Meet and Greet with a 'Real Housewife' is Fabulous!

Hundreds of people lined up this week at Kings supermarket in Short Hills to see and meet Teresa Giudice, one of the stars of Bravo's "Real Housewives of New Jersey."

In case you don't know, The Real Housewives are a popular series of reality television shows involving the drama in the everyday lives of "real housewives" in different cities or states.  The New Jersey show is the most popular of all the "Housewives" programs. 

Those in the know came out  en masse on Thursday to get a glimpse of Guidice, who was at the supermarket to promote her new cookbook, "Fabulicious!" –  a collection of her own family recipes, which are simple, authentic and Italian. "Fabulicious" is her second cookbook, following "Skinny Italian," which became a New York Times bestseller. 

The aisles of the upscale grocery store were filled with fans waiting patiently to get Guidice to sign her book and to pose for a photo.  Guidice is known as one of the tougher housewives on the show – she of table-flipping and Andy Cohen-tossing fame. 

But in person, she was kind, patient and chatty. Many people feel like they know her, because her show stars her family, including her four young daughters and husband, her brother and his wife and kids, and her cousin and her husband and kids. And yes, they all live, play and clash nearby in Jersey.  The brief conversations centered on the family.  She told one fan that her husband, Joe's sister, is pregnant and they don't know if she's having a boy or a girl. 

Her fan base, though predictably mostly female, was not just New Jersey housewives, there were plenty of younger fans, too. Lexi Pappas and Gussie Grell, two young Short Hills girls, were delighted to meet Teresa.  They regularly watch her show. 

When asked what drew them to her, they said, "She's a really good cook, and she's really pretty."  Not only did they buy her cookbook, but they also said, "We are going to make recipes from Fabulicious. We bought ingredients here, at Kings."   

Kings General Store Manager, Emilio Romeo said that people started to line up at 3:30 p.m., even though Giudice wasn't scheduled to appear until 6 p.m.  He was happy that the event went smoothly and everyone got their books signed and pictures taken.  And, despite the large attendance, it was possible to still shop in the store.

"Fabulous!"  is one of Teresa's tag lines on the show, so it stands to reason her book would be titled  "Fabulicious."  If you want to see what the hoopla's all about,  The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. on Bravo.