Celebrity chef Paula Deen will visit Wilmington on Thursday, spending the afternoon at Custom Home Furniture Gallery at 3514 S. College Road.

Deen will be visiting with customers and signing copies of her latest cookbook, Favorite Recipes of the Lady and Her Friends, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Perhaps best known for her Food Network show Paula’s Home Cooking, which ran from 2002 to 2012, Deen has authored several cookbooks and launched a line of cookware and seasonings, as well as Paula Deen Home, a furniture collection with Universal Furniture.

“We are very excited to have Paula here in our store,” said Custom Home Furniture Gallery owner Kevin Gray. “We have sold all of her [furniture] collections in the past and this is the best one yet.”

Deen also operates several restaurants: The Lady and Sons and Paula Deen’s Creek House, both in Savannah, Georgia; Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen locations in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; and Paula Deen’s The Bag Lady, also in Pigeon Forge. Deen operates several retail stores as well as an inn in Tybee Island, Georgia.

In 2012, Deen established The Bag Lady Foundation, named after her first business, to provide hope, inspiration and support to women and families in need. The mission of The Bag Lady Foundation is to improve the wellbeing, health and independence of women, children and families, with a focus on nourishment and nurturing.

Favorite Recipes of the Lady and Her Friends was originally self-published by Deen in 1997, and just 5,000 copies were printed to be sold at The Lady and Sons. In honor of the book’s 20th anniversary, it has now been released as a trade publication. Copies will be available during Deen's visit to purchase for $24.95. 

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