Paula Deen is eyeing a comeback and one of her first steps towards that goal was appearing at South Florida’s Wine and Food Festival this past weekend.
The former Food Network star received a warm welcome on Sunday during a cooking demonstration, taking the opportunity to talk to her well wishers about her remorse.
"We have come off of a very hard summer my family and I, my team, my partners," she said before making chicken and dumplings.
But you know, I have heard on more than one occasion ... that I've never apologized. So if anybody did not hear me apologize, I would like to apologize to those who did not hear me,” Fox News reports.
This is just one of very few public appearances Deen has made since her racial slur scandal hit this past summer.
She said during her time away from the public eye, she spent a lot of time with her grandchildren.
“Ya'll's cards and letters that I got, helped me get out of bed every day," she said.
At one point, she even got on fellow chef Robert Irvine’s back and yelled "I'm back in the saddle!"
Indeed, she is. Earlier this month it was announced her new company, Paula Deen Ventures, received a $75 million investment from private equity firm Najafi Cos.
image: NBC