Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Buy Any Cookbook by Food Network's Sandra Lee

10 Reasons Why You Should Not Buy Any Cookbook by Food Network's Sandra Lee

Do you love good food? How about quick and convenient but tasty food? Are you searching for kid friendly recipes? Why not some entertaining and decorating advice so you can look like a pro? If so then you must steer clear of anything written by Food Network's Semi-Homemade queen Sandra Lee.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good meal I can throw together with shortcuts. There are ways to do it right, and there are ways to do it wrong. I'm just not sure I can count how many ways Sandra Lee does it wrong. On the surface her philosophy is ok…70% store bought ingredients and 30% fresh foods (although really, where does she suppose we're getting the fresh foods? ok, ok, I'll be fair, there are gardeners out there.)

Take a look at an episode of Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee on Food Network; peruse her website semihomemade.com; or a glance at some recipes in her cookbooks and you will begin to understand what is so wrong with her philosophy. I happened to come into possession of a cookbook, and tried a couple of recipes. Yikes, I certainly won't buy her cookbooks, but I will catch her show - -it's quite comical.

From simply silly to "she's kidding right?" to the disgusting and completely irresponsible, here are 10 reasons not to buy her cookbooks:

1. "She's kidding right?" Let's start with a romantic tip. It begins with pixie stix…or maybe it ends with pixie stix, because I can almost guarantee that a bed "dusted" with a gritty pixie stix mixture will be a very lonely bed. Yes, this was an actual tip on her website for a romantic evening. Want a romantic recipe to go with that pixie stix dusted romantic evening? Try autopsy salmon…oh wait, that's the term affectionately coined by the anti-Sandra Lee "shrikes" (that's another story)…it's tropical salmon. Looks like 4 salmon filets being prepared for autopsy: http://www.semihomemade.com/entertaining/04_romantic.htm

2. Convenience? Not around here. Her cookbooks are full of brand name recommendations after almost every ingredient. I haven't seen a cookbook filled with more product endorsements, and that includes manufacturer's own cookbooks. Many of the convenient brand names are only available on one coast, or in her market area. Besides, do we really need to buy the brand of butter or flour she recommends? Novice cooks would be very confused.

3. Simply silly: Recipes for macaroni and cheese. No, I don't mean homemade mac 'n cheese, that would be too much work. I mean Kraft boxed mac 'n cheese. Again, don't get me wrong, Kraft mac 'n cheese is a guilty pleasure. My kids love it with corn added.

But here are three basic recipes: Kraft mac 'n cheese, Mexican seasoning and Mexican cheese blend. Prepare the mac 'n cheese, transfer to a baking dish, sprinkle with seasoning and cheese, bake; Kraft mac 'n cheese, Italian bread crumbs, butter. Prepare mac n'cheese, transfer to a baking dish, mix Italian bread crumbs with melted butter, sprinkle on top of mac 'n cheese, bake; Kraft mac 'n cheese, leftover broccoli. Prepare mac 'n cheese (recognize a theme here), stir in broccoli, transfer to a baking dish, bake. Do we really need a recipe for these side of the box recommendations?

4. Integrity is not found with Ms. Lee. Yes, this has nothing to do with recipes or cooking, but it's awfully hard to support financially with very little integrity. Biggest case in point: in print, in online articles, and in interviews she has claimed to be a "lifestylist". Except the term Lifestylist is copyrighted and owned by another lady. Sandra Lee has been asked repeatedly to stop using the term and she continues to use it. Not cool.

5. Tablescapes, or how to look ridiculous. Tablescape? Every show has a tablescape; every meal she makes has a theme, including redecorating the kitchen to match. How's that for convenience? But it gets even better (or more ridiculous). Here are a few examples: a. Happy Harley day. Ok, just the silliness of that title gets me…how many Harley riders are going to jump at the chance for a Happy Harley Day themed dinner? She recommends borrowing a Harley from a friend, OR renting one for the day to act as a background for her party. I'm surprised she didn't use it as a cake stand. She also says to add playful touches like beaded "hottie" napkin rings; tic tac toe games; and a "macho" menu with steaks (good) and martinis (huh?), ending with white cupcakes. Heh, cupcakes-Harley party…………… oh, sorry had to get up off the floor. Example b. This was actually done on her show. A nice picnic in a local park, good start. She dragged out a table, chairs (dining chairs), and the piece de resistance: she hung an old crystal chandelier from a tree. Do I even need to go on?

