By Sadie

We're in a recession. Talented people are laid off every day. So why
does Sandra Lee have two shows?

There's a piece in Newsweek comparing Food Network star Sandra Lee
(unfavorably) to Julia Child. Now, that's fish in a barrel stuff, but it
did get me thinking: what the hell? With so many people clamoring for
jobs like hers that there's actually a show about "finding the next Food
Network star," what's her secret? The following things are frequently
mentioned when people debate this question (and, if you've ever spent
any time on Chowhound boards, you know they do. "Who's she sleeping
with?" is the least of it.)

The Whiteness: The spotless kitchen and virginal wardrobe don't exactly
suggest serious cooking. More like a Mormon temple. Nor, many would add,
does her tiny figure - although I for one wouldn't find Lee's
concoctions particularly hard to resist.

The faux-cooking: Lee's "semi-homemade meals" are heavy on the pre-fab,
light on the local/organic/from-scratch. Eco-conscious, the woman's not.
Fat-conscious? Not to much. Taste-conscious? I haven't, it's true, tried
a single one of Lee's experiments in chemistry. (And I speak as someone
not adverse to the occasional cake mix or batch of onion dip.) But the
woman makes Rachel Ray look artisanal.

The really faux cooking: Lee doesn't even devise her own recipes; a test
kitchen in SoHo apparently does all that.

The Stepford manner: The eerie perfection of kitchen, tablescape, outfit
and smile - to say nothing of the enthusiasm for the day's themed
cocktail - suggests an imminent breakdown. The fact that she's dated New
York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for the past three years doesn't
really help with this impression. Not to mention that the whole
time-saving foods to trick your guests gimmick feels like a
Sterling-Cooper campaign.

So, what's her deal? Well, according to the piece, Lee's come up the
hard way.

As a child, Lee raised her four younger siblings on food
stamps and welfare after her mother walked out. With help
from her grandmother, she learned how to cut costs at the
grocery store. It's a story she's not embarrassed to tell,
especially when promoting the new show.

According to her Wikipedia entry, "In the early 1990s, Lee created a
product called "Kurtain Kraft", a home decorating tool using a wire rack
and sheets or other fabric samples to create the appearance of
decorative drapery. The product was sold on infomercials and cable
shopping networks." And, on the strength of this, I guess, went on to
get her own show. And can she cook? She says yes, but she doesn't.

"When I was at the Cordon Bleu, things took hours and
hours and hours to make...And they were beautiful dishes-and
I know how to cook that way-but I was like, 'no one is
cooking like this.' "

To those who feel there's something between original Mastering the Art
and a can of pudding mix, this attitude feels like a betrayal of the
food world: catering to the lowest common denoninator rather than
expecting more of people; ignoring all the gains of the simpler
back-to-the -land American Food movement; and, in the process, not doing
much to help the American diet.

If I had a theory, I'd have to say it's just the thrill of the bizar
Lee is mesmeric. There are very few public figures who are completely
mysterious, and she's one. What is she thinking? Why? We don't know.
Rachel Ray cooks some crap, and Ina Garten's life is pristine, but it's
rare to see this bizarre mix of high and low-brow, of a world in which
you have time for tablescapes and cocktail hour, but it's easier to mix
a jar of relish with some dressing powder than roast a vegetable. Lee's
wonder at convenience foods is truly that of another era: a world in
which surface was all and you never let them see you with a hair out of
place. Her motto sort of says it all, when you think about it: "70%
store-bought/ready-made products accompanied by 30% fresh and creative
touches, allowing you to take 100% of the credit." Because that, at the
end of the day, is what it's all about.

Sandra Lee: The Anti-Julia [Newsweek]
http://www.newsweek.com/id/210852/page/1

Sandra Lee (cook)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Lee_(cook)

--
That's the great thing about Semi-Homemade Cooking: No matter how bad
we think it's going to be, Sandy manages to make it even worse.
-- orchidgal