Kidsday interviews Jamie Deen

Last week we visited the Food Network studios in Manhattan to meet Jamie Deen. His show, "Home for Dinner," airs Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.

Tell us about your new show.

It's called "Home for Dinner," and my wife [Brooke] and both my boys are going to be on it. I'll be making healthy food for the whole family that's easily prepared, and making good food taste good. It doesn't have to taste bad if it's good for you. So I'm going to show some tricks for making healthy foods that families can enjoy.

What is your favorite dish to make?

I love roast chicken with vegetables and rice. I like to get a big cast-iron skillet, which you can put in the oven. I like a roast chicken and I put vegetables all around it and then I make fried rice.

How did having a famous mother, Paula Deen, affect your childhood?

When I was a kid, my mom was not famous. When we started our restaurant, Mama was as old as I am right now. So I was probably about 21 years old and we worked at the restaurant for almost 10 years before mom got a chance to go on TV. So she's only been famous for about 12 or 13 years. That proves that you're never too old to try new things, and if you work really hard, there's no telling what you can do. But my mom started a restaurant, writing cookbooks, having magazines and getting on television when she was in her 40s. It's super neat having her now that she's famous.

What was your favorite food as a child?My favorite food when I was growing up was beanie weenies. It's like baked beans with hot dogs cut up in it. I liked them so much. This is the second time I've talked about this today! When I was a kid, I used to love to eat that.

Have you ever made a mistake on TV?

All the shows we do are taped, so if you mess up, they just stop and start over. Sometimes when you're doing live TV, you can forget what you're going to say. It takes a lot of concentration. Like tomorrow I'm going to be on the "Today Show" and it's live, so you really have to pay attention. But most shows are taped. Sometimes you mess up a word or forget an ingredient, but you'll never see it because it's TV so they're going to make you look as good as you can.

What is your favorite cooking appliance and why?

I like a really big cutting board because I like to put things on the counter. So when I say big, I'm talking about a big board that I could put down and put all my things on it, cut on it, keep all my trash on it. It makes it easy to clean up.