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I didn't watch the show, but I've always been a little uncomfortable with the personal vitriol directed at Sandra Lee (and Rachel Ray, and a few others). I certainly don't watch her show, and wouldn't make any of her recipes, but that doesn't mean she's not a good person. Good for FN for humanizing her.

I'm with crazyspice on this one. Yeah, she had a rough upbringing; I know a lot of people who have. Her food combos are disgusting. Does she even test these recipes before she puts them on her show. And a chef friend of mine says some of the info she gives is inaccurate. And why do her recipes get so many negative reviews on the FN website? So many in fact, that the FN refuses to publish many of them? I'm sure some folks are just being trolls, but IMO, where there is smoke.....there is fire.

Even if it is semi-homemade.

I agree with kateeatsalot and Karen and especially share the sentiment that the ugly comments on the part of a certain segment of the cooking/eating community seem unduly nasty and personal. As Karen said, if you don't like it, change the channel.

Very few people have the time and/or the budget to live up to the expectations of putting a perfect gourmet meal on the table every night. While many who love to cook desire being able to afford only the best (and toniest) of ingredients and kitchen gadgets, it's getting harder every day to put a reasonably healthy and tasty meal on most American tables. As unfathomable as it is to many of us who love to cook and who desire to learn as much as we can, the fact is that cooking is not something everyone enjoys. It's a skill that many people feel too intimidated to learn. The result is that a lot of families (and singles) wind up going through the fast food lane or opting for frozen meals.

Love 'em or hate 'em, certain TV food personalities do encourage and inspire people to at least attempt a home-cooked meal by demonstrating that it's not as hard as the cooking-challenged may think, it's not as time-consuming as it seems, and it's affordable. How frustrating would it be for a woman with 3 young kids, a job and a picky husband to watch the "higher end" cooking shows and figure out how she would ever have the time or money to put one of those meals on the table. So...I think there's room for everybody. Vive la difference!

Don't like the way Sandra Lee comes across on TV and her recipes are a joke. When she appears on the screen we change the channel as quick as possible. It's just that easy.

If she had such a rough upbringing and is now trying to help busy parents eat well, why does she have to feature some sort of alcoholic drink in every episode. I mean, it's just ridiculous to think that at every meal you should decorate your table, put place cards, and serve some sort of strong booze. In my opinon, she has abandoned her past and is trying to be something she can't.

Store-bought angel Food Cake frosted in Cool Whip. I can't get past it. It's a deal-breaker for me. I couldn't watch the "Chefography" because I just don't think of her as a "chef".

I don't think that's being "mean" about her; I'm just being honest.

Well of course she's not a chef. A chef is someone who runs a professional kitchen.

But then again, I think that most people who go out to eat in the majority of restaurants that exist would be completely taken aback by the amount of "semi-homemade" being served them under the guise of "freshly prepared" in-house food. The term "chef" and what it supposedly represents to the customer at the table might have to be looked at more closely, actually - given the general state of the industry. But that would ruin a lot of happy times spent by people who now feel as if they are being pampered in the way of being personally cared for when they spend their hard-earned dollars dining out.

That goes double for bakeries. Or maybe triple even.
...............................................

The alcohol thing is interesting. Didn't Julia take a tipple quite often also, on TV?

Poor Sandra. Not only is she successful and doing something that actually may help other young people who may be in the position she once apparently was in if they watch her show and try to cook something rather than grabbing for the bag of chips, now the girl can't even have a drink!

In confidence: Though I may have learned to cook from books and not-semihomemade-style, ending up as a chef . . . I have a sister-in-law who though she comes from a family with a good Mom-cook at home was terrified to cook herself. I remember the first time she made brownies at the age of 17, from a microwave carton thingie. It was the only way she could manage to approach the idea of cooking, and she loved doing it.

Years later she now can cook many things, some semi some total.

Life is a progression. Or it should be, in many ways.

The past several days I've noticed that a Campbell's soup ad that draws attention to their website (and their mostly easy, non-gourmet recipes) is often toward the top right of certain pages here on SE. I've laughed to myself more than once, wondering when someone is going to be offended enough by the ad to start a petition and demand its removal. Me, I don't care.

