‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’: Caroline Manzo jab was just a joke, says Teresa Guidice

Teresa Guidice is just “fun and unique.” So are her cookbooks. So you’ll have to excuse the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member if her books include jokes about “priests and KY” and the “Olive Garden” — or what appear to be barbs aimed at her fellow wives.

Fellow “RHONJ” Caroline Manzo took offense during Sunday’s (Oct. 9) season 3 finale when she read that Teresa described her as about “as Italian as the Olive Garden” and “only one-sixteenth Italian.”

In a blog post on her official site, Teresa says she’s not trying to be something she’s not and that anyone who takes offense doesn’t get her:

“I’m a celebrity mom with an Italian heritage who wanted to share her family’s recipes. And I write the same way I talk–not always perfect, but I try to make it interesting, it’s easy to read, the recipes are delicious, and yes, I make jokes. Lots and lots of jokes. Jokes about priests and KY and Olive Garden, jokes about my friends, my family, my husband, but mostly jokes about ME–my mistakes in the kitchen, how I didn’t know how to cook, how I mispronounce things… I think the fun of my books (AND the amazing recipes) are what makes them so successful. And I do warn you about my jokes right in the introduction: ‘Buckle up, Baby Dolls, this is not your mama’s cookbook!'”

Teresa also points out that Caroline is the only picture of a “friend” included in the new book.

“[It’s] a big, beautiful color picture of the two of us,” she says. “Under I wrote: ‘Me with another famous Italian mom, Caroline Manzo.'”

Last week, it was rumored that another of the New Jersey housewives, Jacqueline Laurita, was quitting the show after supposedly getting “fed up” with Teresa.

Filming for season 4 is already underway, so umm… buckle up, baby dolls.

Photo/Video credit: Bravo