Sandra Lee's Show...

[Megan Blocker]

Uh oh, gotta go now.  Sandy's making her hoe down cocktail with apple cider, cinnamon schnapps, bourbon and peach liquer.  And she's decorating her "hoe-scape" for your backyard.

WHOOT!

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Wow. Can you say hangover?

[Angela Alaimo]

I think the Hoedown Show might have been the most difficult one I've ever watched. When Sandy Girl whipped out the packet of powdered "cheese" from the Kraft Dinner box, I actually felt a wave of queasy-ness. Fearing perhaps I am a Food Snob (I am :-)) and am missing her Brilliant point, I ran to my DH and related the list of ingredients to him. The look on his face mirrored the unpleasantry in my stomach. He agreed he wouldn't wish to eat that corn, even though he is the King of Eating Corn on the Cob.

He really is. I wish I had about 5 acres just to grow him some corn to make him happy in the Corn category.

OTOH, let us not forget yesterday she made a "mousse" with Cool Whip, and low fat Cool Whip, at that. Well, she called it "mousse", so your mileage may vary.

Gosh. Also on the FDTV today was numerous ads for RR's new Travel show, and then! Can it Be!, A Cook's Tour was on at 2:30pm (daytime!) EDT (Japanese episode). Now.... which would you prefer....a Rachel Ray travel show, or an AB travel show. Or maybe you're really wishing for Sandy on tour travel show...<g,d,r> This makes me off topic, right?

Angela

[Kris]

I admit that convenience foods have their place in most American kitchens. However this woman's show should be cancelled immediately.

Her 'recipes' using some truly awful products (e.g. Kraft mac & cheese powder, canned veggies and canned icing) are just the pits.

My husband (who isn't much of a cook) thinks that her show has a place in this society - for people who are time pressed and who don't have much culinary skill. I think it has a place too...in the garbage can.

[M.X.Hassett]

"I think it has a place too...in the garbage can.", what would we have to talk about on this Topic page then Well i guess there would always be Flay, Emeril, and RR. I think Bourdain should do a guest appearence on Sandra's show, talk about a trip into the heart of darkness .

Edited August 29, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[chiffonade]

And, I'm showing my ignorance here, but what exactly is "tchatchke?" I must have missed that one.

A tchatchke is defined as a "cheap showy item," but has come to mean a decorative trinket that bears some emotional connection to the owner. i.e.: If you go to Disney World and have enough money left over after buying food and drinks to buy yourself a Mickey Mouse Snow Globe - you have just purchased a tchatchke to commemorate your visit.

[MarketStEl]

And did anyone else notice that after she picked up the first ear of corn to demonstrate how to remove the silk but leave the husk intact, she looked into the camera and said something along the lines of: "now, I'm going to need two more of these since I'm making six of them."   Yo Sandy, ONE PLUS TWO EQUALS THREE, NOT SIX!

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Did she say "I want you to cut the ears in half" at some point downstream from this moment?

Probably not. What was she thinking?

Was she thinking? Or are there producers at her house that do all the thinking for her as well?

[Jaymes]

And, I'm showing my ignorance here, but what exactly is "tchatchke?" I must have missed that one.

A tchatchke is defined as a "cheap showy item," but has come to mean a decorative trinket that bears some emotional connection to the owner. i.e.: If you go to Disney World and have enough money left over after buying food and drinks to buy yourself a Mickey Mouse Snow Globe - you have just purchased a tchatchke to commemorate your visit.

Yiddish. Pronounced, roughly, 'chotchkee.' And also defined as a 'dust-catcher.'

[Jaymes]

Back to the original topic of thread re: her show being renewed for two years.  I've been wondering if this isn't just an elaborate hoax being perpetrated on all of us--Snadra included--by Gordon Elliott. 

That thought has crossed my mind as well. After all, she seems to be a ratings darling, for whatever reason. And has even spawned several websites. So who knows.

But one thing of note....

The original post on this thread was last year. So, as of today, maybe she's only been renewed for one more year, rather than two.

[mrbigjas]

After three days of thinking about it, I finally figured out what I find so offensive about this ep.  Sandra has reduced the cuisine of my heritage to envelope salad dressing and tarragon, neither of which any self-respecting Italian would use.  The last Italian ep was merely a comedy.  This is an insult.  And a disgrace.

you should see her 'indian' show, in which she:

1. makes 'nan' using canned pizza crust

2. turns a mango lassi into a cocktail by adding vanilla vodka to it

3. makes 'chicken masala' using a can of cream of chicken soup concentrate

or her 'asian' show where she makes a 'scallion pancake' by putting together a couple of tortillas; she also fries up rice noodles, puts powdered sugar on them, and calls them 'asian funnel cakes.'

