She may be Savannah’s queen of the kitchen, but Paula Deen can’t help but throw a life lesson or two into the pot.

Fresh out of the shower, Paula Deen walks into the kitchen of her Wilmington Island home. Her wet hair is tucked under a black, rhinestone-studded baseball cap emblazoned with the popular Sweet Potato Queens movement logo. She wears glasses, a baggy turquoise shirt and black leggings. Her face is devoid of makeup—and she’s late.

“I’m so sorry, but I just had to have a shower,” she apologizes.

No problem. Deen coughs a little. She’s just getting over a case of pneumonia, and her voice is still a little raspy.

We sit down at a table in her kitchen, the same one featured on her TV show, full of antiques and beautiful cabinetry. Now the symbol of Southern cooking, Deen is gearing up for her busy season: full of tapings, travel and her trademark twang. Deen invited South into her home for a chat about where she’s going and where she’s been.

South magazine: You have a pretty big fall ahead of you: a new seafood line has launched, a new furniture line is coming out. I’ve even heard about a talk show and a movie. What’s going on with that?

Paula Deen: Yep, I’m on a retainer with Warner Brothers, and we are working on a talk show. But I told them that I don’t want a talk show like you see today. I really want something different … I want us to tread very carefully and get a good grip on what we want this talk show to be. You know, fools rush in. We originally wanted to do it in September of ’09, but it looks like it will be 2010.

SM: And the movie?

PD: They’re writing my life story right now, which sounds real weird. They’re figuring out what they’re going to do with it. It definitely wouldn’t be a big screen movie, you know. But that’s going to be an exciting venture.

But boy, that seafood line has been a lot of work, though.

SM: Why is that?

PD: Well, because at the end of the day, all I have is my name. I have a wonderful relationship with the people in America because they trust me. And I don’t want to do anything to break that trust.

SM: Is that a little stressful at times?

PD: It can be because your expectations are high that you put on yourself. I learned a long time ago that you can’t please everybody. I used to try, but I can’t, no matter how hard I try. But if you can please 95 percent of the people, I don’t know of a politician that wouldn’t snap those numbers up quicker than Moody’s goose.

SM: Do you ever take a look at what you’ve accomplished and say, “Wow. How did I get this far?”

PD: You know, I try. But my mind can’t wrap around it. To me, I’m that same person that I was so long ago, and it doesn’t register. I have no idea how deep my fan base goes, and so I just don’t worry about it. But I can’t comprehend it. And I’m always surprised when I go out and people scream, “Paula Deen!” and I’m on the other side of the country and I think, “How do they know me?”

SM: But that must be kind of cool, though.

PD: It’s very cool. In fact, I can travel like this—with my hair up in a hat and no makeup—and I can walk through anywhere, and as long as I don’t open my mouth or laugh, people never know I’m there. Not true when Michael is with me. I told him, I said, “Honey, you are like me walking around with a turd on my forehead: Everyone’s going to notice!”

Like what you’re reading? Read the full article in the October/November issue of South magazine.

Images by Attic Fire Photography