Totally with you on this. Just the other day I was trying to convey to my husband the depths of my hatred for her show. Glad to see I'm not the only one!

I think your post is a littler harsh, Lee created her cooking regimen for women like herself, lower class, no time, with many children to care for. And with very little money. Fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive, very expensive. And of course they're healthier for you, but the other day I went to the store to buy fruit and it was $9 for a small box of blueberries. Anyway, here's some info on Lee who does NOT appear to physically resemble American poverty:

"Lee was born in 1966, to teenage parents, who divorced in 1972. Her biological mother Vicky later remarried, only to divorce again, which caused her to become depressed, ill, and bedridden for years until her death.

After the death of her mother, at age 10 Lee became a surrogate mother to her four younger siblings; her responsibilities included buying groceries, preparing the meals, and handling the family finances.

After her mother's first divorce, Lee lived with her grandmother Lorraine. Lee took care of her family until she was 16, when her remarried stepfather came back to take back his children (Lee's half-siblings) leaving her alone.

After completing high school, she attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for three years, after which she moved back to Los Angeles. Lee studied cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa, Canada. Lee says in an interview that she felt "...the lessons were a waste of time" and that she could prepare better dishes on her own."

Personally I think she has a great story of success and if her cooking helps women like her, then great. Elitism doesn't work when you're poor.

Okay, I hate Sandra Lee. She is annoying and yeah, who the f***wants to eat that much prepackaged preservative-laden guck??
Plus, excuse me but that is NOT cheaper. Okay yes, fruits and veggies can get expensive (although try out your local farmer's market and/or buy in season! I was talking to a friend the other day and she complained about the price/quality of oranges. Oranges are in season in the *winter*.); but spices, flour, yeast, and etc. are *far* cheaper than spice mixes, cake mixes, pre-cut items, etc. etc. etc.
I've never felt any desire to cook a single one of her recipes, and good LORD who has the money for all that tablescaping??! Craft stores are not cheap, honey.

I'm sorry that Sandra Lee had it rough growing up, but that doesn't mean that she should be on the food network with instant soup mix and tater tots and call it "cooking". And by the way, I know she "claims" that her recipes are affordable, but her store bought ingredients are way more expensive then whole, fresh food. And don't even get me started on the "tablescapes" (SO EXPENSIVE) and "cocktail times". I swear, you need to be tipsy to down some of the stuff she's passing off as food.

I take exception with the cheaper too. The kind of stuff that Sandra Lee is making? Not cheap. For instance, yesterday I watched her make "tapanade slices" with a tube of Crescent rolls, a tiny bit of jarred tapanade, some slices of jarred roasted red peppers, some crumbles of bleu cheese, and pre-shredded monterey jack. Each and every one of those things is cheaper if you made it or prepped it yourself, and bleu cheese is certainly not showing up on any "Ways to Save Money" lists. Sorry, no bleu cheese deserves to end up on a chunk of flat Pillsbury crescent dough. Is that elitist? So be it. What's more, something I forgot to mention in the post, I rarely see the woman make a balanced meal.

AMEN!!!

This post made me very glad we don't have a TV, an incredible feet considering how much I LOVE TV. I thought Rachel Ray was intolerable, this show sounds like food channel hell.

In our house we celebrate 'Cocktail Time' by taking a shot every time she says 'fantastic'.

I'm very disappointed by such a harsh personal attack. especially on this website. I guess I kind of expected a little more understanding, compassion and empathy. I'm pretty sure that the show is aimed at people who are trying to fake being amazing cooks.

Yes, the post and comments sound elitist. Great job, you're all so much better than her.
No, I don't like her show...but guess what...I'm not on here bashing her...because I just don't watch it. Easy solution.

You're not in your living rooms talking to your friends, you're publishing things to the world. Manners would be nice.

