Checking In w/ Denise Boutte

Welcome to Checking in with Michelle Williams, a production of iHeartRadio and The Black Effect. Hey, everybody, there are just some folks that I just can't wait to talk to, especially when you see folks on your screen all the time, such a light, just beautiful, and they just seem like so much fun. So today I'm excited to talk to Denise Boute. She has pivoted, she's got her own seasonings and cook book, but yet she is still amazing on screen.

The skin is popping, the hair is always hairing, the brows are always full in lush, and she is checking.

In with the y'all, her pray LANs getting to them. We're gonna talk about that, Denise Boute, welcome you down.

I'm just trying to keep up with you, girl, trying to be back here.

Listen, we are in the middle of a strike, a sack sack after a strike which we both are members of. It is a blessing to be in, uh a union. There's some great things about it, but we are noticing, you know, some issues going on, and uh the actors have decided to be in support of what was originally the writer's strike. And then the actors.

Was like, now wait a minute, some of these shows, that's all right.

Now we are being affected. Some aren't seeing certain residuals and the shares that are actually well deserved. And so Denise, we're gonna talk about that. How you're holding up, how you doing well?

Here's the deal.

It's hard to get the right information right now because you're seeing what the studios are saying, you're seeing what the you know, the the Union is saying, and it's kind of hard, I guess you would say, to decipher.

What's really going on.

So we kind of have to read between the lines, but at the same time try to stay positive and figure that.

They've got it under control.

But the only thing is, here's what I will say, we got a David in Goalia situation going on, right, Yes, we had a David in Galaia situation going on. And I was trying to explain it to my mom yesterday, and basically, if you don't keep ahead of technology, it's going to golf.

I mean, that's all there is to it. So there have been rumblings, you know, over the years or whatever about this whole.

Thing, and you know, this whole AI situation. And the point is, I feel we didn't.

Properly stay in front of the technology because it was coming.

It was bound to happen. And I was explained it to my mom yesterday. I was trying to simplify it. Mom's almost eighty years old.

So she's like, man, what's going on? I said, well, mom, let's go ahead and break it down in the terms. You understand, my dad was an appliance repairman. Okay, he would go in there and he would fix those boats and he would do all this stuff. Right. Well, then technology advanced. Then here come the young guys with a little box, you know, and they would they did diagnose

Unfortunately, certain things disappear because it's no longer needed.

Certain things become obsolete. So that's what we're kind of dealing with right now. You know, if you don't evolve with that changing.

Technology and you don't get ahead of it and starting negotiating early, you're gonna get left behind.

Oh you said, negotiate early. But those are tips tools and resources that maybe. Okay, So we've got actors, writers, producers, extra.

Yes, we got a whole gamut of people that are trying to get a piece of this pie and negotiate.

And it's broad.

But when you say negotiate, I think that's the first time I've heard this word in the midst of all of this, because some people maybe you got the audition and you were so glad to get the audition that maybe you felt like you couldn't negotiate because this is your first time, maybe just maybe a third time, but you don't know the power that you have. And it's not that you're negotiating to be a diva. You're negotiating for protection.

And it's all said, it's always two fould And here's something I always keep in mind. There's a backup.

No matter how important you are, no matter how bad they want you, there's a backup. So you have to always balance or whatever what's your worth? You know what I'm saying, And what is it that you are willing to risk to potentially not be a part of this. Because I'll be honest with you, girl, there are times that I've negotiated.

And you know, it felt my worth and girl, and I see that movie a few months later, I'm like, gosh, you know, like it would have been you know what I'm saying, something great and grand that I didn't have that perspective on at the time, and sometimes you really just looking at the numbers. You're really trying to again own your power, no, your worth, do these things or whatever, and sometimes they MiG in the butt. So that's what's so, it's a typewrote.

We're on a type rope right now, and we have to know what to give in order to get.

But again, who is in this game is very broad. It's very broad. You know what it is that's going on.

