Paula Deen Brings Some Savannah Style to the I-Man

Everybody loves Food Network star Paul Deen, and by the end of her interview today with Imus, she had won him over too. Her latest project is a gorgeous coffee table book called Savannah Style, about which the effervescent Deen said, “I’m steppin’ outside the box on this one, baby!”

Though her kitchen is “the heart” of her home, Deen insisted, “The main arteries that shoot off that room are equally important.” And she should know; a former agoraphobic, Deen would go for days without leaving the home, and so this “safe” area took on even more meaning to her.

“It was really rough,” she said about her struggle, which she overcame with help from the serenity prayer: “God, please give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to tell the difference.”

A recovering drug addict and alcoholic, Imus knew it well. What kills people, he said, is that “they can’t tell the difference between what they can control and what they can’t.”

Luckily, Deen could tell the difference, and since turning her life around she’s been on “the most wonderful ride,” a journey that included leaving her husband of 27 years and marrying her neighbor on Georgia’s Wilmington Island. “We’ve been together six years,” she said. “And we’re soul mates.”

She has carried this positive attitude into her restaurant ventures, her television shows, and her previous books, but in Savannah Style, she and co-author Brandon Branch set out to bring readers something else.

“We tried to create a book that we could take people into these beautiful places that when you come to Savannah, you wouldn’t ordinarily see,” she said. “Savannah is made up of all kinds of magical, hidden gardens, and they’re all behind walls, so you can’t see ‘em!”

The book is full of tips on how to bring the charm of Savannah to any home, regardless of location. “And without breaking the bank!” chirped Deen, whose very own affordable furniture line debuted late last year. “If I have something, I want the people who follow me and support me to be to be able to have it too.”

Imus was smitten with his Southern Belle guest, who is notorious for gratuitous recipes that often feature large quantities of butter, oil, lard, or any combination thereof. She protested that more vegetables are probably consumed in the South than anywhere else in the country, but confessed, “We do love our friend chicken!”

It is not, however, something to be consumed daily. “But when you do it, honey, do it right,” said Deen, who has been an I-Fan for years.  “To actually speak to ya is just another wonderful memory for me to have!”

Jeez, lady, calm down.

-Julie Kanfer