Celebrity cook Paula Deen fought back tears as she was greeted by a supportive crowd during an appearance at a Houston cooking show.
Saturday's event was Deen's first public appearance since June when it was revealed that in an earlier legal deposition she acknowledged using racial slurs in the past. Within a few days the Food Network yanked her show off the air, Smithfield Foods dropped her as a celebrity endorser, and retailers such as Wal-Mart removed her products from shelves.
The Houston Chronicle reports about 1,500 people gave Deen a standing ovation Saturday when she appeared at the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show. "Y'alls hearts are as big as your state," she said.
Deen held two cooking demonstrations, which included tips on how to make peanut butter pie.
Deen is scheduled to appear at the Metro Cooking Dallas show at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on September 21-22.
