Deen - Christmas with Paula Deen

I ts so nice that the people in my life dont change too much; if youve read my other books, youll recognize a lot of these names! So thank you, more than I could ever say:

First, to my husband, Michael Groover, who proposed to me on Christmas Day and gave me the best present I could have ever asked forhimself.

To my boys, Bobby and Jamie; my daughter-in-law, Brooke, and grandbaby, Jack; the Groover kids, Anthony and Michelle, and Michelles husband, Daniel Reed; my baby brother, Bubba, and his new bride, Dawn; my wonderful niece, Corrie, and nephew, Jay, and Dawns sons, IChristmas be without yain and Trevor; and my beloved Aunt Peggy Ort. What would Christmas be without yall?

To my parents, Corrie and Earl Hiers, and my Grandparents Hiers and Grandparents Paul. You taught me the real meaning of Christmas.

To my wonderful staff at The Lady & Sons, especially Dora Charles, whos been with me since the beginning; Rance Jackson, who keeps the kitchen running; my general manager, Dustin Walls; and executive kitchen manager, Scott Hopke. Youre my family, too.

To Theresa Luckey and Brandon Branch, my left and right hands.

To Martha Nesbit, my collaborator on Paula Deen & Friends and Paula Deen Celebrates!, and to Sherry Suib Cohen, who collaborated on my memoir.

To Phyllis Hoffman, who publishes my beautiful magazine, Cooking with Paula Deen, and to her wonderful staff.

To my manager, Barry Weiner; my literary agent, Janis Donnaud; Gordon Elliott, executive producer of my television shows; and Nancy Assuncao, my publicist.

To my friends at the Food Network.

To publisher David Rosenthal; associate publishers Deb Darrock and Aileen Boyle; my publicist, Tracey Guest; and everyone at Simon & Schuster, especially my editor, Sydny Miner, and her assistant, Michelle Rorke.

And to all my fansI love yall.

T hat you keep and share the giving spirit of Christmas in your heart all year long.

LIQUID CUSTOMARY

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Credits and Permissions

Recipes for Egg Caviar Mold (p. 145), Crme Frache Mashed Potatoes (p. 124), Sour CreamButter Biscuits (p. 84) , and Gorilla Bread (p. 104) are from The Lady & Sons, Too! by Paula H. Deen, copyright 2000 by Paula H. Deen. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.

Recipes for Pecan-Stuffed Dates (p. 148), Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms (p. 146), Bacon Wraps (p. 147), and Sweet Potato Bake (p. 126) are from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula H. Deen, copyright 1997, 1998 by Paula H. Deen; Introduction copyright 1998 by John Berendt. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.

There was one Christmas after we left The Lady restaurant at the Best Western and were waiting for The Lady & Sons on West Congress Street to open that found me and the boys unemployed. I was down to about $200 (what I had when I started The Bag Lady!), and I said to the boys, Theres nothin that I can buy yall for that kind of money that you dont already have. Why dont we share this with a child? And the boys, bless them, said, Momma, that is just perfect. We would love to do that.

So we found a little boy whose mother agreed to let us deliver his presents in person. We went to Wal-Mart and spent every penny of the $200; that child was going to have himself a bunch of stuff! The three of us walked up the steps to the front door of the house with our arms full of boxes; I was wearing a big sweatshirt over black leggings, and a cap. The little boy was waiting at the window, and when he saw me he said to his momma, Oh, Momma! Look! An elf!

It was a wonderful Christmas, and if you went back and asked my boys, theyd say it was one of their favorite Christmases, too.

T his is positively addictive. Put about 2 cups in a clear plastic bag and tie with a beautiful Christmas bow.

7 to 8 quarts popped popcorn

2 cups unsalted peanuts, shelled pumpkinseeds, and/or sunflower seeds

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

1 teaspoon salt

cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon maple-flavored pancake syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 250F. Spray rimmed cookie sheets or jelly roll pans with vegetable oil cooking spray.

2. Place the popcorn and your choice of nuts and/or seeds into a very large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, salt, syrups, and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the baking soda. The mixture will bubble up. Stir vigorously until the mixture is smooth.