Telling them that every meal is worth the effort would mean questioning their values, and that doesn’t exactly make for stellar ratings. I’ll tell you emphatically that she is not making cooking accessible—she is making it seem unnecessary.

Interesting post, vinovamp. :)

Cooking, to some people may be an art. To others, a craft. Others, a way to nurture. Etc etc.

It is many things, different to each person.

The other category it falls into, though, is that of "carework". Carework is work done that somehow gives care to others. It traditionally falls within the scope of women's work throughout history. And it is something that more and more is being outsourced, the work being taken out of the home and into the hands of professionals outside the home.

This has happened with sewing clothes which used to be done at home. Childcare is another category of carework which is moving out into the world of outsourcing as more and more women choose to work outside the home.

Is cooking at home necessary? Many people obviously do not think so - they do not cook but choose rather to outsource their food. For many people, it really is not necessary. They may be wealthy and choose to hire a private chef, they may just not like to cook but rather enjoy supporting the restaurants in their geographic area, or they may like to spend their time simply opening a can or two rather than cooking from scratch.

Cooking may be necessary to some people based on their personal value system. I like to cook. But I also do not think it's necessary, and in the future it may be even less necessary.

Kwanzaa Cake. That is all.

@vinovamp -- I think the point Karen was trying to make is that many people actually believe that they can't take a whole chicken, stick a few garlic cloves under the skin, rub it with salt and pepper and throw it in the oven. They believe the hype -- it is too hard, too time consuming, too complicated. Sandra Lee is for those people. Face it, there are HUGE segments of our society who probably don't even know what a whole chicken looks like -- they use Hamburger Helper and Ragu spaghetti sauce and mac & cheese from a blue box. For them, what Sandra Lee does really IS a step up. A baby step, admittedly, but a step.

And really, isn't it better that someone make some god-awful casserole in a slow cooker and set a table to eat a meal with their family rather than serve chicken in a bucket take out?

Kwanzaa cake and the other hideous stuff aside, she is not trying to reach the Serious Eats crowd ... she is trying to reach people who think of food as fuel and cooking as a chore that is beyond their skills. And maybe even teaching a few of them that it can be a pleasure. Who knows, maybe they'll even graduate to Rachel Ray :-)

Bwah hahahaha! You guys are funny. I can't help myself.

Kwanzaa Cake with CornNuts.

ROLFMAO.
Sorry, Sandra. :)

Ouch. My karma hurts now.

@vinovamp - If you read my comments carefully, you will note that I never said Sandra Lee's creations (nor anyone else's) are either healthy or tasty. The point was apparently missed. My point is that the chefs/cooks that the food snobs laud do not, for the most part, demonstrate meals that are affordable for the average American family that is struggling to make ends meet. It's common knowledge that the healthiest foods at the store are usually the most expensive. For the most part, processed foods are the cheapest. A can of peaches is available year round. Two fresh peaches in the average supermarket taste like cardboard and are a good value maybe two months out of the year. Is that a pretty fact? No, but it's reality for a lot of people. A can of peaches or a fried apple pie from McDonald's? Neither is ideal but a can of peaches is a step in the right direction. We'd all love everybody to have a perfect understanding of food additives, nutrients, calories and so forth. We'd all love everyone to eat only organic foods and never have a trace of pesticide or bovine growth hormone cross a child's lips. We'd all love everyone to have the same understanding of cooking that we have, but reality is what it is.

You made a lot of leaps in logic in turning my comments into something they are not. Change doesn't happen by berating and adopting a patronizing attitude toward those you don't agree with. Perhaps you could channel your passion into an effort to bring lessons in nutrition as well as P.E. classes back to our public schools or start a public awareness campaign about the vagaries of fast food. Lobby for better school lunches at your next school board meeting. Go to a food pantry and chat with the underprivileged people about how to roast chicken when they pick up their food baskets. Turn over some earth, pour some concrete and bring sidewalks back to our neighborhoods to encourage everyone to walk more. If it makes you feel better to mock me instead, fine. I'm going to go for an invigorating walk in the rain.