I enjoyed reading this blog because I thought it was all about having positive attitude and being supportive of people and all about positive self images, but I guess that's not what it's about.
elastic waist...why are you on my blog feed? (oh riiiiight...you're not anymore)

Yeah...I really don't understand her appeal. Although, honestly, what annoys me more than any of the food she makes (and trust that her recipes annoy me greatly - Cool Whip?!? A container of heavy cream, whipped to perfection, is SO MUCH CHEAPER AND MORE DELICIOUS) are the tablescapes.

What the hell is a tablescape? Why does she make them? Why do they look like the clearance bin at a Joann Fabrics threw up? It's just bizarre...and ugly.

And hee! to your dream ICA panel. I love Ted Allen so much. SO excited for his new FN show...

Oh, and to answer your question, I really try to use fresh ingredients as much as possible; but yeah, there are definitely times when I'm too tired or sick or whatever to make the effort. My comfort food? Boxed mac 'n' cheese. (But even then I try to throw fresh spinach or scallions in for flavor and some semblance of nutritional value.)

The only reason I can think that this show is still in the broadcast schedule is for the excellent snark value it provides. Most of the food is beyond belief, and I'm still in horrified awe at the Nicoise salad she did for her "french" show--weird stuffed tuna steaks with thawed frozen french-cut green beans and CANNED POTATOES--omg! And then yesterday on one of the shows, that horrendous looking grilled pizza (burned crust, anyone?) I could go on and on and on.

I'm totally with ya on this one, Weet, it's a complete travesty but also a good reminder of How Not to Cook and Decorate.

Wow.... harsh much? This post REALLY caught me by surprise. Yea, I'm not a big fan of Sandra Lee either. But, you know what I do? I don't watch the show. Crazy solution, huh? Sandra Lee doesn't claim to be making culinary masterpieces. She isn't catering to elistest foodies. I love homemade, fresh food just as much as the next person. But, is it really necessary to bash on someone elses way of garnering up a meal?
I really loved reading this blog up until this post. This post came off disgustingly elitest. I very disappointed. Instead of bashing on some show you absolutely hate but uncannily know all the details to (go figure) just turn the tv off and do something productive (perhaps, making one of those from scratch recipes you all are so fond of).

Wow.... harsh much? This post REALLY caught me by surprise. Yea, I'm not a big fan of Sandra Lee either. But, you know what I do? I don't watch the show. Crazy solution, huh? Sandra Lee doesn't claim to be making culinary masterpieces. She isn't catering to elistest foodies. I love homemade, fresh food just as much as the next person. But, is it really necessary to bash on someone elses way of garnering up a meal?
I really loved reading this blog up until this post. This post came off disgustingly elitest. I very disappointed. Instead of bashing on some show you absolutely hate but uncannily know all the details to (go figure) just turn the tv off and do something productive (perhaps, making one of those from scratch recipes you all are so fond of).

Thank you for the "harsh". It makes me feel less alone for yelling at the TV when Sandra Lee starts talking about her tablescapes.

Elastic Waist is my favourite read ev-ah!

This post is *really* unworthy of you. If you expect people to support your eating and cooking styles without regard to any other factors, why are you so negative about this style, which represents a big chunk of the United States not on the coasts?

I don't cook like this, but my mother does. And I think the reason she does is that the activity is easy and it doesn't take a lot of effort and time, and the people she associates with like eaiting it. it allows her to be a little creative, without feeling overwhelmed. And she can completely plan ahead (she doesn't have to worry about the price or availability of fresh ingredients). There is a huge group of people in the US who get awfully tired of hearing how everything has to be made from scratch. My guess: if you had four to six mouths in your household eating marmelade every day? And were coordinating an entire household's activities involving children and adults? You'd be buying it in a jar, like most people in the US, and liking it.

and as to price:

yes, a package of canned dough is more expensive than making rolls from scratch. However, if you don't have either all of the ingredients assembled, time to let the dough rise, or the knowhow (anything involving yeast requires experienced--if you haven't done it before, you can't just mix it up)--both in terms of time and opportunity cost, the canned dough is a great alternative.

same deal with strawberry marmelade: a dollar for a jar? or three times that just for the ingredients, plus two hours making the stuff--assuming you already know how?