I mean, SAG's got a whole lot of different you know type actors and entertainers or whatever you take care of right now. And it's like I said, David and Goliath right now, girl, we're trying to play catch up.

It is a lot going on. Denise, tell us, how did you get in this place? And how did you get here in the first place. How did you get to a place where from the time you were a little girl, teen woman, amazing actress. I guess what I'm trying to say, you were in a strike. But how did it start for you before any of this?

How much time you got, Carol?

I don't I try to be light on people's time, but we're open, go ahead.

I mean, you know, this is the part that a lot of folks in a group on a farm.

You know, I don't love it. Yeah, I mean, I grew up on a farm, so I'm a.

Very simple girl. You know.

My chores were you know sometimes I hate to use the term, but slapping the hogs eating if I could carry the bag of feed, girl, you know, responsible for doing that. I was picking the eggs. I was feeding the chickens every day. I had chores. My grandparents. It was their farm and our house was like right next to it. Our main crop with sugarcane. So we were very much So that's a nothing one girl. When Queen Sugar came out, I was like, Okay, in fact, hen me tell you something true story.

Don't tell me you were up for it for the role or something. Girl.

No, I didn't even make it that far. So I made my proleins and got into Ava's office.

I did.

I got it because at the time I think she was a publicist.

I think she was a publicist, right, Okay, so she had an office right not far from venture, right, So your girl did some investigative work. I knew I couldn't get into Oprah's office. I knew I couldn't get into Harboe right.

So I was just like, you know what, I'm going to make a plea and I know this thing is coming. I'd heard rumblings of this thing. I'm like, I'm Queen Sugar, like I have the real Queen Sugar. So girl, needless to say, I did get into her office. Your course was not there. I gave it to her secretary and never heard of work. But I tried. I tried, girl. I gave it a valiant effort because I was just like, I know I'm gonna be on that show.

But I tell you this, we don't know what's down the pipeline. No, seriously, we can laugh at that, but like, okay, but you were putting your faith to work.

Girl.

I'm gang.

I mean, I'm gonna say I'm ganged to like that.

If I see a role or if I hear it in the breakdowns and my manager says something's coming down the pipe, I'm going after it. I don't know if you can get some flowers. I don't know if you're gonna get some gown caddy. I don't know what you're gonna get. You might get a bottle of spices. You're gonna get something, trying to figure out how did I get your prey les? Why do I feel like were we all gonna were a gift bag a show?

Orcn the real baby? You were? It was the real I knew.

I was like we were, Yes, you were on you were hosting on the Wheel.

And I came out, girl, that was my introduction. I came out with a whole platter up for colon candy and Lannie had already had them before, so Lonnie knew what was up. But yeah, so that's that was it.

Girl.

That's the down home girl in me that I've never you know, left, That's just who I am.

And so with regards to so I'll get back on track. With regards to the whole acting thing, this was not in my mirror, Like, this was not even something I fathomed at all. I wasn't a little girl like, oh my god, I see this person and I want to be Rudy Huxtable. That was never something that I aspire to do. And so I was saying a practical things. Girl.

I was trying to get off the farm, like I was trying to get up off the part. Okay, I didn't know how I was going to do it, but that's what I was gonna do. Yeah, So basically I was like an overachiever, I guess you would say in high school because I knew.

To need a scholarship. You know, I knew my family couldn't, you know, afford to do that, and so I knew I needed a scholarship. So graduated top of my class and got a scholarship to LSU. And originally I was in pre met girl. I knew I wasn't gonna be a doctor. I read that, But why did you not feel like you were going to be a doctor?

You just felt it in your soul or something. Again, I was.

Trying to get off the farm, and in my mind I wasn't exposed.

To too much.

I wasn't exposed to too many options.

But in my mind, anytime a parent talked about their kid and they were with.

Pride and they were just like, oh my kid did something great. They were a doctor, a lawyer, got it, they were doctor or lawyer.

You felt that being on the farm wasn't as talk worthy.

