Lady - Paula Deens kitchen classics: the Lady & Sons Savannah country cookbook and the Lady & Sons, too!

Compilation copyright 2005 by Random House, Inc.
Foreword copyright 2005 by Paula H. Deen
Introduction copyright 1998 by John Berendt The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook copyright 1997, 1998 by Paula H. Deen
The Lady & Sons, Too! copyright 2000 by Paula H. Deen All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. R ANDOM H OUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

The two works contained in this book were published individually by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook was previously published under the title: Favorite Recipes of the Lady & Her Friends. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Deen, Paula H.
Paula Deens kitchen classics : The lady & sons Savannah country cookbook and The lady & sons, too! / introduction by John Berendt; new foreword by Paula Deen.
p. cm.
Includes index.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52966-4
1. Cookery, AmericanSouthern style. 2.

CookeryGeorgiaSavannah. 3. Lady & Sons (Restaurant). I. Deen, Paula H. 1998. II. II.

Deen, Paula H. Lady & sons too! 2000. III. Title.
TX715.2.S68D48 2005
641.5975dc22 2005048958 www.atrandom.com Book design by Victoria Wong v3.1 BOOKS BY PAULA DEEN The Lady & Sons Savannah Country CookbookThe Lady & Sons, Too!The Lady & Sons Just DessertsPaula Deen & Friends: Living It Up, Southern Style

Paula and Michael with friends and family A marriage can be a beautiful thing, yall, especially when the match is just perfect, and I am thrilled to share with you what I think are two perfect marriages. In the latter part of 2004, I was surprised by a phone call from my friends at Random House that made me squeal with delight! They wanted to combine The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons, Too! into one comprehensive, easy-to-use hardcover volume. Talk about a perfect marriage! I couldnt believe that these two fabulous books were gonna become one.

Never again would I have to rack my brain to try and remember which recipe is in which book. The wonderful kicker to this new edition is they wanted me to share with yall another perfect match. Oh, my goodness, where to begin? My mind automatically flies back to that fateful day in the summer of 2000 when my dogs, Otis and Sam, decided to run away. Little did I know that what they were running to would change the rest of my life. For those who have already heard my story I will try to make it brief, but I feel compelled to tell it here for those who have not. For three years prior to that fateful day, my business had been thriving but my personal life was empty and at a standstill.

I needed help! I was living downtown in Savannah, Georgia, and when I wasnt working I was as miserable as any person could be. It may sound corny, but one day it dawned on me that I was going to have to turn this one over to God. Bear in mind that I had not one activity outside of work. I had no way to meet anybody. So as I lay in bed at night saying my prayers, I added one last sentence: Lord, please send me a neighbor. One day I got up and had a wild hair that I wanted to live on the water.

I drove out to Wilmington Island and bought the first waterfront place that I saw. I loaded up the truck and we moved to Bev-er-lee Wilmington Island, that is. The animals and I all settled in to our wonderful new life on the water. Unfortunately, I couldnt help but notice that all my neighbors were married. I continued praying for a neighbor. Before long, I was on hiatus from the restaurant life, devoting all of my time to the writing of my next cookbook.

It was just great working from my new home. I think the dogs especially loved having me around. We had a regular little routine. I sat at the computer working, and Sam and Otis would come over and put their paws on my leg to let me know they needed to go outside. Our pattern never changed. The gated community we lived in was patterned after the row houses of downtown Savannah; we even had our own square with a beautiful fountain in the center.

I always took Otis and Sam out the back door on the water side and then we always took a right and went into the square to do our business. Until that fateful day. Instead of a right, they took a left, pausing long enough to take one look back at me, and then all of a sudden they started running like the very devil himself was chasing them. There I was, running behind them, hollering, Stop! Stop please, boys! But by then nothing was going to stop them, so I continued to run after them. We shimmied around the big wall around our compound, trying not to fall into Turners Creek. As we made our way around the wall, the boys spotted their object of interest: a big, imposing man who resembled Ernest Hemingway.

As I continued to follow the dogs, I could see that Ernest was propped on his fence, talking on his cell phone. And do I have to tell yall that Sam and Otis immediately started pooping all over his yard! After gushing apologies, and a couple lines of polite conversation, I scooped Sam and Otis up, and back home we went. I have to be perfectly honest, the thought did run through my head, Could this be my neighbor? Nah! Well, guess what happened two weeks later? The dogs did it again. And can you believe it, it was like Ernest had not moved from that position in two weeks. It was just like he was waiting there for us. So this time I wasnt nearly as intimidated; after all, I had made it out alive the first time.

I soon found out that Ernest was really Michael Groover, a docking pilot who had lived in this spot his whole life. Those were really good signsmaybe he wasnt an ax murderer! With that in mind, I agreed to a date with him for the next day, and a strange feeling inside of me said that life would never be the same again. In the next three years my life went from unhealthy and unbalanced, with nothing but work and solitude, to healthy and balanced, with work, play, and a fabulous companion. On Christmas morning in 2002, Michael took my breath away with the most romantic proposal a girl could ever hope for. Along with this proposal came the most beautiful engagement ring I had ever seen. I realized then that Michael had made a commitment to be committed.

To me that was the most important thing, and so we settled nicely into engagement life. Days turned into months, still with no talk of a date. Our life together continued to be easy and comfortable. And then, all of a sudden, one phone call changed everything. I was forced to set a date. Not by Michael but, believe it or not, by Food Network.

They wanted to be with us and capture our special day forever on film. The executives at Food Network wanted to present a one-hour special titled Paula Deens Wedding. And they wanted it to air in June 2004! Before I could give them an answer, my first thoughts were naturally of Michael. If he were to have any reservations at all, then it would be a no-go. When I approached him with the idea, he smiled and said, Well, yeah, Ive never done anything like that before. I just squealed and threw my arms around him.