6. Angel food cakes. Prepared Angel food cakes. Dolled up, prepared Angel food cakes. Hey, I like angel food cake and it's much more convenient to just buy them. No problem. What she does to cakes (and her obsession with them) is pretty darn strange, or another exercise in "did we need a recipe for that?" Recipe: three different kinds of berries, sugar, and prepared cake. Mash the berries with the sugar slightly, spoon over angel food cake. Sounds like a sound serving suggestion, but a recipe? Kwaanza cake: angel food cake with frosting, corn nuts (yes, I said corn nuts), and other ingredients. A birthday bash angel food cake: stuff the hole with mini marshmallows, frost (just the thought of frosted angel food gets me, maybe that's just me) and since we're at the beach stick candles in it made of citronella. That's right, citronella. Yummy. No bugs in your stomach.

7. Which leads me to: insulting. There is the lovely Hanukkah angel food cake. The cake is another prepared cake, sure no problem again. Stuffed with marshmallows in the hole to make frosting easier. Aren't most marshmallows made with gelatin, which is made from pork? Nice Jewish tradition there. The cake is frosted in blue, then topped with a pearl Star of David….with 7 points. The insulting part: the Star of David has 6 points. Want to see her insult a country: did you know that France is the "city of lights". I always thought France was a country, silly me.

8. Alcohol. Oh my, she enjoys her cocktail time. Just watch her shows; you'll see the glee that comes with the impending cocktail time. Never mind that the drinks are usually filled with more alcohol than flavoring. Each show has a cocktail time and she seems to not be able to wait to get to it. The sheer irresponsibility of a recent show and recipe title is what really made me angry about Ms. Lee's alcohol obsession. The show was a Nascar party. The drink was called a "Cruisin' Cooler" and "driver friendly". If you look on the food network website, the recipe says just a splash of vodka…watch the show and there is more vodka than anything else. Either way, who in their right mind calls an alcoholic drink, "driver-friendly"? The sad thing is that Food Network has left the description up as is. Somebody call MADD.

9. Safety: Some recommendations given are absolutely unsafe. She told us to refill the liquid in a jar of jalapenos with water, then store. I already mentioned the citronella candle adorned child's birthday cake. How about chunks of fruit and other things in a large number of drinks? She frequently says to put frozen pieces of fruit in drinks to keep them cold. Hey Sandy, do you include Heimlich lessons with every party invitation?

10. Children. Child friendly she is not and this is involving her own nieces and nephews. Cute little Miss Stephanie has been a frequent guest on her show, poor thing. She made cupcakes with Aunt Sandy once. Aunt Sandy sent Miss Stephanie out of the room for the sprinkles the child wanted to put on the cupcakes. Dear Aunt Sandy proceeded to make fun of Miss Stephanie's cupcake frosting ability, something about if you have one that not frosted so nice, just hide it in the back. THEN she never let her niece put the sprinkles on the cupcake. She also made Port Wine Sauced sundaes in one show, and we watched while little Miss Stephanie, probably all of 8 years old at the time, take a spoonful of port wine sauce. Nice. Then if she bothers to include a child friendly drink in her shows, she says kids shouldn't feel left out at cocktail time. Alcoholics anonymous anyone?

These 10 reasons are just the tip of the iceberg. I feel sorry for novice cooks who think she is teaching them something really good. If you don't mind supporting the woman who promotes driver-friendly alcoholic drinks; cocktail time for the "kiddies"; unsafe food practices; unhealthy food (just take a look at all the packaged, processed foods); is culturally insulting and simply ridiculous, feel free to buy the books. If you want to discover what real food lovers feel about her, take a look at Televisionwithoutpity.com and search for Semi homemade with Sandra Lee…..snarky and funny commentary. If you simply want pure comedy gold: catch a few episodes of Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee and browse her cookbooks at the bookstore.