No, no, And so I knew, oh no, I was not saying on the farm that was not even a question. Okay, that was that was not an option, okay, but I picked one. I was like, okay, lawyer, you got to read a little too much. I don't know.

And I was just like, you know what, let me go ahead and do this doctor thing. Because there's so many different types. You know, there's bound to be something, you know, dermatology something.

Yeah, you don't understand that dermatology takes several years also, not to diminish what they have to do. And so I was like one of my girls in the dormitory, she was mass communication and I was like, shoot, I could talk. I was like, you can get a degree by talking. I was like, that's what I'm talking about right there. Okay, So I was.

You're money.

I went and I went into her class or whatever checked it. I was like, that's my major, that's my major.

So then I started interning out a news station WRZ Channel two news.

You better come on.

No, girl couldn't read the teleprompter too good.

So I I'm upset. Now what it's hard, Michelle?

Have you read it?

I love teleprompters.

No no no, no, no no no no. When you are reading this on the daily five o'clock news and this thing is scrolling or whatever, you've got to like, it's hard to get your pacing down. And I remember Sylvia Weatherspoon would come with me sometimes after work, and Sylvia would work with me sometimes on weekend.

I just couldn't get the hang of it, got it.

It was just a yeah, it was just a thing. But maybe now, you know, I've got glasses and stuff like that, I've got more practice, so maybe I could I don't know, I don't know, Michelle, So maybe I can actually do that later in life. But then the whole advertising thing came up so fast forward.

I was at five different agencies or whatever, and I was climbing the ranks doing some pretty awesome stuff. And one of the agencies I worked at or whatever wasn't actually an agency, but it was Fossil that makes up purses and watches and all that.

Yeah, they were launching their clothing line. And in order to you know, keep cause down or whatever, Carford.

America, keep those casts down, they got a few of us around the around the business, I mean, to the corporation to model the clothing.

They were launching a clothing line. So some of those went in a few of the local stores, and one of the local agencies actually reached out to them and found two of us and had a conversation and wanted to have a meeting, and lo and behold, I signed. And it got to the point where my boss was like, hey, you're missing a little too much work. I don't know what you're doing, but you need to make a decision. Here I am six months married.

I go to my newly wet husband and I'm like, I want to try this.

I want to see how he's like. Go. He was like yeah, and I'm not.

I mean, honestly, I'm not exaggerating. There was no hesitation in his voice. There was no hesitation in his voice.

Did he ever tell you why was that he was so sure to say yes, honey gull because I put a.

Time frame on it and basically said, hey, look if things don't happen in a year or two, which I don't know. You know, if I'd gotten to that point, I probably would have been like, let's give it another couple of months.

Let's give it, you know, because it's hard, you know, when you've made you know, some advances to say I'm done, it's over.

So that and he'd seen the stuff that happened, and he'd seen over the years.

You know, I guess you would say.

And again I feel kind of, you know, weird saying this, but how people would respond, you know, to me during certain things.

And it's just like there's something to this.

He was like, I don't know what it is, but this thing is not just halphazardly happened, you know. There there's he's orchestrating this, you know, And so it doesn't hurt to try.

So were you in the arts in school in the when when I was.

In elementary school. You know what I'm saying, No, my music to.

Me, Okay, formal training.

Played bird, I played Big Bird. I did I'm forgetting, I'm forgetting. There was okay, there was two. Let me break it down. There were actually two. Let's break it down. This was not my first time. So we had Clovy's Crawfish on the Bayou. I'm this, Michelle, I'm lowly.

I'm trying to be really nice and civil and stay focused in at interview style.

But it's the Big Bird for me. This is what I do, Michelle. Though this is the unexpected part of Denise.

You never know.

When you asked, I will tell Okay.

So, so formal training, like you didn't go to school. You went because I'm trying to find the details. So you went from Far.

To Fossil, Yeah, foreign to LSU to Fossil and again got an agent haphazardly like it just like I said, divinely orcert there is no rhyme or reason, makes no sense whatsoever. And then I was taking my first set of headshots okay, and this.

