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I agree that Paula's Party is pretty disgusting. Not only the flirting ,its how she licks her fingers and puts them all over the food and then serves it to someone. I love her other shows, but even on them she will still do the same thing. That is just unsanitary. I would not want to eat at her restaurant for being afraid someone had licked my food before it was served .
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re: vickyi
Has anyone watched the recent Ru Paul episode of Paula's Party? She has lost all self-control. She gropes and fondles "her" until Ru even looks uncomfortable! If you missed it, you should be able to find it soon in the back room of your local video store. Now I have to send my six-year old out of the room to watch late night Food Network. Their executives are shameless.
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Davwud
Mar 23, 2008 04:15 PM
The early shows she did were fine. I found her a bit hard to watch with the "Y'all" after just about everything she says but it's okay. I married a southerner and know all about it.
The new shows she does are just plain bad. She's become a circus act. I understand it's a "Party" and she's just clowning around and having a good time but it's like driving the drunk home after a party. They may be having fun but I'm sure not.DT
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re: Davwud
Cheflambo
Mar 25, 2008 09:54 AM
Its the "yall" at the end of EVERY sentence that makes me lose patience with her. I've lived in the South for over 20 years and NO ONE talks like that around here. They may cook like that -- lots of fat and sugar -- but they don't SOUND like that. And the combination of Paul and Guy on the same show -- oh please...... hand me the remote .....
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Mild Bill
Feb 22, 2008 07:08 PM
Paula's Home Cooking is often calm and intimate--- where she's tolerable and often enjoyable to me... She is about food...
The Party show I can't watch...It's the difference between drunk and sober...
The kids I feel are not about food... It's a $$ thing with them I feel...
But hey...›4 Replies -
I used to like her show in the beginning. She cooked Southern so you had to allow for a higher fat content than, say, Midwest, or East Coast cooking. She had some good, simple weeknight recipes I incorporated after trimming down the fat. However, those Deen Boys are just one brother short of the 3 Stooges and her husband, Mr. Santa Claus, adds no value to the program. A recent episode showed her DEEP FAT FRYING MAC & CHEESE! I also saw her DEEP FAT FRY CHEESECAKE! Is any out there in the USofA really going to eat that? She needs a cardiologist/nutritionist intervention or she won't live to see her 2nd grandchild!
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re: Diane in Bexley
Suzy Q
Feb 22, 2008 09:24 AM
Diane, there are unfortunately a lot of folks out there who would eat like that - visit any county/state fair and count how many stands are selling food of that nature. Fried candy bars, fried strawberries, fried Coke...
Also, just because she cooks a certain way doesn't necessarily mean she eats that way. Her dishes have become synonomous with over the top, rich, decadent, indulgent ingredients - I haven't seen her cook anything that wasn't a heart attack on a plate in years, although when she first started out that wasn't the case. Paula Deen is no longer a person, but a character on a pretty crummy reality show. It's a jarring contrast when you see one of her old shows and compare it to Paula's Party, which is a total trainwreck.
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re: Suzy Q
Suzy, maybe we can appeal to her producer, Gordon Elliott, of Follow Productions to tone her down or do an on camera "intervention". He also produces the Neely show, which unfortunately seems like more of the same and of course Dumb & Dumber (aka the Deen boys). Their web site is http://followproductions.com/ Perhaps if we all band together and start a letter writing campaign, change will ensue (or we can change the channel - LOL!) Maybe we can introduce her to Nathalie Dupree, Sara Moulton & Ina Garten and they could "coach" her. The cackling has got to stop as well!
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re: Diane in Bexley
Suzy Q
Feb 22, 2008 04:34 PM
Actually, I'd love to see a happy medium between Paula and Ina. I've always thought that Ina could use a little more pizzaz, while Paula could tone it down a few clicks. (And try as I might, I cannot STAND watching Sara Moulton - I like many of her recipes, but she just reminds me too much of a kindergarten teacher.)