Hmmm.

Sorry to go on and on, but this post really made me angry. It was thoughtless and elitist and just plain annoying. I expect better from this blog.

Clearly, this was a very polarizing post! To be clear, I was asking for an explanation, as I felt I had to be missing something. Nowhere did I suggest that everything must be made from scratch (and thought I made that pretty clear by indicating that I myself rely on convenience foods myself) and I have zero problem with strawberry jam from a jar. And I'm not attacking Ms Lee personally, rather stating that I don't understand what value the show is adding to the Food Network. As for not watching it, I edited this out of the post for length, but typically Esteban and I spend Sunday mornings watching Food Network as we read the newspaper and drink our coffee. Yesterday morning there was apparently a Sandra Lee marathon and I'm just hoping that this isn't a permanent change in the schedule because it's really going to affect our Sunday tradition.

Servetus, you make a good point... working with yeast or assembling ingredients does take some skill, which is exactly the kind of thing that would be helpful to see demonstrated on a food show, right? And again, I did not challenge this cooking style, simply wanted to understand why it was being lauded on my television. Also, I am not on either coast, but in fact, smack in the middle of what I assume you're considering canned biscuit territory.

Yeah, I'll have to say I agree with E.W. on this one, I think Sandra is super annoying. And as far as 'this is the way America cooks" and "this is how poor people cook" that's fine, but I feel like the main audience of food network is probably...well...foodies...and for someone who LOVES food and doesn't just cook to get it done you can see why her recipes might be incredibly icky. (as well as her boozy personality). (Although I do have a secret love of Rachel Ray, some of her recipes are also occasionally questionable, but I love her perkiness and I do actually use some of her techniques to get quick dinners on the table!).

I also find Sandra Lee annoying, and sure, most of what she prepares is...questionable. But, it's totally true--this is how much (most) of America eats. Or you know, let's be brutally honest--better than most of America eats. For a lot of working moms, Sandra Lee's recipes are an improvement over much of what they make, i.e. Stouffer's lasagna and the like. So I agree with some of the disgruntled posters...I do expect better from this blog. I'm as elitist of a foodie as the next person, I make fun of her alcoholic personality and oftentimes disgustingly "creative" food and tacky tablescapes, but, I also recognize where she fits into the food show spectrum. Not everyone watching Food Network is a foodie, hence the appeal of Rachael Ray. Who, I have to say, I generally don't mind--if you watch her show, the majority of what she makes actually is from scratch, and it's quick! I'm no working mom, nor do I work longer-than normal hours, I LOVE cooking...yet I can barely muster the enthusiasm to pull together a full meal when I roll in the door at 5:30pm. Anything I can slap together in 45 mins (the woman works on hyper speed to do it all in 30 mins, I've found) that tastes good and isn't just an assemblage of processed foods (which I categorically do not buy, except on very rare occasions) sounds fabulous to me!

Sandra Lee annoys the CRAP out of me.

Sorry.

To anyone who justifies her style of non-cooking in the name of cheap and easy:

- How labor intensive is it to make rice and beans, split pea soup, anything with lentils, rutabaga, beets, cabbage, carrots, celeriac, in-season fruits, in-season fruits that are bruised and therefore make good stewed/compoted/sauced fruit, etc.?

- How expensive is any of the above? (All of the above are dirt cheap; that's why I put them there.)

- How much preservatives are present in the finished products?

- Which would you feel better serving to children?

Criticizing "cooking" that primarily involves opening jars containing preservative chemicals, additives, colors (some of which are illegal in other countries), and other non-whole food items is not elitist! I would be thrilled to argue it's actually going back to most of our ancestors' roots.

Sandra Lee does nothing for real whole food. Hence, I hate her philosophy on "cooking." (Along with all the drastic set changes, I once recognized one of her tops as definitely Valentino. Cheap philosophy? Oh hellz no. She's just advocating spending money on things other than real food. What's the point of that being on the Food Network?)

