Anyone who’s ever seen Deen work a live stage knows her appearance will combine her infectious personality and occasionally self-deprecating sense of humor with a healthy dose of perspective and inspiration.
The new year was barely a few weeks old when its first major celebrity scandal erupted.
Actually, the flap began in the waning days of 2011, when TV chef Anthony Bourdain, the foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, hard-drinking former drug addict who hosted the Travel Channel series No Reservations, proclaimed fellow TV cook Paula Deen “the worst, most dangerous person to America” who is “proud of the fact that her food is [f---ing] bad for you.”
Bourdain, who has made no secret of his disdain for other television chefs and food personalities, said Deen wasn’t doing her audiences any favors by touting recipes loaded with butter and sugar.
The battle played itself out on network news programs like The Today Show and didn’t simmer down until Deen — who once created a hamburger with bacon, cheese and an egg sandwiched it between a pair of Krispy Kreme donuts — confirmed a rumor that had been circulating throughout the foodie community.
Three years earlier, she’d been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
Deen survived Bourdain’s withering attack and said her diabetes is under control. That’s one of the messages she’ll share with her fans during “An Evening with Paula Deen” Saturday (Dec. 8) at the Tropicana in Atlantic City.
Anyone who’s ever seen Deen work a live stage knows her appearance will combine her infectious personality and occasionally self-deprecating sense of humor with a healthy dose of perspective and inspiration.
“It’s all about moderation,” Deen said during a July interview at the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival. “I’m on a wonderful medication, which has gotten me so under control [and] it’s given me the opportunity to help and encourage others and cheers others up.”
A diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes is “not the end of the world,” she added. “But you do have to help yourself,” she cautioned, and she’s practicing what she preaches. At the time of the interview, Deen had lost 32 pounds and was trying to shed more. Among the many risks and contributing factors, Type 2 diabetes has been linked to obesity.
“Type 2 diabetes can ravage your organs, as we all know, but it can also be controlled,” she says. “And so many people who are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and are under the care of their doctor [have gotten] off their medicine.”
Although Deen still has some recipes that include copious amounts of sugar and saturated fat, she’s also adapted other dishes to be more health conscious, particularly for those suffering from or at risk for diabetes.
And while she’s cut back on the butter in some of her meals, one compromise she won’t make is switching to margarine, which she says is “one molecule away from eating plastic.”
Culinary superstars are all aboard for annual Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival July 26-29
After announcing the dates, July 26-29, Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City has announced a few of the celebrity chef participants for the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival, namely Anne Burrell, Paula Deen, Robert Irvine, Buddy Valastro and Andrew Zimmern, with further announcements to come.
Although the numbers are still being added up, it appears the second Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival was a success that met or even exceeded expectations of the organizers.
Paula Deen’s big event at the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival, a party under a tent outdoors at Bally’s Dennis Courtyard, delivered a great combination of terrific food and delightful stories from the “Queen of Southern Cuisine.”
Atlantic City will be the center of the culinary world when the Food Network Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival, hosted by Harrah’s Entertainment, begins with the official kick-off party at the Chelsea Hotel Thursday, July 29. Not only is this an amazing event for people who love to eat great food and mingle with culinary superstars, it also raises money for the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure Central & South Jersey.
The Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival was already a star-studded event with Guy Fieri, Ted Allen, Pat and Gina Neely, Anne Burrell, Sandra Lee and Alex Guarnaschelli, but this week we learned that Paula Deen is joining the party.
Madonna. Seinfeld. Kelly Pavlik vs. Bernard Hopkins. Duran Duran. These are a few of the major entertainment events being sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment through the company's four Atlantic City ...
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Her personality is as down-home and real as her southern cooking, and she's one of the most popular personalities on the TV Food Network. But never make the mistake of calling Paula Deen a chef. "O...
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