I know, I know, you're hating me already, right? How can I defend Sandra Lee when she seems to have more people that dislike her than Rachael Ray? Read on.I've never understood why people dislike Lee. Is it the fact that she's beautiful and looks like one of Charlie's Angels cooking up a meal in the kitchen? Is it the fact that she doesn't do everything from scratch, and instead dares to use packaged foods from the supermarket? Is it something else that I'm not aware of?
Sandra Lee is the Food Network host that most of us can identify with. Most of us can sit back and appreciate Mario Batali or Wolfgang Puck, but we really can't make the stuff they make, at least not in the way they make it. At the same time, most of us know that we can probably cook just as well (if not better) than someone like Rachael Ray. So it's no fun comparing ourselves to those two extremes. We need someone in the middle, someone who obviously knows what she's doing in the kitchen, but does it in a way and uses the things that 99% of the audience is going to use. That's where Sandra Lee comes in.
Plus, she's nowhere near as annoying as Emeril and his "Bam!" and his audience that oohs and ahhs when he puts garlic in a pot (side note: I think a lot of his meals look awful, don't you?), or Ray, with her "Yum-O" and "awesome" and the way she carries every single ingredient she needs across the room in a bowl. She could probably cut down on those 30 minute meals even more if she just had the damn ingredients on the counter before hand. Not that I believe those meals are done in only 30 minutes, mind you.
But Lee...she's actually a joy to watch. She doesn't have any irritating quirks, and her meals and crafts always come out right, and as she's doing them you don't feel like you can't. You don't feel overwhelmed (or underwhelmed). You feel like the meals and crafts are something you can actually do. She's like Martha Stewart, only more accessible and with a better sense of humor.
You also get the feeling she really enjoys what she does. She hasn't reached that point where a lot of celebrity cooks seem to be just going through the motions. I was thinking the other day, what Food Network host do I look up online the most? Which recipes are the ones I seek out the most when I go to FoodNetwork.com? The answer is Lee's.
I don't know about your Mom or your sister, but mine are just like Lee. They're very good in the kitchen and very proud of what they make, but they don't make every single thing from scratch. I mean, do we have to? It actually makes me feel good that Lee creates a great dessert using a Duncan Hines cake mix from the store. I like how she'll take a store-bought product and mix it with something that she created, thereby creating something new. She seems to get that we all want to have a life where we are handy in the kitchen, where we can cook for family and friends without thinking we have to start a second career as a sous chef. She makes some great decisions, and she knows that the way she cooks is the way that most of us cook.
Yeah, yeah, she's hot too. But that's really just a first impression thing. It's the food that makes you stick around.
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