@MelsDiner...oy, OK, in no way did I mean to offend or turn your comments into something they weren't. If YOU read carefully, you'd note that I never implied you thought her creations were healthy or tasty. I merely used something you said (which made complete sense) as a spring board to a point i was trying to make. Yes, I completely agree that the least healthy food is the cheapest...as a working mother I get it, believe me. As much as I'd like organic food in my kitchen, it isn't there, so please don't think I'm preaching. Lastly, please don't pretend to know what I do and don't do with my time and my passion...THAT is a leap in judgement. And if you noticed, I conceded to someone else's point about her being a step up. I don't think I mocked anyone other than Sandra and the Food Network. C'est la vie.

But some packaged stuff is more expensive than fresh, isn't it?

Would FN put her on Iron Chef, ya think? That would be classic.

There are a lot of valid arguments being made, but many of you are failing to recognize something. Despite your personal feelings on Sandra Lee and her lack of "cooking" skills, it's important to realize that the kids of the women who "cook" like Sandra Lee are really the ones suffering.

It sounds silly to say, but growing up my mom made horrendous concoctions, much like Aunt Sandy, and I grew up hating food. I thought vegetables would always be boiled mush that came from frozen bags, I thought cheese came from a can and gravy was made from a packet of powder. Women, like my mother, who cook like Sandra Lee are set in their ways, but it sucks for the kids. I grew up thinking that food was an unneccessary requirement to live- not that it was good or tasty or challenging to make, but that it was bland and tasteless and came from a can. Then, I grew up. I taught myself how to make fresh bread, how to make stock, how to make a decent sauce. Hell, I can even make pasta now! If someone would have told me as little as five years ago that I would turn into a major foodie that loved to cook I would have laughed in their face.

I suppose the reason why people find food and cooking so intimidating is because it seems as if foodies and chefs take themselves too seriously. Cooking is fun! It seems as if there's this group of people we're refusing to say exists: You either have to cook crap food or put gourmet organic food on the table every night. Believe it or not, there are people who don't use Velveeta and who don't know what foi gras is, but they can still put a decent meal on the table every night of the week for their family.

Yes, I made this post and yes, I DO have a new found respect for Sandra Lee. Not for her food, but for her tenacity and her ability to overcome adversity. We can argue about how her food isn't nutritious, we can get into philosophical debates about whether or not she actually "cooks," but I think her greatest diservice is leading people to believe that processed, pre-made crap is what you HAVE to eat when you're on a budget. I'm a freelance writer, I make crap money and I'm on an incredibly limited budget, but if you want to eat well, you will. I may have to go to three different grocery stores to find the cheapest meat, I may have to buy produce at Walmart, I may have to plan every meal in advance, but it's worth doing because eating well and creating meals that are both nutritious and delicious is VERY important to me and if you have kids or care about yourself in any way, it should be important to you too. Just because you place your processed food on pretty (though that could be argued as well) "tablescapes" doesn't disguise the food you are serving. Your kids may think having a place card is fun when they're four, but by age sixteen they're going to hate food and tear their hair out if they have to eat another one of your Cambell's crockpot creations.

Hold the phone!!! Where are you, chiff0nade? I know you have something to say! Help me out here!!!

Yes, I have to admit that it appears Aunt Sandy is really trying (mostly) to assist working class families cook better and appreciate upscale food with "a more sophisticated flavor profile" from her more (waaaay) down-to-earth level. And, you know, working class families certainly need cocktail hour and a tablescape, as well.

One thought - If you cut back on all the booze and table decorations, could you not afford to purchase fresh mushrooms rather than canned?

OK, just one more thought - then I'm done. Chefography - working term being "Chef"; is it no longer a requirement to attain a degree from a culinary institution to be referred to as "Chef"? Sandra Lee - uh, uh..., Rachel Ray - nope..., Paula Dean - na da... Is FN missing an integral component here?

