Sorry, I just saw this topic, I didn't know it had been resurrected again. Natal, Paula lost weight eons ago. Old news. Do you work for Google? :) Lukk, Paula is the one who made her health public. She's had the disease for a few years now and she is going to make money from advertising a new medication for diabetes. Since she kept it a secret for so long while cooking high carb and DELICIOUS food, lol, speculation is she only "came out" because of the money. Which rubbed a LOT of people the wrong way, even others on the Food Network. Tina, I did see the interview, she's in denial when she said there's only a "few" people who were mean. Once more she hedged and said how much her family loves her. But I guess I'd do the same. It's not going to die down unless she stops those interviews with Al. I'll still watch her show unless she starts cooking "light." Everybody with a brain knows it's all about moderation. It's like telling an Italian cook with Diabetes to can the pasta. lol I have to wonder though, will the drug company still use her now that she's had such bad publicity, so bad that her own, long-time publicist quit on her because of how Paula handled it? Stay tuned! I still like her though, she just made a questionable choice.

Olychick, you are right, that is the best explanation for how I feel and how I want to reply to Magglepuss. I am taking the liberty of copying and pasting here. By Janus Adams, Emmy Award-winning journalist, historian and producer When news first broke of Paula Deen's indelicate turns of phrase, I ignored it. C'mon. What American hasn't used the word [the N word]? We teach children the word each time Mark Twain's Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are assigned in class. After the initial headlines, there came anecdotes so salacious that she was a no-show on The Today Show, where she'd been scheduled to give a mea culpa and get on with her life. Through it all, my admiration never waned for her along with Martha Stewart and B. Smith, women who'd turned housework into home-making, built empires and given millions of women immense pride in the work they do for their families. Then, I heard Ms. Deen speak of her great-grandfather's having gone into a barn and shot himself because the Civil War had been lost and "he didn't know how to deal with life with no one to help operate his plantation." "There was 30-something people on his books and the next year's census it's like zero," she told a live audience. "He couldn't deal with those kinds of changes." Never did she mention the price paid by Blacks, pre- and post-change, over centuries of enslavement and segregation. She did say that "Black folks were such an integral part of our lives; they were like family." She even called a Black male employee, Hollis Johnson, "black as a board" onstage. "We can't see you standing against that dark board," she joked. To Matt Lauer on The Today Show, she offered her critics a self-serving monologue and a defiant "I is what I is, and I'm not changing!" Hence, this open letter: Dear Ms. Deen, I know that you're in great pain at this time. Your world -- and everything you've worked for -- has been rocked. Much as it was for your great-grandfather, it must seem that life has brought "terrific changes." I cannot, however, sympathize with the plight of your great-grandfathers who, for centuries, victimized mine. I will not mourn the "way of life" lost to those who joined the Ku Klux Klan, lynch mobs and "picnics" where white families spread blankets, shared baskets and "picked [n-word]" to dangle as "strange fruit" from their hanging-trees. You are suffering because you refuse to understand that lives have been lost to the "I is what I is" mentality in which you take such pride. Given a forum, you gave a diatribe. "Someone evil out there saw what I had worked for and they wanted it." Do you understand that millions of hard-working people only want to hear you say: "I said the things I said. I was wrong. I'm willing to learn and to grow?" Given a lifeline, you chose a lie when you said the only time in 30 years you used the word [n-word] was when a Black man had you at gunpoint in a bank robbery. Playing to stereotypes instead of humility, you sought to justify bigotry. Forget worrying that what some say about you isn't true; it's what you're saying about you that's causing outrage. Do you know what it means to me, a dark-skinned person, to watch a man who looks like me publicly humiliated for his skin tone? His family had to see that. What were you thinking? Should you tolerate being "white as puss?" If you won't, should I sneer at you for being politically correct? Your laugh-line was the work denied me for being "dark enough to offend." "Were you 5' 9" and blonde, I would've hired you in a minute," said one network news executive. Your employee's humiliation was my first day of college. A white dorm mother had me stand for inspection -- as if on an auction block -- to give my assigned white roommate's parents the option of having me removed from "their daughter's room." My family paid the same tuition with no such option. And, do you really think a wedding celebrating the heyday of plantation life is a good idea? No, Ms. Deen, this isn't just about the N-word. It's about the picnics of your youth. It's about your lack of remorse -- or compassion -- today. It's about your timing. You misused your platform for self-pity two days after George Zimmerman's defense attorney opened a murder trial in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, dark-skinned teen, with a knock-knock joke. This is about what you're willing to do for yourself, for the millions of people who've believed in you and the thousands whose livelihoods depend on your "brand." And, it's about your caring enough about them to use your pain to move others toward the healing our nation so desperately needs and rightly deserves. Sincerely, Janus Adams