Woman named sus Lanier took my headshot and she was like, I think you have something. She was like, I don't know what it is, but something tells me. She had been in the industry herself for years. Something tells me you have something.

Was She was like, if you can come to Los Angeles, I'll introduce you to my partner, Jasper Cole, and I want him to meet you.

You were just starting this agency, and I really think you have something. Okay, So I call up my girl from LSU.

Her name is Victoria, and I called Victoria was like, look, can I sleep on your couch? Can I sleep on your couch or whatever for a moment and I want to meet these folks or whatever, and just kind of see I'd never been to Los Angeles, never been to Los Angeles.

And she was like, yeah, sure, come out and I met her and Jasper until this day, Jasper is my manager.

I love this story, Denise. As the kids say today, it takes a lot of audacity, Yeah, to just go and you are right being divinely orchestrated and guided. And the fact that you are still here it could only have been God purposed for you to be in this industry.

There's no reasoning that, like, there's no reasoning behind how this all came about, you know what I'm saying. And again I gave myself that that you know, it was two years or whatever, and within a year and.

A half here comes Styler Berry. I had no training, Michelle, I had no training whatsoever.

But again, Tyler's the way that my you know, manager was she saw something, He saw something.

You know, So when you would get in the camera, say with no training and say that or other actors who you know maybe went to Juliat or had the formal trainee, you weren't like are they can they tell I haven't had any training or you or.

There wasn't insecurity. Absolutely when it started.

Let me tell you something, when I got on Brown's, I finally, when when I got the offer i'd done.

You know, I was a vampire. I was a vampire and I was a zombie. Yeah that was great.

So that's how I could started out, you know, the first black girl that got killed or whatever.

I wasn't playing the zombie, but the zombia killed me. You know, my heel, we.

Weren't supposed to die. We're not supposed to die.

Yeah, but I was the first one, you know how I was the first one to die. A tripped in. The zombie got me. So anyway, not long after that, it's when Tyler came along. So yes, there was insecurity, you know. But Tyler was more so Medea, like I know him as Medea. So honestly, I didn't even know he was in my audition. I had no idea he was in No, ma'am. That's a whole other story. Okay.

But it was a year and a half after I got here, and so as soon as I got the job, I found a comedy teacher and started working with her.

Immediately started. So the first season of Brown's I was getting my four scripts on Friday, working them out with her on Saturday, and walking around with a tape recorder in my ears or whatever on Sunday.

Okay, and let me tell you something. Logan Browning and I were the only newbies. Lama was not a newbie. Dave and Tam were not newbies. Okay, they knew what they were doing. So literally, Logan and I would take our lunches and be like, okay, you know, so we were nervous.

I remember before anyone would yell.

Action, my heart, my heart was beating out of my chest. Girl, it was literally beating out of my chest. But you know, once we started and action started, it just it was a bike, you know, you get on that bike. By season two it was kind of like it was, you know, because comedy.

Is it's a rhythm. It's a rhythm. You learn that rhythm and beat. But comedy is harder than drama.

For me, comedy is harder than drama because again it's a rhythm, you.

Know, the rhythm and choreography. That's what comedy is.

Yeah, So when you're doing that, you got to catch whatever is given to you. And David a lot of times was if he was improper, So girl, you had to pick up what he was putting down.

Yes, following and follow and flow and uh, lots of times I could sit and watch, you'd be like, is that improv or is that scriptive? But you like, I think to me, the length at which a scene could go on, I'm like, that's improv. But it's still amazing. It's still amazing. You're right, everybody got to be on their toes.

Yes, you know, you can't be like, uh no, no, you literally have to come up with something or whatever, because I mean, Tyler, you get like two takes and this on like he's got several cameras. You miss your spot, you missed your dialogue. I mean, you're that's you know on you You got to figure it out.

