch on everything she prepares in the kitchen.  And I sure want to see Michael visit the kitchen itself which has its own fascination.  Refrigerator drawers?  Built in deep fat fryers? Burners, burners and more burners on the stove? I miss the cute dog that runs around and I miss watching those bejeweled fingers dipping various kinds of fish and meat into gooey batter.  Make your atonement and come back, Paula, but take as much care with what comes out of your mouth as you do with what comes out of your kitchen.