"semi-homemade cooking" news and stories

For some of us, summertime can be summed up in two words: ice and cream. Purveyors vie for our ice cream cone dollars, promising premium texture, top-notch ingredients, and ever-more-creative flavors. Marble Slab Creamery's gambit? They've teamed up with Food Network star Sandra Lee, the woman of Semi-Homemade Cooking fame, to promote a Taste of Summer -- 16 "tasty creations" for the summer months only. And, in another nod to reality TV, they're not just inviting customers to taste -- they're asking them to vote for their favorites.

Sandra Lee and Marble Slab Creamery seem like natural bedfellows: Marble Slab is all about mixing fruits, nuts, and candy into their store-made ice cream, while Sandra Lee's schtick is to pair 70 percent store-bought ingredients with 30 percent fresh, homemade fare. Putting these two forces together has resulted in some outrageous-sounding flavors. Take Sunday Brunch, for example, a base of French Toast ice cream studded with strawberries, walnuts, and marshmallow topping. Or how about Dad's Triple Play, an exercise in chocolate overload: Chocolate Swiss ice cream mixed with chocolate cake, chocolate chips, and fudge. (What, no chocolate sauce?) Or consider Peanut Butter Picnic -- Peanut Butter ice cream with caramel topping, Nutter Butters, and peanut M&M's. No half-measures here.

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?