I am so encouraged by your story because I'm sure there could be someone listening who's probably feeling like they have. Well, me and you have similar stories about going to college feeling like I've got to do this so that I could do this. You know, it was about the four

Yourself knowing that you don't quite can't articulate it, but you know, oh you might.

It seems like you're being guided in another direction.

Lead It is your intuition, it is in you. If you listen to that little voice, things don't halfhazardly happen. I'm a true believer. And if we listen to what is going on around us, he's talking to us.

I'm not saying audibly, I'm not saying that, but you have to pay attention.

To the people around you and the little coincidences that are happy. I don't believe in coincidence. Again, I said, divinely orchestrate. That's what it is.

It is it is.

I don't even I don't even question it. In hide sight, I'm just like, oh, that's what you're trying to do. But in the moment or whatever, I just try to listen and not fight it. And I'm a very practical person. I'm a type A. If I show you my scripts, it is the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen in

When once you got the technicalities of the dialogue down, you're having a conversation with another person.

And I mean because when we're talking, it's I could it's almost as if you're on TV, but you're being you.

And you have to know the more in tune you are to you, the more you can let your guard, the most more authentic you can be and respond to that other person.

That's your performance.

Yeah, it's women like you and Alfree Woodard where it's like you're literally feeling like I'm just watching y'all just talk like it's not oh she oh, she wrote down on her script. Make sure to hunch my shoulder and have like you know what I mean. Now, Okay, Michelle, you.

Said Alfree Woodard. That is the biggest compliment you can give me. You said me Alfree Woodard and my name in the same sentence. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, that's one of the most amazing compliments I've ever received in my career.

It's the down to earth'sness of the And I'm not saying that there weren't some roles where you had to be more dramatic or maybe play less than maybe what your type a personality is. I get that, but it still comes across natural and now we know why. And I'm gonna thank the farm for it.

Hey. Hey, like I said, authentically, I wanted to get out. I just need to.

Get out for I'm gonna think that being Louisiana. One more question about the side of producing the importance of what how you feel like? Is it important for you now producing your own projects?

Absolutely?

Because what am I doing in this downtime I have to channel my creative energies into something. See that's the whole thing, you know, with all this whole strike situation. And now we'll go to you talking about mental health.

You have to have somewhere to pour your energy into so you're not waking up every day saying, I hope this stripe ends. What am I gonna do? We're not gonna work again.

You have to take whatever anxiety you have and transform that energy into something you can pour into another passion.

Where am I pouring it into projects? Baby, I'm writing my managers already. We're dusting off projects. We have new relationships. We have new relationship ships that we built for people that got some money. So let's go ahead and go into pre production on some of these items because we have time.

And that my DearS, y'all are listening. That is what longevity gets you. That's what keeping trying to be a good integrity in this business. So like you said, you know, you can dust off a project like you said and go back to the people. You probably couldn't do this your first or second year in the game. Now you've got some equity.

I didn't know those people, See, I didn't know those people to make it happen. But in developing and nurturing relationships and knowing who's got my back and knowing that people who are authentic.

You know what I'm saying. We want to work together again. I would love to do a project.

Who's getting a call? Hey, I know you can find it. I know where I can do an independent project when we gonna make it happen. Okay, and guess what those gears are already in motion. Come on here, here's what I did, girl. I got back to that pot. Girl, I started to start.

I've been talking. Listen, listen, I'm like, we're talking about pivoting and other passions. The food.

The food growing up on that farm, my mom go stir my pot. Now, mind you let me break it down. We ate rice and gravy and pork and beans almost every night, like it was always the only thing that changed was the meat.

Like we were.

It was as if beans were vegetable. We never eat broccoli or asparagus or anything. We had beans.

We had corn. We had corn, well corners, a.

Lot of seafood and green oh.

Honey, that was on the weekend. See weekend. Yeah, Now, seafood was a tree. Okay, when the script man came with his truck with his ice in his tailgate, with a shrip that he just got. Yes, that's how I went out. That was a treat. So on the weekends, oh yes, and the family every weekend got together on Sundays at Mama's mamma's house. Mama is a grandmother, Capa's a granddaddy. Okay, so yeah, so the whole family got together.

