Paula Deen Quotes

Don't ever give up. You can't let discouragement get you down. You can always find negative people that will try to discourage you from your goals. You can't be discouraged, and you can't let the word "no" stop you.

In my house, the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl Game have always been a grand tradition for ringing in the New Year. To serve as Grand Marshal is a dream come true and I look forward to sharing the celebration with all of the fans and viewers worldwide.

In order to have good fried chicken, you should wash and season the bird the morning you're preparing it for dinner. Don't wait and do it right before you start cooking. Throw it in the refrigerator, seasoned, that morning, and give it a chance to soak up all the salt and pepper and goodness.

I loved my own Grandparents with all my heart. I learned important lessons from them about how to treat people, how to cook and how to work ... they showered us kids with love and left the parenting to Momma and Daddy. That's the beauty of being a grandparent - the hard work belongs to someone else. I guess I never really understood the depth of their love for me until I became a grandmother myself ... it is unlike any other relationship.

I feel like 'embattled' or 'disgraced' will always follow my name. It's like that black football player who recently came out,

Down South, even our vegetables have some pig hidden somewhere in it. A vegetable isn't a vegetable without a little ham hock.

It's amazing how good getting up and moving makes you feel.

I am so blessed. I've been way over-blessed. At 64 years old, I look forward to going to bed every night so I can wake up in the morning and see what blessing is going to come my way that day. Because you never, ever know what God's got in store for you.

You know, nobody can ever cook as good as your mama.

Cooking has always brought me a happiness that I didn't think was available. I just fire up the stove, and things start to fade away.

The thought of eating rabbit and squirrels doesn't appeal to me. And that was on our table quite often as a kid. In your uppity restaurants, they serve a lot of rabbit. But I just can't help but think of Peter. And deer, I can't go there, because of Bambi.

I have my new food line in the works - I think it's over 200 items. Hopefully I can make a difference; it's delicious food that's just so easy. I think it'll help people enjoy their lives ... it's good!

I've got two vices: cigarettes and taters.

Love is like smiling, it never fades and is contagious.

I will never use a substitute for butter. Margarine is one molecule away from eating plastic. If I'm going to eat that type of food, it's going to be the real deal.

I am proud to be a Southerner.

Working with family is probably one of the hardest things in business, but it can also be one of the most rewarding. You have to be very, very careful that you don't overstep the boundaries that you wouldn't with anyone else. Sometimes, we think that the unconditional love they have for us makes overstepping boundaries alright. It's really not. You have to work harder to not damage the family dynamic. That lasts forever.

Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n***ers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties. You know, in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around. Now, that would be a true Southern wedding wouldn't it? But we can't do that because the media would be on me about that,

Southerners have never been afraid of seasoning. It's kind of the other way around; our seasoning is afraid of us.

I figure it's almost like a balance. We're eating these wonderful collard greens and turnip greens which are so medicinally good for you and, OK, so what if it has a little ham hock in it?

There's nothing better than being able to give your children wings so they can soar and fly in the direction they want to go in.

The first thing I did was give up sweet tea because I drank so much. I'd start drinking at lunchtime and wouldn't set it down until I went to bed. When you calculate how much empty calories and how much sugar I was consuming, it was staggering. So I haven't had a glass of sweet tea in three years.

Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener.

Of course, I will continue to share my favorite Southern recipes, just like my mama, grandmother and family shared with me over the years. And now, I'll be adding a little bit of a lighter touch to some of these wonderful dishes.

You never know who you will meet along life's journey. You have to be open to risks, but calculated risks, open to winning.

There was one thing my daddy wouldn't tolerate in any shape, form or fashion, and that was being unkind or rude to somebody. That was just very important to my folks. And as it turns out, that was a legacy that he left me that money can't buy, is how to be able to treat people.

Growing up, I had a very busy social life. It wasn't until I was a sophomore in high school that I asked Mama if I could come into the kitchen and have her teach me how to cook something.

I have a lot of secret uses for sour cream, which is the magic ingredient in my mac and cheese. It's an old-timey, Southern version, and the sour cream makes it that much creamier. Oh, it's so good!

If there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back
if you're out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me. Please. I want to meet you ... I is what I is, and I'm not changing.

Life is too short to wonder where you hid your waffle maker.

I'm more spiritual than I am religious. I don't go to church; I go to the beach.

A balanced diet is a cookie in both hands.

I don't want to spend my life not having good food going into my pie hole. That hole was made for pies.

When it's said and done, the one thing I want to leave on this earth is hope. I have felt hopelessness, and it's a terrible feeling. Hopelessness will destroy you. I want to bring hope to other people.

You can have diabetes and have a piece of cake. You cannot have diabetes and eat a whole cake.

People see me on TV two and three times a day, and see me cooking all these wonderfully Southern, fattening dishes. That's only 30 days out of 365. And it's for entertainment.

I'm making little changes in my life to take care of myself, like putting in a mile or two on my treadmill every day.

Talking about money is garish. It's tacky.

I know I can cook, but the place where I cook ... it's a mess! I'm very disorganized.

You know, not everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine. My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills.

It's just what they are - they're jokes ... most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks ... I can't determine what offends another person.

I believe that ... every one of God's creatures was created equal. I believe that everyone should be treated equal, that's the way I was raised and that's the way I live my life.

If you've got a good idea and you're willing to do whatever it takes to pursue it, keep your head up and eyes open because you don't know when opportunity will come knocking.

I am proud to be a Southerner. I think Southern hospitality is very ... I don't think it's just a term. I think it really exists. You can come to Savannah, and the people are so sweet and so nice.

I is what I is, and I'm not changing,

I am guilty of buying way too many gadgets - way too many! And though I try to keep things nice and orderly, sometimes I get distracted and stick saucepans where the stockpots should go.

I found that when I went from Albany to Savannah, that I needed to put that white rice away, and I needed to turn that into Savannah red rice because they were big into that sausage, tomato-y, bell pepper-y rice mixture.

I'm so glad I'm not a dentist. How many times does someone say, 'Oh, Doc, it felt so good when you were drilling my teeth'? Never. But when you give someone a wonderful cookie, you put a little of yourself in, and you see someone's face light up - that's immediate approval.

Having an audience is almost like plugging me into an electrical outlet. People feed me so much of their energy. We have a great time. It's all about the fellowship.

I was determined to share my positive approach and not let diabetes stand in the way of enjoying my life.

I don't care what the haters and naysayers say. If they make jokes about me, I'll laugh because they'll probably be funny.

We are our brothers keeper. Its going to be up to all of us.