I was all about making everything from scratch just a few short months ago -- before I had a baby. Now my time is so tight that I don't know if I'll have more than twenty minutes for lunch, and I don't know if the baby will be cooperative enough to let me eat two-handed -- forget about chopping, sauteeing and cooking! I consider pre-packaged foods a necessary evil at this point in my life. Things really do change when you have kids; it's a major priority shift. I'm focusing on taking good care of my body, and if that means I need to take shortcuts to eat healthy, so be it. I'll go back to chopping onions when the kid's old enough to help out.

Hmm. I'm a bit stymied as to my point here. But let's see...

I think it's more productive to talk about styles of cooking without being classist (I didn't think the original post was so, but some of the comments are).

I can't stand sandra lee's show and I don't buy her cookbooks. I don't cook either, but I love to watch food network. I don't think I'd mind her recipes so much if some of the combinations didn't seem so nasty--someone brought up the take off on the salad nicoise, for ex. Her rendition was more complicated than the real thing, and certainly no cheaper. Rachel Ray uses a lot of prepared foods but in ways that make more sense to me and seem tastier.

As I said I don't or rarely cook and at this point in my life, unless something drastic happens, I doubt that'll change. I work full time, am in grad school, have a 3 yr old and another on the way. If I haven't gotten a hair cut in 6 months, I don't think I'll be using any extra time to make bread or jam (not trying to be snotty to weetabix, just using your examples).

On the other hand, I don't think you're being elitist because you (general you) choose to spend your time that way. Maybe you find it relaxing? Maybe the knowledge is so ingrained now that it doesn't feel like a huge complicated thing?

I also think it's important to remember that using prepared foods doesn't mean I'm trying to slowly kill my family---jarred sauce without added sugar or weird ingrediants isn't bad for my kids. Do I feed them stouffer's all the time? No, we tend to buy organic prepared foods, but if we had a smaller food budget, we would eat more sandwiches.

No dis(cussion) of Sandra Lee can be complete without a reference to this blog: http://foodnetworkmusings.blogspot.com/search/label/Sandra%20Lee. You have to scroll down a bit past the Jaime Oliver stuff because of the way the search is organized, but it's worth it.

I disagree with previous posters stating that she's just making food the way a large part of America makes it, her attitude is MUCH more elitist. I think her message is "with a few of my little tricks, you won't be able to tell the difference between this crap and high falutin' cuisine!" It's inherently dishonest and more than a little misguided. Sweetheart Sandy, I'm not fooled, No one is. And LOL about the Jo-Ann's discount bin that barfs tablescapes. I couldn't agree more.

Regarding Rachel Ray, I find it hard to get worked up one way or the other. I find her much too vanilla to inspire much passion in the direction of love or hatred.

Let's see if my comment will go through this time. *fingerscrossed*

When her show first came out, I liked. She actually used a lot of fresh ingredients and very little premade stuff. It was about taking something normal (like cake mix) and using it a different way to create something unique. I didn't use her recipes but they gave me ideas for other things.

Now however, her show is so much different and in a bad way. She uses way too much prepackaged food like frozen chopped onions, peppers, and potatoes. That I don't understand because one can chop a bunch of onions (peppers, potatoes) and then portion them out and freeze them yourself.

Her tablescapes are not my thing but they are somebody's. So I don't get upset over them. I do think changing her kitchen decor to suit the theme every show and also changing all her utensils and small appliances is a bit wasteful. Cocktail time, meh whatever. Again not my thing, but I'm sure someone out there likes them or else it wouldn't stick around.

On the subject of which foods are cheaper, I was dismayed to find that I could buy three whole packages of cookies for less than it would cost me to bake them from scratch. I can buy a cheapie laof of bread -- but I won't -- for less than it costs me to make my own yeast bread.

I am, you see, a devout from-scratch baker as well as a devout money-saver. I buy flour and sugar in bulk and I calculate the total price of everything I make, and I'm sad to say that when it comes to baked goods, the pre=packaged versions are indeed less expensive now.