We went and had that we would all leave with you know, whatever foods or whatever that were packed. If we had a oh, I'm taking it to Abushiti, which is when you do the cab for the the pig and you go home with you meet. Okay, okay, okay, that's a whole other that we're gonna have to have a whole of the show about that situation. But that's what I did and saw. I was familiar with it, but I wasn't in love with it. I didn't care about cooking until I went to Dallas, Texas, and I was in advertising.

Because out of practical purposes, when you're just starting out, you don't have any money for takeout, you don't have any money for all these things or whatever.

So I basically would call my mom on Saturdays and she would, you know, I would ask, okay, so.

Mom, how do you do this? And how do you do that?

The first time I made a gumboat, you know what she said, I wanted to know how dark the rook had to be because there was no ruin or jar.

Now you're just buying a jar, girl, and keep it moving. Wait a minute, yeah, you just go ahead and get your jar, girl, and you put that in the pot or whatever. Put it from you, though, it will be.

Okay because we can only get it from like you or Miss Tina knowles her gumbo's amazing, so you yeah, okay, okay, So.

Me and Miss Tina are gonna have to talk. So yeah, I don't know if Miss Tina got time to put it in the jar, but I do so well, thank you, Michelle, because honestly, that was not a part of my trajectory trajectory with me. You from Louis, you know, so when you say now you can just get in the jar, wait wait wait wait wait wait, no, you from you know what it's supposed to look like, taste like, the texture that is supposed to be To credit Michelle, I will say inspired by.

No, but just I just just just let's do something where we can do together.

I love it. Okay, I'll take it, receive it.

We'll do something one where I get to be I want to sample all the products.

You want to sample all the products. Okay.

So right now we just have spices, but we are expanding those going pralins that you taste it.

Yep.

It's a hell of a process in developing because they have to be authentic.

I'm not gonna put something or whatever on the market that is not true to my mama's recipe.

That's my mama's recipe. Okay, but I'm the only one that can recreate it.

Usually get a big old kitchen. Just get you a big old kitchen.

Make some prailings.

I'll come out and help you stamp them.

And part of it, Michelle, here's the bad part. It takes so long to real sugar and caramel. It's a long process.

And that's sugar butter. Okay, let me sugar butter caramel. Is there coconut? Is there anything coconut in pralins?

Okay?

I'm not from Louis.

I'm from Illinois. Okay, so butter caramel, brown sugar. Am I right? What do I be tasting?

I can't tell you my recipe of miso, okay, but but I will say, if you want to add coconut, you can, or you can add coconut flavoring.

I feel like I've tasted now in you. I feel like I've tasted them.

It's possible because there's different versions of it. Everybody makes their own version of it. So no, you are absolutely crey.

Okay.

So here's the funny part. I'm gonna tell you how my mom taught me how to make a room. She said, well, baby, she's like, if you want to make a light room, she was like, you're gonna go to the inside your arm. You're gonna go to the inside. I'm just like, mom, it's like summertime. So I don't know, I got that, okay.

And she was like, if you want to make a roof of gumbo, you want to make a dark room. She was like, so put your arm on the side of the pot.

And when that roop gets that color, she was like, make sure your waters. It's gonna turn real quick. The color's gonna turn, so you make sure you got your water.

And she was like, that's when you dump your water when you've got that root, this color, dump your water, and that's your roof.

For your gumbert Here for essence Fest twenty twenty five, because you're gonna eat twenty twenty four to really, you know, I'm gonna say, let's do it. Maybe me, maybe we can do fast twenty twenty four.

I got a year, Okay?

Is that pressure? Is that pressure?