so yeah, it's nothing personal to italians. that show zooms from zero to cultural insensitivity in about five minutes, and continues in that vein the whole rest of the episode. you just gotta embrace it--it goes far beyond the cultural issues into the sublimely ridiculous. i mean, in one episode she pan fries a ribeye, and them makes a 'sauce' for it with canned spaghetti sauce, red wine, beef stock, pumpkin pie spice and chocolate chips. in another, she makes 'cookies' by taking a can of frosting, mixing it with butter and graham cracker crumbs and rolling it in crushed almonds--and tops it off with a hershey's kiss. between that and her cocktails that she makes out of things like maraschino cherry juice, i don't know how she hasn't developed type 2 diabetes.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that the show is brilliant, as are the 'reviews' of her recipes on foodnetwork.com, as are the sites that make fun of her. you just need to put aside the concept that this is actually a cooking show, and think of it as a comedy.

[Megan Blocker]

i guess what i'm trying to say is that the show is brilliant, as are the 'reviews' of her recipes on foodnetwork.com, as are the sites that make fun of her.  you just need to put aside the concept that this is actually a cooking show, and think of it as a comedy.

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Post-modern satire, if you will. An SNL skit expanded to a full half-hour slot.

God, I hope it really it's meant to be as funny as it is. Do you think she knows her whole purpose is to make people laugh or, alternately, gasp in horror? Or is she the only one not in on the joke?

[divalasvegas]

After three days of thinking about it, I finally figured out what I find so offensive about this ep.  Sandra has reduced the cuisine of my heritage to envelope salad dressing and tarragon, neither of which any self-respecting Italian would use.  The last Italian ep was merely a comedy.  This is an insult.  And a disgrace.

you should see her 'indian' show, in which she:

1. makes 'nan' using canned pizza crust

2. turns a mango lassi into a cocktail by adding vanilla vodka to it

3. makes 'chicken masala' using a can of cream of chicken soup concentrate

or her 'asian' show where she makes a 'scallion pancake' by putting together a couple of tortillas; she also fries up rice noodles, puts powdered sugar on them, and calls them 'asian funnel cakes.'

so yeah, it's nothing personal to italians. that show zooms from zero to cultural insensitivity in about five minutes, and continues in that vein the whole rest of the episode. you just gotta embrace it--it goes far beyond the cultural issues into the sublimely ridiculous. i mean, in one episode she pan fries a ribeye, and them makes a 'sauce' for it with canned spaghetti sauce, red wine, beef stock, pumpkin pie spice and chocolate chips. in another, she makes 'cookies' by taking a can of frosting, mixing it with butter and graham cracker crumbs and rolling it in crushed almonds--and tops it off with a hershey's kiss. between that and her cocktails that she makes out of things like maraschino cherry juice, i don't know how she hasn't developed type 2 diabetes.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that the show is brilliant, as are the 'reviews' of her recipes on foodnetwork.com, as are the sites that make fun of her. you just need to put aside the concept that this is actually a cooking show, and think of it as a comedy.

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For the record mrbigjas exactly what episode did that "sauce" come from? And which ethnic groups did Ms. Sandy zero in on that time? I mean: "canned spaghetti sauce, red wine, beef stock"--she must have a whole warehouse full of canned beef stock [italians?]; "pumpkin pie spice" [Pilgrims?]; with "chocolate chips" added to make -- OH NO, was this last ingredient supposed to be her perverted attempt at making Mole sauce??? [Mexicans?] Wow, with one sauce she hit the culturally insensitive trifecta. Who's next: the Vikings?

[mrbigjas]

you just gotta embrace it--it goes far beyond the cultural issues into the sublimely ridiculous.  i mean, in one episode she pan fries a ribeye, and them makes a 'sauce' for it with canned spaghetti sauce, red wine, beef stock, pumpkin pie spice and chocolate chips.  in another, she makes 'cookies' by taking a can of frosting, mixing it with butter and graham cracker crumbs and rolling it in crushed almonds--and tops it off with a hershey's kiss.  between that and her cocktails that she makes out of things like maraschino cherry juice, i don't know how she hasn't developed type 2 diabetes.

For the record mrbigjas exactly what episode did that "sauce" come from? And which ethnic groups did Ms. Sandy zero in on that time? I mean: "canned spaghetti sauce, red wine, beef stock"--she must have a whole warehouse full of canned beef stock [italians?]; "pumpkin pie spice" [Pilgrims?]; with "chocolate chips" added to make -- OH NO, was this last ingredient supposed to be her perverted attempt at making Mole sauce??? [Mexicans?] Wow, with one sauce she hit the culturally insensitive trifecta. Who's next: the Vikings?

haha, it was no one specific--by that time i was kind of riffing on horrifying things i've seen her make. the beef with the sauce was on the 'romance' episode, and the 'cookies' were on the 'desserts and drinks' episode.

come to think of it, i think she did say it was 'like a mole' when she put in the chocolate, if i remember right. haha lordy be that was a good episode.

beef with sauce recipe here

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

or her 'asian' show where she makes a 'scallion pancake' by putting together a couple of tortillas; she also fries up rice noodles, puts powdered sugar on them, and calls them 'asian funnel cakes.'