People aren't born knowing how to cook. If a person didn't learn how to cook from parents or other family members, how do they learn? Most don't go to culinary school. Cookbooks can be overwhelming, if you've never sauteed anything in your life.

SL may in fact be the "gateway drug" to serious cooking. First, you learn that throwing cans of things together is better than a steady diet of Burger King. Then you learn how to boil water, and you find out that fresh foods aren't so difficult. Maybe you can make a meal in 30 minutes (or a quick-fix meal) with a few pantry items and some advance planning. Pretty soon, you can make a whole meal without opening a single box, bottle or can, and you're hooked.

@Karen Resta: I'm not suggesting that eating well means that the food you take in has to be approved by the current crop of celebrity chefs or by foodies. I mean eating in a way that is factually better for your heart and health; fruits, vegetables, grains. No, I dont think people who eat lots of processed foods and fast food have "bad taste," but I think once you've been conditioned with a certain kind of food, "good" food is hard to stomach because it's not filled with salt and fat. Let's face it, if you were raised on McDonalds and Cambell's soup recipes, the idea of an artichoke or tilapia is going to be difficult to wrap your mind (or lips around). I was a nanny for a family four for an entire year. Buying enough groceries on their small budget to feed such a large family with two small children three times a day WAS difficult, but it can be done. I did all of the cooking and I applaud busy parents and single moms. Being a nanny for a year made me realize that parents are amazing (it also made me realize that I will never be mature enough to have children of my own). I guess my point is, people NEED to eat better, and by better I don't mean gourmet food. I mean healthily. I would assume that the reason why Americans are so over weight is because of the kinds of foods they are putting in their body. It's hard to say that eating processed food isn't neccessarily a bad thing when it does horrible things to your health. Wouldn't you agree?

I was raised by a mother who did not cook, PumpkinBear, so I know about that. It was not difficult for me to wrap my mind around different things to eat, and I am not so impressed by myself that I believe it is difficult for any other person raised in this way to do so. After all, kids either take on the ways of their parents or they don't, and throughout time it's been a toss of the coin as to what happens with that, no? :)

The health issues you speak of are real. Your point is well made.

On the other hand, I've seen as many overweight people in photos on gourmet food boards as I've seen shopping for potato chips at Wal-Mart, the only difference being (to my mind) that the ones on the food boards have a superiority complex about it whereas the ones shopping for chips and dip are just doing it without any pretension.

It's a puzzle, all right. But each person must choose their own way.

Sandra Lee does not make people fat. People make themselves fat, and not always due to semi-homemade.

@chiff - (((((CLAPPING, CLAPPING)))))

I'm having a hard time understanding what ya'll are bickering about, because although I rarely join in, I'm an avid reader of everyones comments. Most of the time, I've come to realize, you are NOT food snobs, but rather, have very keen minds, are lovers of laughter and fun, and have a passion for good food. What seems to be happening here is people who joke and share good thoughts are turning on one another, and ya know what? Sandra Lee still has her show and is not phased at all by what's happening here. If you are as offended by what she's doing as you seem to be, why not appeal to the FN to get her off the air? Picking each other to pieces will only cause some of you to leave SE, and that would be a shame. There are always going to be people who are intolerent of others, who can't, or won't empathize with others, who, if they've had a rough life and survived, have no tolerence for others who have done the same---especially if they've achieved something greater, and not only earn a good living, but enjoy what they do. Can't you let SL go, and use your energy to create peace and harmony amongst you, because you're not hurting, or in any way affecting SL's life, but if you take a few minutes to go back and read all that's been said, you'll see what you're doing to one another.
JudyV

@ Karen Resta and SEters- I stand humbly corrected. Just goes to show how a couple of Sandra-tinis can cloud one's judgement...

SLop makes junk food.

That's right. She gets no applause for this.

...someone (lots of someones) think she's worthwhile enough to actually have a TV show...

It helped that the old coot she married had lots of money and helped "finance" her endeavors, regardless of how shallow or frivilous. She stayed married to him long enough to squeeze his wallet; or until he got tired of bagged angel food cake, whichever came first.