Honey? No, listen, I have time. I have nothing but time right now. Really, you were saying, we said pivot. Okay, well let's your girls go on pivot. And I wanted to do I have a I have a cookbook. I have a cookbook out here with Chef Gennard's. But I'm gonna go ahead and venture out. He did one of his own. Okay, I'm going to do one of my own. That's still my boy, right, But we were both talking about another concept, and so I'm also working on my

And the spices are called Weisiana Girl Weisiana Girls spices.

So as you can see, I got the purple, the gold, and the green. Imagine the color coordination, right and real cute. She's so cute. You hold a gumbo with a nice y'all.

Weezyana girl, w e e z I A n A girl dot com is where you can read your Teleprompter's where you can get these amazing spices. You have been an absolute joy. I know this is who you are. But do you feel the pressure to always stay lit up? And or do you have moments of anxiety or nervous like say with the strike, was there nervous?

Is?

How are you taking care of your mental health? Hell?

Yeah, I'm nervous. Oh yeah, I mean I wouldn't sit down here and tell you I'm not, Like when am I gonna work again? You know, because again you're getting so much information, and law of that could be misinformation. I don't know. So I pick and.

Choose how much I actually digest today, because again there's a lot of negative energy out there, so I don't I don't expose myself to too much of it.

Right, But like I.

Said, and I'm channeling that instead of staying in a place of anxiety and nervousness, I'm going and taking what I can't control.

I can't control that.

I mean, yeah, you can go on the picky line or whatever, marching and stuff. But I honestly I can't control that. What I can control is how I use my time, how it is that what I pour myself into in the meantime.

And figuring out all these things that, Thank you Jesus, I was blessed with all these products.

I've never worked more than a half this year, and that's part of the reason why I'm like, dang it, because I'm here and I can't use my platform or whatever in order to get that information. There's nothing that hurts me more because I've worked with some of the best people, with some of the best productions, with some on some of the projects that mean so much to me, telling stories that these people need to hear. We need to hear, like women need to hear.

But I got a gag arter, dude, Like I can say nothing. That's pretty much the equivalent of what it is. I've worked for a major corporation that I've been wanting to work with for years. I did it. I can't say nothing, Michelle, I can't see.

Put it in the chat. I won't say nothing. I'm just playing.

No, I'm just saying I'm so sorry, Yes, yes for me my heart hurts. But what I'm doing is going back in that kitchen. My baby girls like Mommy, let's do a TikTok this, that and the other. Okay, we tiktoking.

Okay, and we can't TikTok right, we can take a tick top, but we tiktogging.

Girl. Weusiana girl going in the five. Look, I got some cinnamon sugar right here we are. We are putting Louisiana girl in the pot. I am taking that time. All those recipes I've modified that, I've.

Pulled all my mom and my mama's recipes that I've always wanted to recreate.

This cookbook was we called Southern Inspired because it was a healthier take on some Southern dishes. Okay, I'm going in.

When you say healthier take, you mean like lower MSG no butter, no no.

Oh yeah no MSG period but yeah, lack of butter, basically finding substitutes for butter, you know, lots of and and here's what they say.

Wat's that olive oil You shouldn't eat? Olive oil you shouldn't.

Yeah, it's certain of so many now I don't know, but they say you got avocado, sesame and other kinds of oils now, don't I don't know which ones are best. As far as heating grape seed, grape grape seed, I knew it was something grape seed. Now, my uncle is a doctor, he's a medical physician. Let me tell you what he told me. He said, regular butter is healthier than all the process margins and stuff. Especially, Maybe go to a farmer's market or get that good old block hard butter. That's that good.

He is absolutely correct. He is absolutely correct. As soon as you've seen too many ingredients and you see that preservative in there bbbb, unless it's pure, it's something. Because of course you're gonna pay for it. That's the sucky part. Healthy eating costs more. You're gonna pay more, you know, which is almost like a setup.

It's like, dude, we don't want to have to get on medication, we don't want to go to the hospital, we don't want.

To do these things. But unfortunately it costs in order to be healthy, you know. So it's kind of like, yeah, which kind of game is going on?