I sent this one yesterday to country bumpkin and it's the one I have used quite a few times. Smoked Sausage Jambalaya So very good, so Louisiana style good. You are not going to believe how easy this dish is to prepare. Serves: 6 Cook Time: 30 Minutes Smithfield Product: Dinner Sausage Ingredients 1/2 pound Smithfield Smoked Sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices 2 1/2 cups water 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce 1 bay leaf 3 tablespoons dried minced onion 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 beef bouillon cubes, crumbled 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup long-grain rice 1/2 to 3/4 pound medium, fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined. Steps In a Dutch oven add water, tomatoes, tomato sauce. Add dry ingredients, smoked sausage and rice. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until shrimp are pink. You do not want to overcook the shrimp. A tip from Paula: Never cook the shrimp before you add it to the jambalaya. You want all of the wonderful shrimp flavors to cook into your jambalaya and cooking it before would make the shrimp overcooked (rubbery). Shrimp cooks so quickly, it is best to add it at the last few minutes.

My husband and I got rid of our TV about 5 years ago and do not regret the decision at all. We got tired of the media tainting, and in many cases, lying about most of what comes out of their mouths. We also got sick and tired of the poor quality of the shows and all the ads. We would rather spend time conversing with each other or just relax reading good books, or having a nice glass of wine on our porch. That said, we don't live in a bubble and do know what is going on around us. I feel this whole Paula Deen thing is a circus and totally ridiculous, as most of these type of things are. I've never watched her shows, or looked at any of her recipes, simply because I am not interested. I'd rather be cooking my own meals or gardening than sitting in front of a T.V. In other words, I consider life too short to care about Paula Deen. We now live in a society where people want to lynch someone on hearsay, which is exactly what the media coverage is causing and doing, or ancient history, yet politicians do not pay much price for some pretty disgusting behavior. The fact is, I'm betting that despite the fact that most people here are caring, non racist people, not one of us can claim to NEVER having made a less than nice remark, calling someone else a name, or done something unkind. And that goes for the people that are the first to complain they are being slurred. Just because someone makes an accusation does not make it fact. I guess this country hasn't grasped the whole innocent till proven guilty thing. I believe we should still have the right in this country to speak and say whatever we want, (but not abuse someone) particularly in the privacy of our homes. If someone says something nasty then that is a reflection on them, and upon hearing such things one can choose to walk away from that person, or can say something to them about it. Life moves on. Saying a nasty thing 30 years ago and being penalized for it now is just ridiculous. Give me a break. There are worse things to deal with these days, and wasting court time on something said in the past is absolutely ridiculous. Food Network has a right to fire anyone they choose to, and Smithfield and Walmart can do business as they wish as well. Frankly, I don't do business with any of the above anyway, and all they are showing is that they don't grasp the concept of innocent till proven guilty either. It does not make me admire them. As far as Paula Deen saying the thing about a "plantation wedding", has it ever crossed anyone's minds that it might have been a compliment rather than a slur? Maybe it was a slur, but maybe it wasn't. I will tell you that "white" people are slurred just as much these days. Why isn't someone getting worked up over that? Choosing to not watch Paula Deen because she is irritating, or you don't like her recipes is fine. However, judging her without really knowing the facts, or having heard in person the context of how something was actually said, is the only way to make a fair judgement. I also question why a former employee would wait so long to make a complaint about Paula Deen. Normal people do something immediately. It is not O.K. to bully, hurt, or discriminate against someone else. Ever. Period. But what someone chooses to say or discuss with a spouse, a family member, or a friend is no one else's business. Maybe Paula Deen isn't a nice person, or she may truly be a wonderful person....I have no way of knowing that as I have never had any contact with her. Either way, it does not belong in court as a court case. I am also wondering what all the demonizing of certain foods is all about in this country. Does everyone really blindly believe everything they are told, just because it was said? I guess so. Real farm butter, lard, grass fed beef, and free range pork, celtic sea salt, and whole milk from organically and locally raised farms is extremely healthy. It's all about feeling satisfied with your food, and therefore naturally practice portion control without thinking about it. My husband and I are "older" and we eat this way after obtaining the book "Nourishing Traditions", and also looking into what the Weston Price Foundation has to offer. We are both fit, healthy, and on NO medications whatsoever. And we eat grass fed raw butter lavishly, particularly on a nice grass fed steak or whole grain bread that I make from grain I grind myself. Consider maybe it's not the food itself causing the problems, but rather what "they" are doing to it before it hits the grocery shelves? I haven't bought a mix or anything processed in years. My husband and I have noticed that on the rare instance we eat out that we feel ill afterwards now. Blaming Paula Deen for obesity is absurd. No one is forcing anyone to eat her food in her restaurant. It is not the restaurant, or even butter that is making these people overweight. It's their whole lifestyle. I usually don't respond to threads like this, but this time it got my dander up a bit. Maybe people should spend more time on important things, like the relationships in their lives and their hobbies, and less time on Paula Deen.