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re: Suzy Q
TonyO
Feb 22, 2008 05:09 PM
FN has went the same way that MTV has: little or no connection to the original format (cooking / music). I anjoy Iron Chef and think the idea of Throwdown is kind of cool. However, the rest of the "personalities" having morphed into some strange group of people. Must every show have a stupid tagline? For example:
Garbage Guy Fieri : "That's Money"
Emeril: "Another notch"
"Raunchy" Rachel: "Delish"
Sandra "cleavage" Lee: "Tablescape"Enough really is enough
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re: Diane in Bexley
So, what's the big deal? Eating fatty foods fills you up faster, and people who eat full fat versions of food not only get food that's more satisfying, they consume less calories, on average, than people who eat fat-free. Diets, in a word, are overrated. Eat what makes you happy!
You should check out The Obesity Myth and The Gospel of Food. Both very good books about how we're being marketed to, and creating an anti-fat culture that's extremely damaging to our society, and built on a lie.
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Suzy Q
Feb 21, 2008 12:24 PM
I agree with what many others have stated. Old Paula - charming and reminded me of the traditional Southern ladies I knew growing up. New Paula - clearly trying waaaaaaay too hard and has become a character, not a person.
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re: Suzy Q
YES! Thank you someone else for seeing this awful evolution. Every so often FN will show a few of her older shows and I remember how I really fell in love with her back then. But now, her regular show is just unbearable. They play music under her talking- which is extremely distracting and her recipes are clearly not from her family or Bag Lady days anymore. I can no longer watch, BUT if it's an old one, I will watch over and over again. I will not even give the Party show a chance.
She has become way over the top and a borderline mockery now. I miss old Paula. :(
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Paula Deen's evolution is a microcosm of the Food Network itself.
She starts out as a warm and engaging personality making many Southern favorites as interpreted by her restaurant. She was your favorite aunt who always greeted you with a hug and a batch of homemade cookies. Because many of these specialty dishes are high in fat, people took notice.
People thought the high fat thing was fun and irreverent. It looked good. It would probably clog your arteries, but you'd admit to wanting to eat it. Paula took note. FN executives took note. More high fat recipes and more fat added to everything. Paula's head got a little swelled. "You like me. You really like me. I'm gone just go crazy.
Now it's out of control. She is a parody of herself. It's fat for the sake of fat and crazy for the sake of crazy. Paula Deen isn't just Paula Deen anymore. She's another FN-generated personality going along a formula that the FN executives think works.
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I am from GA and live here now. I can't stand to watch Paula Deen. I know nobody like her becuase....shock and suprise.... this is not an authentic southern person. This is a giant ham. Funny that she represents pork products. Her sons offer nothing and are only riding on her coattails. When she's gone, so are they. Aint that right brother? That's right brother! Go Dawwwwwwwwwgs!!!!!! Gimme a break. Paula is constantly trying saying things for shock value for example about her sex life. Nobody wants to think about that and even her wide eyed cotton ball of a husband seems to squirm when this comes up. The only thing we can do is let it run its couse...after all...Emeril Live is just a momory now. Thank you for that!
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re: Ligros
alliedawn_98
Oct 3, 2008 07:04 AM
Having grown up in the Vidalia area, I have to agree with you. A number of the recipes on her home cooking show are like what we had to eat at family reunions, church potlucks, or holidays but for the most part she is over the top. I don't know anyone who uses butter, mayo, etc. like she does and I definitely don't know anyone who says "y'all" that often either.
It's sad that southern cooking has been portrayed in such a way. At times, she reminds me of my mother or my aunts. Other times, I know that those authentic southern women are embarrassed by being associated with someone who portrays themselves in such a way. None of the southern "ladies" I knew would use the innuendos and flirt shamelessly as she does.
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re: dolores
alliedawn_98
Oct 3, 2008 09:51 AM
Goodness, I haven't seen or heard anything about Natalie in years and years. As a child, I'd watch her show on PBS with my parents. She was on Saturday afternoons. She was a messy cook but from what I remember, she was very informative. We'd also watch Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Sometimes we caught "Yan Can Cook"...........awesome watching him chopping! lol Then there was Justin Wilson but he was never a favorite at our house.