Okay, in order for me to attend to my health if I don't have the means or whatever to do it. So that cookbook was about using items everyday, items that you could as healthy as you possibly could, to substitute and give you the most authentic flavor that you could have without sacrificing the taste.

Where can we get the cookbook?

Oh? The cookbook is on Amazon.

It's on Amazon.

Yeah, so if you go to my website, you can of course get it, but it'll take you right over to Amazon. Okay, Now, when you modify a recipe, yes, are you sure it's as good?

Because people be like sugar free peach cobbler, you know.

Can I be real with you? Can I be real with you?

Yeah?

I know what it's authentically supposed to taste like. Okay, so it's kind of hard. But maybe you being from Illinois, maybe your palette is not as discriminated.

I don't from Illinois, but the folks is from Alabama.

And Artasaw, so I know, I know. So you know, Okay, maybe a person that doesn't have other roots that lives in Illinois don't really know, you know what I'm saying?

So what could I cook today from the cookbook that could like maybe as a pot of cabbage or green beans, pot of greens? Is that a modified recipe in there? And if so, how did you and chef.

Modify? Give me something you could It could be anything.

What can I cook tonight? Okay? So I have a we a girl pot pie. But here's the one that I would say. And again it's because there is no uh, you don't have the butter. Okay, Louisiana Girl Shrimp Creole Girl Shrimp Creole year Mars Shrimp Prio.

So I'm going on an I'm going on Amazon literally as we speak.

Yeah, being unprofessional. I'm just gonna get.

And this is my this is my nanny's recipe, my godmother this okay, So yeah, so nanny know how to do it.

So Weuisiana Girls Shrip Priole on page I'm sixteen seventy. So you can find again step by step, step by step on how to make these.

But like I said, you know, so this right here was us being you know, uh, what do you call it? Fat conscious, health conscious, all that stuff. I'm gonna have a block of butter and everything in this NEXTICLK.

Okay, I listen, I am getting this cook book Southern.

Modified, Southern Modified.

Okay, at least I'm a put it right here. I don't want to be too unprofessional.

Yeah, so that's again, that's what I'm pouring my stuff into.

Instead of dwelling on this stuff that I cannot control, I'm getting back in that kitchen.

I'm getting the harrd cover.

I'm there's it comes in paperback, but I'm getting the hardcover because it's gonna make for nice on the kitchen shelf.

But I'm actually going to use it. Let of y'all got cookbooks and it's just for decoration, use it, But.

The real one that I have, I don't know the paperback girl.

Look now, this is a paperback girl's got stains on it, because I still have to use. If you've got a real good cookbook, you got stains, you got some posting notes up in that bad ball. Yes, I still use the recipes, okay, but yeah it's real y'all.

Y'all can't see it. But she does have the book with all the posted notes and every since she actually uses it. Well, I just got it. It will be to my house by Friday. I am excited. So y'all go on Amazon. It is called Southern Modified Southern Inspired Dishes Modify for Today's Healthier Lifestyle. You can go to Louisiana Girl dot com and get those spices. And when this is all said and done, I pray that we will. I know we will. We just got to get through

Michelle, thank you so much. You are awesome.

You are awesome. I cannot wait. I cannot wait to see you in person sometime.

I can't wait to work with you in person.

We will work together. There's so much to do. There's so much to do. As you were talking, my wheels were spinning. But we can't talk about that right now.

We on strike, all right.

We may not be next week, you know, we don't know.

Okay it he's got to figure it out and under control. But all we can do in the meantime and between time is channel our energies and our creativities into something or.

Yes, yes, thank you, dear heart.

I'll see you soon.

All right. I told y'all we were gonna have a good time. It was kind of like we weren't even recording. What a joy. And I hope that you are encouraged, you know. I remember being told Michelle, stick to one thing, stick to one thing, and I'm so glad I didn't stick to one thing because time's changing. So you have to be able to, you know, evolve. You have to be able to pivot. You've got to be able to be willing to try new things if you want to.