Ronnie Suburban inexplicably wrote:

I admit that I am absolutely transfixed by Sandra Lee. I was recently laid up for about a month and watched her show(s?) fairly often during that time. I can't say anything ever looked the least bit appetizing but the show itself was highly entertaining; a real culinary spectacle.

Speaking from recent experience, those post-hip-replacement-surgery drugs are indeed strange and wonderful things. . .

stevez wrote:Guess who's coming to the Illinois State Fair.

Steve, I know your heart will be broken after reading this :

"SANDRA LEE -- SEMI-HOMEMADE
CANCELLED

Food Network personality Sandra Lee has cancelled her appearance at the 2010 Illinois State Fair, citing "professional obligations and a conflict in scheduling." Lee was supposed to give a free cooking demonstration in the Grandstand Aug. 19. The fair is searching for a replacement act."

Nooooo! A dinner guest last month left a container of Cool Whip in the fridge - now how will I learn what to do with it?!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denise-vivaldo/kwanzaa-cake-sandra-lee-hanukkah-cake_b_797165.html

And in case you need to read more on why that Kwanzaa cake was so horrid, here's a Salon interview with an expert on foods of the African diaspora:

Just How Offensive is Sandra Lee's Crazy Kwanzaa Cake?

The Kwanzaa cake is a true horror and possibly a faux pas too. In defense of S. Lee she is doing nothing more than what millions of homemakers do and that is to use convenience foods as a short cut. Lets face it many of us might do it too at times when we are pressed for time. There are still millions of people who don't know how to cook and turn to these items.

I think I had a dream about Sandra Lee last night; she was making some new godawful Angel Food cake and I was there to taste. I'm missing those dreams about being chased by a rhino.

toria wrote:The Kwanzaa cake is a true horror and possibly a faux pas too. In defense of S. Lee she is doing nothing more than what millions of homemakers do and that is to use convenience foods as a short cut. Lets face it many of us might do it too at times when we are pressed for time. There are still millions of people who don't know how to cook and turn to these items.

You have to admit, there is a degree of difference: first of all, most homemakers aren't proudly displaying their TV dinners on TV, nor are they taking credit for them, and while many of Sandra Lee's recipes are straight out of Taste of Home Americana (which I'll grant you, has it's place)...she offers many recipes in the style of the Kwanzaa cake that suggest she never eats what she puts together.

Working with extremely humble resources and doing the best you can - that, I'll give you. Making money by exploiting people's lack of education and credulity - not so much.

There are some pretty tasty, fully homemade recipes in Taste of Home. But I agree with your last point indeed.

Not dissing Taste of Home - I think it's probably the best repository of truly "American" home cooking out there, and I use it often. While there are many recipes that are from scratch, there are also recipes using staples and convenience foods - but the difference is that in most cases the cooks have actually tasted the food they made and found it to be worth taking a little extra time and adding an extra step or two.

In the case of the Kwanzaa cake - what the %*&* is wrong with serving a purchased angelfood cake, and sticking kwanzaa candles in it? Near as I can figure, the only reason to justify the other ingredients and extra steps are to fill time in a half-hour TV show - and, like I said, the SL recipes like this really tick me off.

Hi,

Taset of Home is the food magazine super power. It has more circulation than Bon Appetit, Saveur, Food & Wine and Cook's Illustrated combined. Once I learned this, it made sense why Cook's Illustrated created Cook's Country. I am convinced it is targeting a piece of the Taste of Home market.

Regards,

I think you're right. I prefer Cook's Country to both of them, although I wish somebody would put out a healthy version.

Good points Mhays. It would be truly unethical if S. Lee did not like, eat or taste her food. At least when I use conveniece foods I eat what I make and say that's a good short cut when I don't have time.