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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.
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11-18-2006 @2:32PM tr said... i usually diagree with whatever Bob says, but i have to say, i really dont mind Sandra. i don't watch it for recipes, maybe some ideas. i watch it more for entertainment value. and what's wrong with that?
also. in my opinion, she's way less annoying than Rachael Ray, who seems to try so hard to make us believe that she really is fun and bubbly.
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11-19-2006 @3:47PM Darryl said... Even if Lee's show is for "foodies-in-training", her recipes are awful, plain and simple. She relies on pre-packaged, salt-laden, preservative-riddled garbage, then gussies it up with "30% fresh ingredients" to fool everyone into thinking it's a great meal. There's nothing wrong with using canned or packaged food items here and there in a recipe - Lord knows I'm not about to go out and pick fresh olives off the vine - but that's the stuff she bases her meals on. Her "recipes" are unbelievably basic to the point of insulting, because real cooking is just too "hard" for her. Peeling potatoes is "hard". Baking is "hard". Whipping cream is "hard".
Seriously, folks, just check out her website and browse through some of the recipes. The woman has no palate. This isn't about her on-screen personality and quirks (though there are plenty of those) - this is about a television cook who frankly shouldn't be allowed in a kitchen.
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11-19-2006 @9:33PM mJ said... ok...there is something not right about the woman,maybe too many drinks?? The thing I do like is she has a way of getting through quickly and easy with each thing she makes. Shes not looking around for things or rambling on about nothing. I saw her thanksgiving dinner show today and the three or four things I saw her make had pumpkin spice in it. That is going overboard with the stuff. If it aint dessert leave it out of the main courses! I changed the channel!!
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11-21-2006 @5:40PM Leigh said... OK--just because something is "made froms scratch" does not automatically make it "gourmet." And, believe it or not, if you use fresh (real) food, you have to add less crap (flavor packets, artificial ingredients, etc.) It also is not difficult nor does it take all day. Just because she's on the Food Network, doesn't mean she's a good cook.
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12-04-2006 @10:22PM Lisa said... i watch her only see what monstrosity she is going to prepare. her entire kitchen changes color every show to match her outfit...need i say more about what this show is really about--it ain't food....
my favorite saying of hers is: "using ingredients right out of your own pantry"--i mean whose pantry would it be out of? LOL
theoretically i guess i could go along with the premise: semi homemade--but half the stuff she makes, you could make in the same amount of time from fresh ingredients.
her cocktails intrigue me, though; again what intrigues me about the show has nothing to do with food....
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12-05-2006 @12:09AM Jason said... Sandra Lee is one of the best cooks on FoodTv. I watch the show to see her flash her eyes at camera as she stirs that store bought brownie batter. She's like the hot mom you always wish your friend had making you a tasty treat. Rachel Ray wish she had Sandra Lee's bosom and cooking creativity. I do love Paula though...she reminds me of grandma.
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12-11-2006 @9:57AM Piedad Hogan said... I love Semi homemade. I have tried several of her suggestions for food and "tablescapes" for my parties and have gotten rave reviews. I have a full time job and a three year old, time saving suggestions while still having fun parties and a life is very welcome in my home. My husband loves the extra fuss to detail that really only takes a moment with shortcuts. Thank you Sandra Lee
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12-10-2006 @10:56PM mark said... Ummmmmm, I hate to say this but, she soooooo much reminds me of the "bubble headed bleach blond who can tell you about the plane crash...." I know that's wrong and that just he image but come on, preparing food in all white outfits and never getting dirty is a bit much. Give me AB any day. He get's dirty, he makes mistakes and shows you why they happen but most off all he has you thinking after watching his shows that you too can cook nearly anything and everything.
BTW, IMHO Giada De Laurentiis is just plain beautiful in such a natural way. my $.02 of course. ;-)
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12-11-2006 @12:43AM Dmnkly said... Bob...
The single biggest problem with Sandra Lee, one made clearly evident by many of the comments here, and the one that makes her absolutely infuriating beyond any quirks/habits/etc., is that she perpetuates the horrible myth that cooking good food takes too much time.
Read through the comments above and see how many people defend her saying, "I love Sandra because I don't have time to make everything from scratch." The fact is that for every premade frankenstein dish she throws together, there are 20 similar recipes that are fresher, healthier, tastier AND quicker and easier to prepare.
Over the past ten years, home cooking has made remarkable strides as people have come to understand that delicious fresh food doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. Sandra Lee is doing her utmost to undo a decade of progress. While the tablescapes and quirks are annoying, THAT'S why she should be reviled.
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12-12-2006 @10:10AM Julie said... I mainly love her cocktails and tablescapes. she is the only one on the network that has a cocktail tailored to every single meal she makes which I think completes the theme! Sometims I may make my 'own' version of her semihome made stuff like beef stew of chicken soup, but I ouldn't think of a cocktail that would compliment the meal. I like that about her.
Also many of her tablescapes are so BEAUTIFUL. Sometimes it looks so stuffed full of stuff that there is no room for the actual FOOD on the table, but some of her stuff is great. If she had a line of home linens and table wares stuff I'd buy it! That in my opinion is whwre she shines. She really sould be a decorator or food stylist, she is better at that than the cooking.
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12-12-2006 @10:38AM Julie said... I mainly love her cocktails and tablescapes. she is the only one on the network that has a cocktail tailored to every single meal she makes which I think completes the theme! Sometims I may make my 'own' version of her semihome made stuff like beef stew of chicken soup, but I ouldn't think of a cocktail that would compliment the meal. I like that about her.
Also many of her tablescapes are so BEAUTIFUL. Sometimes it looks so stuffed full of stuff that there is no room for the actual FOOD on the table, but some of her stuff is great. If she had a line of home linens and table wares stuff I'd buy it! That in my opinion is where she shines. She really sould be a decorator or food stylist, she is better at that than the cooking.
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12-12-2006 @11:03AM Brett said... I think Sandra Lee was a man at one point.
Anyone else?
Watch carefully with this in mind and you will pick up on it.
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12-13-2006 @1:56PM JJ said... Please send me some of what you are smoking, Bob. It's obviously a very powerful hallucinogen.
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12-18-2006 @4:14PM Anne said... Sandra Lee and almost all of what she produces is horrible.
Why is it that people who defend her claim criticism is based on her looks or her appearance of having a good time while she produces such slop? NO, we dislike her because of her poor quality work. Her work is based on fooling people. She says it herself. She would rather you use 4 store-bought ingredients than 5 fresh ones. Her "recipes" are full of sugar, transfats, preservatives, and crap taste. She insults women. She is bossy. She is full of self-promotion.
Incidentally, although she projects the imaging of homemaker and mother, she was married to a crook gazillionaire, has no children of her own, never rushed kids off to school in her life, and now shacks up with a married guy in Manhattan. That's semi-HOmade for ya!
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12-29-2006 @6:28PM Heather said... 1.) The only thing of Ray's I've made in less than an hour is a recipe for popcorn topping.
2.) I find her recipes tasty; but, using the prepackaged foods makes the recipes very costly.
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2-07-2007 @11:20PM I'd hit it said... The problem with Sandra Lee is that she is a rich beautiful blonde who is way out of the league of all the haters here. She managed to accumulate millions on what most people do anyways, jazzing up supermarket packaged foods. She is a brilliant businesswoman and her breasts look just fine to me. I wouldn't kick her out of bed. I think all the haters here envy her, or they're just whiny gays. If she wasn't rich you wouldn't hear all the negative.
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