Honestly, I have never seen the show and have no idea who this woman is, but I'm sure she appeals to some demographic out there. Perhaps those without time? Without money? Maybe those who just don't like to cook!

I do think that some of Sandra's appeal would be for people who really don't know how to cook, because she uses a lot of familiar pantry staples and nothing she makes is terribly complicated. I know that there really are some people who wouldn't think to use something like garlic salt in a meal, so watching her would actually be pretty informative and not overwhelming like other cooking shows.

But I don't think her show is about the cooking, really. I mean, she very rarely makes a balanced meal, and she relies very heavily on sugar-laden things like cannned frosting. She also always has something alcoholic on her show and, of course, there are the tablescapes. Dear God, save me from the tablescapes. Anyway, all of it is her hawking the idea that you can have a fabulous 'lifestyle' for little effort. Basically, Sandra Lee has made a career from being an anti-Martha Stewart, that's the all of it.

Both Martha and Sandra (along with tons of others on TLC or Food Network) prey on people's odd notion that cooking a meal needs to be some form of entertainment instead of simply providing nourishment, and on the insecurity that by not having an outfit that matches your drapes or not butchering your own pig and curing the bacon yourself you're a terrible mother/wife/hostess.

And... what's up with the comment about "getting some manners"? Honey, this is the internet. We're allowed to have opinions here. We're allowed to have opinions that are different than yours. If the internet can have videos of girls drinking a vomit-and-poop smoothie, we can dislike Sandra Lee.

One of my male coworkers explained to me why he watches Sandra Lee. He doesn't make any of the recipies, mind, but he has her on the TiVo. His explanation:

"Low-cut shirts."

That was all he said, and that was all that was needed to be said.

You may like this blog entry about Sandra Lee: http://armchaircook.blogspot.com/2005/10/sandra-lee-trick-or-treat.html

It is not that Sandra Lee is a bad, 'cook'. It is that she makes everyone feel as if they are as good as Rocco diSpirito or Laggasi. Or more like it, Ray. All while appealing to the least work, even if only at first glance.

I have no real problem with Rachael Ray either, she at least tries to cook with fresh foods. But I can remember a time when I was intimidated by even her level of cooking.

I can remember a time when Sandra Lee's level of cooking intimidated me. But I grew as a cook. I learned that McDonald's tasted better than the open can, dump and heat method. Oh!

So, the appeal of SL? Most likely a 'Hey! I can do that!' feeling of the viewer. Hopefully this realization will grow to 'Hey, I can toss a can of crushed tomatoes in a pot, toss in a handful of chopped onion, crushed garlic and spice packet to make my own spaghetti sauce!' Those of us who cook have either grown enough to have forgotten that feeling or were lucky enough to never have suffered from such feelings.

As for SL's bad childhood, it sounds very bad. My mom grew up where the girls of the family were not allowed to go past fifth grade. Sinful and all.

Yet my mom managed to grow as a classical cook with no instruction from her own mother.

It is not that Sandra Lee is a bad, 'cook'. It is that she makes everyone feel as if they are as good as Rocco diSpirito or Laggasi. Or more like it, Ray. All while appealing to the least work, even if only at first glance.

I have no real problem with Rachael Ray either, she at least tries to cook with fresh foods. But I can remember a time when I was intimidated by even her level of cooking.

I can remember a time when Sandra Lee's level of cooking intimidated me. But I grew as a cook. I learned that McDonald's tasted better than the open can, dump and heat method. Oh!

So, the appeal of SL? Most likely a 'Hey! I can do that!' feeling of the viewer. Hopefully this realization will grow to 'Hey, I can toss a can of crushed tomatoes in a pot, toss in a handful of chopped onion, crushed garlic and spice packet to make my own spaghetti sauce!' Those of us who cook have either grown enough to have forgotten that feeling or were lucky enough to never have suffered from such feelings.

As for SL's bad childhood, it sounds very bad. My mom grew up where the girls of the family were not allowed to go past fifth grade. Sinful and all.

Yet my mom managed to grow as a classical cook with no instruction from her own mother.