Ah... she stole that one from Rachael Ray. Rachael tried to make parathas (sp?) by pouring beaten eggs and chopped scallions into a skillet, and then stuck a flour tortilla on the eggs before they had set.

The corn recipe from the Hoe-Down ep is a nasty imitation of Mexican elotes. In Mexican-American neighborhoods, there are vendors that sell corn on the cob, that is brushed with mayo and sprinkled with grated parmesean and chili powder.

[Jenny McClure]

Not only is her kitchen co-ordinated, but her clothing aswell. In one episode she was had made a "dress" out of the same fabric that was used as her tablescape and the curtains in the kitchen. WTF!! I think she aspires to be one of those scary women in the Stepford Wifes!!

[YoChefGregg]

-faux sizzle-

Is that the sound effects, via a foley studio, added to many of the FN cooking programs? Makes ya feel like your right in the kitchen.

[mrbigjas]

The corn recipe from the Hoe-Down ep is a nasty imitation of Mexican elotes. In Mexican-American neighborhoods, there are vendors that sell corn on the cob, that is brushed with mayo and sprinkled with grated parmesean and chili powder.

hahahaha i forgot about that one. with the cheese powder from kraft mac & cheese, right? it was somewhere around then that i just thought, this has to be a joke.

[takomabaker]

beef with sauce recipe here

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Oh my god, oh my god, oh my GOD, what did that ribeye do to her to deserve that sauce?

It gives new meaning to "cruelty-free meat".

I've been reading but not posting for a few weeks now, but just couldn't help myself on this one. I just got out of my Weight Watchers at Work meeting (which sucks but I'm on doctor's orders to lose a few pounds and lower my cholesterol) and spent an hour in a conference room with 15 women singing the praises of Rachel Ray. I went on Egullet to cheer up and, well, Rachel Ray and Weight Watchers are looking a whole lot better now.

Did she REALLY start that recipe with meat-flavored spaghetti sauce? How do they flavor it? Meat extract? And since she doesn't specify, does Boone's Farm count as "red wine"?

OH MY GOD!!! This woman can NOT be for real! This MUST be a joke. It reminds me of the Gallery of Regrettable Food that was circulating a few ago.

[chiffonade]

Not only is her kitchen co-ordinated, but her clothing aswell.  In one episode she was had made a "dress" out of the same fabric that was used as her tablescape and the curtains in the kitchen.  WTF!!  I think she aspires to be one of those scary women in the Stepford Wifes!!

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You left out the Kitchen Aid mixers. Every time she changes the color of the kitchen, the Kitchen Aid will match. I cringe every time she uses a KA to mix some ridiculous box cake or other abomination.

[John]

[MarketStEl]

beef with sauce recipe here

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Where are the brand names?

It can't be a Sandra Lee "Creation" without the Brand Names®.

[Megan Blocker]

beef with sauce recipe here

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Where are the brand names?

It can't be a Sandra Lee "Creation" without the Brand Names®.

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Maybe it's just SO horrible that absolutely no one is willing to be associated with it.

[Brad Ballinger]

No No No!!! Italian-Style Macaroni and Cheese.

[lesfen]

No No No!!!  Italian-Style Macaroni and Cheese.

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Oh dear lord, no.

She's on right now making bread pudding with boxed custard mix. Why would you go through the trouble of toasting nuts and separating eggs (both called for in the recipe), only to use a custard mix? I don't understand this woman!!!!

[takomabaker]

OK, I finally watched this woman. I had the misfortune of catching the episode in which she made potato salad with canned potatoes.

She kept making references throughout the show to her "entertaining" and the various and sundry friends from whom she picked up her "tips" and "recipes", and how much her guests at her parties loved this or that.

So I gotta know... who are these people who eat this food and sing its praises? Are they too polite to tell her that her food sucks? Are they just as clueless as she is? Does her rich husband pay people off to be her friend? Does she clone herself for dinner parties? I mean, exactly what would you do if you went to a dinner party and someone put potato salad made with canned potatoes in front of you?

I guess that's what all the booze is for.

[Moopheus]

No No No!!!  Italian-Style Macaroni and Cheese.

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To add insult to, uh, more insult (I suppose injury if you actually ate it), on the show she presents it as if putting bread crumbs on a baked mac and cheese is a creative variation. That no one would have thought of before, like the corn bread with corn kernels in it.