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spinach
May 20, 2007 07:04 PM
i love paula, on her regular show...all i can think of with the party show is...when's she gonna lay that egg??? the cackling is gawd awful.
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re: Withnail42
giddyrobin
May 27, 2007 05:27 AM
I agree with all of you. Her show is uncomfortable to watch, I have only been able to stomach it for a couple of minutes. She just walks around like a lap dancer, no respect for herself. Was she always like this behind the camera on her old show? Or did the producers push her into this character?
They say when comics don't have anything funny to say to go for the dirty. Its an easy laugh. She is using it as a crutch to be comedic.
Funny this thread started. I had considered writing a letter to her to tell her to straighten up and respect herself. She doesn't have to stoop so low.
I enjoy Alton Brown and Mario and sometime rave girl, Giadna.And sometimes Michael Chiarrello
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re: giddyrobin
I too agree with y'all! LOL Paula's Party is one big mess.
I love love love Alton B, always have. In fact I made his Baby Back Rib recipe last night. YUM
giddyrobin, you mentioned Michael Chiearrello. I used to always watch his show and make some of his recipes. As he became more popular I found that he became to pretentious.
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I don't watch the show, but have no problem with Paula Deen. I did see one where she was flirting with that Peter Brady guy. It was ridiculous, but let her have her fun. I don't understand why so many Chowhounds feel the need to bash food show hosts. Hey, the tagline for the Food Network is now "More Than Just Cooking." Doesn't that tell us all something?
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The funniest thing is that she used to be afraid to leave her house. She went from being an extreme introvert to a dirty old party lady thanks to the Food Network. I've never really thought her recipes were great, but her old show was fine. This party one is just ridiculous though.
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ArikaDawn
May 20, 2007 01:01 PM
I really like her warm and open personality and humor on Paula's Home Cooking, but she is positively manic on the party show. I think they really encourage her to amp it up and get the audience involved, but her incessant laughing and attempts at provocation really just make me too uncomfortable to watch.
As far as her recipes go, there aren't many on the party show and the ones on Home Cooking are typically too fattening for me to make, but they almost always look yummy.›2 Replies-
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re: Phaedrus
Withnail42
May 20, 2007 07:15 PM
True you can't blame FN for genetics. But you can rightly blame them for giving these two rocket scientists their own show.
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Her Red Potato Salad recipe is fantastic...especially for folks who are looking for an alternative to a lot of mayo. I made it for my family and they just loved it. It's actually one of the few Paula recipes that is more "heart healthier" due to its creative use of olive oil instead of all that mayo.
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re: egreene2003
Sorry, but I don't think there's anything all that creative about using olive oil in potato salad...I think most of Europe and the mediterranean has been doing that roughly since the beginning of time. I can't speak about the recipe, of course, since I have not seen or tasted it.
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re: New_2_718
nofunlatte
Mar 25, 2008 06:55 AM
I agree that Europeans have been using olive (and other) oils for quite a while, but considering that the potato was introduced to Europe (in the 1500s, I think) and is a New World food of Andean and Chilean origin, I rather doubt they've been doing it since the beginning of time!
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re: egreene2003
The only real difference (health-wise) between olive oil and mayo is the addition of eggs, unless you're using miracle whip or some sort of oil alternative in your mayo. In fact, since mayo is aerated teaspoon to teaspoon mayo has fewer calories than the equivalent amount of oil. You can use olive oil in making your mayo making the comparison even less pronounced.
And yes, I do feel that Paula Deen is like a caricature now, with her constant use of y'all and awwwwllll (instead of oil) and 'budder'.
