Even in this golden age of celebrity, few names loom larger than Paula Deen's.

The queen of down-home cooking, who's become such a star she's now a regular target of sniping tabloids and gossip rags looking to cash in on her popularity, has charmed her way into the frenzy of modern-day pop culture, whose ground zeroes are New York and Los Angeles, without losing those Southwest Georgia-ingrained qualities that allow her to relate to Joe and Jane Average Citizen.

"I think you can say I'm living proof that the American Dream exists," Deen said in a phone conversation with The Albany Herald from her Savannah home. "I'm proof that if someone will roll up their sleeves and go to work ... Well, if I can do it -- I don't want to say just anyone can do it -- but, yes, almost anyone can, if they have the kind of passion I have about the things I do."

While her adopted home of Savannah, executives of The Food Network, talk show hosts who love her say-anything wit and glorious Southern accent, and all those foodies across the globe have staked their claim to Deen after becoming addicted to her wildly popular "Paula's Home Cooking," "Paula's Party" and "Paula's Best Dishes" TV shows, she remains an Albany girl, through and through. Some of her most ardent hometown supporters want to make sure the world makes that connection.

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