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She's a huge drag no matter what show... though worst on this party show... bring back MARIO!!! at least he's a brilliant chef- what with rachel ray, the diners and dives guy (today he was making pepperoni lasagna on his cooking show- WOW- brilliant twist on a time honored recipe- not...), and those dean boys there is VERY LITTLE real cooking going on on the food channel. iron chef and good eats are the only thing worth watching any more (actually my wife loves Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, i find her snoozy but her foods tend to look delicious). but Paula Deen, not very classy... Julia Child would shudder watching this show...
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re: frankbooth
RaleighRocker
May 19, 2007 05:02 PM
Frank hit it on the head about there being very little cooking on the Food Network. They need to look back and see what make them so successful. I miss Mario as well.
The only show on there I really enjoy, besides Alton B, is "Ace of Cakes, " but that could easily be on A&E and I'd watch it there as well. Also Giadas show is decent, but that travel show is a snore.
All of this is similar to how MTV quit showing music videos.
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re: RaleighRocker
Missi
Feb 27, 2008 09:29 AM
Oh I absolutely LOVE Ace of Cakes. LOL it reminds me of my misspent youth, as it seems the staff takes a toke or two in the back room and then goes out to make the cakes (humor intended) In fact I inquired about purchasing a cake from them for my husband's birthday last year. I knew the cake would be expensive and was prepared for that, however, what I was NOT prepared for was the fact that they do NOT ship cakes. They deliver at a cost of something like $125.00 per hour! Doing the math on delivery time from Maryland to Alabama, in addition to the cost of the cake, made the purchase prohibitive. But I still love to watch the show. Watched it last night when Duff was making his stepmom's cake (who appears to be about the same age as Duff) with his 6 year old half-brother's help. Now THAT was funny!
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Withnail42
May 19, 2007 03:44 PM
I recently saw one of her early shows before she became so big. I had forgotten she used to be half way decent. Now with this ‘party’ show of hers it’s like she’s trying too hard. Like someone previously said she’s become a bad character. She wants to be this big sassy southern mama belle with the witty double entendres. She comes across as more like something from Benny Hill.
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re: Withnail42
Yeah, I've posted about this before, Paula is disgusting on this show. She flirts with the young guys, shoves food in her/their mouths, does things that are, IMO, undignified for her. Seems all of the food is over-the-top, yes, things that you'd never make at home. It's pure carnival, to my mind -
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re: aurora50
Missi
Feb 21, 2008 10:53 AM
First of all let me make it clear that I absolutely LOVE Paula Deen, so if you aren't a fan, just skip this post. Yes she does go overboard during her Party show, flirts, sticks her fingers loaded with chocolate into young, or sometimes not so young, studmuffin's mouths, but, to me, it's a "party" show and she's just having a good time. That's the nature of the show. In contrast her behavior in her Cooking with Paula Deen show, is more sedate that it used to be. It seems in that show she holds some of her lovely southern charm in check and focuses mainly on the cooking. So I guess it's a give and take type thing. Her recent "Vacation with the Deens" show (when they went to some tropical island) was rather like the old Paula, all her lovely southern charm, and natural humor coming out. Again, I'm a big fan of hers, have eaten in her restaurant, made some of her recipes, so this is just my opinion.
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Yes, it's an unfortunate turn of events... She's fun to watch sometimes as a cook, even if it's just marvelling at how guiltlessly she adds butter and fries things. But her party show is a mess -- awkward, silly, recipes you wouldn't foist on your worst enemy...All the things that make her charming suddenly become caricature. I have to admit, though, that I have never been able to watch more than about ten minutes, so this is my impression from those short glimpses...
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re: debbiel
I've hesitated to comment, as I almost feel like she is my neighbor. I grew up in the same part of the south she grew up in, and in fact she is a cousin of my former next-door neighbor.aAnd then there is her husband the barge captain. I come from a long line of southern boat people. So I feel an investment with Ms. Deen, seeing as how we are practically related. Having said that, I really can't watch her. I almost want to do an intervention with her. I think she is truy a caring person, a competent cook,and a fairly accurate representaion of the south, run amuck. But have any of you seen her show with former President Carter and his wife, Rosilynn? Beautiful, touching show.
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