Sandra Lee is not a cook. She is not even a reasonable facsimile of a cook. She is a sham.

Sprinkling salt on the remains of a partially-eaten McDonald's hamburger withdrawn from a curbside garbage pail does not make it appetizing. Plopping Cool Whip on a bagged angel food cake has about the same effect. It's lipstick on a pig.

JudyV - We bicker because this is a food forum.

Elmo would actually be a great partner to Sandra Lee, chiff. As would Miss Piggy and Chef from South Park.

I don't have to respect Sandra as a cook, because what she is - is a television performer. As is any person who goes on TV whether it be in the guise of an actor or in the guise of their particular profession.

On the other hand, in her own "spin-off" way, SL is a follower in the tradition (some would add feminist tradition) of Peg Bracken, author of The I Hate To Cook Book.

From the introduction to that book:
Some women, it is said, like to cook.
This book is not for them.
This book is for those of us who hate to, who have learned, through hard experience, that some activities become no less painful through repetition: childbearing, paying taxes, cooking. This book is for those of us who want to fold our big dishwasher hands around a dry Martini instead of a wet flounder, come the end of a long day.

Though I can and when I want to I do cook, I also believe in the inclusion of women do not like to cook into the general embrace of my interest and admiration. Oh - and men too of course.

Honey, you don't have to cook at all to be respected by me.

Everyone brings something to the table of life. Some bring other things than the food, and that's not only okay, it's good.

As for Food Network, if they thought based on ratings that Sandra needed to go, I'm sure she'd be gone pretty quickly. Advertisers want viewers for they money they pay. The viewers must be there in this case.

Actually before prying myself away from this computer for the rest of the day I must say that I think we are quibbling as much or more than we are bickering.

Arguably, quibbling is a much finer activity than bickering. It is a quite respectable activity.

@MelsDiner....truce, friend. Now what's say we have a get-together to celebrate the peace and we'll make that Kwanzaa cake Karen keeps talking about! :-)

I'm sort of enjoying reading what my father used to call "a spirited exchange of ideas."

Me and Sandra Lee - We have a strange relationship, she and I. As much as I can't stand her/love Semi-Homemade (The show? Come on! It's like Mystery Science Theater 3000 for food! It's cheesetastic!), she's clearly good at what she does. But what she does is not cook well. What she does is tell people that it's okay to base your entire meal on Cream of Mushroom soup and some corn nuts. Which for a lot of people works. You know, I just went into Amazon to check the reviews of her books, and with the exception of "Made From Scratch" (and how ironic is that?)and "Semi-Homemade Desserts" her cookbooks come in at 4 1/2 to 5 stars. So there's a huge fan base out there for her.

Which I don't exactly get, but to each his own. The Food Network, despite what so many people seem to believe, does not have a responsibility to provide only well thought out, intelligent, health-conscious food programming. If they did that they'd be out of business. They need advertisers. Advertisers pay the bills. With a show like SH, it's practically a half hour infomercial for product placement.

Now this may be why so many of us here at SE don't watch all that much FDTV and wax poetic about the old days. So they don't need to appeal to us. They need to appeal to the people their kinds of advertisers want. And let me tell you (I'm in the industry), it's not the high-end balsamic vinegar crowd. It's the people who are frequent users Campbell's soup and canned peaches.

I SO don't want to get embroiled in this, but I think everybody is not seeing the elephant in the room. Why do you think FN hired her in the first place? Yes, she had money and connections through her hubby, but if she looked like a female Mario and couldn't cook, they would have slammed the door in her face. She is a walking, funny talking, real live Barbie doll with some smarts and a personality, along with the blue eyes, long blonde hair and big boobs. She can move around the kitchen and talk while she pops li'l things in the oven and pops li'l tops off whipped topping. I don't think her concept of easy meals was the deciding factor. Women who don't like cooking probably don't watch cooking shows. Men who don't cook might watch Sandra Lee. So might men who cook real food. As someone just said regarding Iron Chef, it's all about entertainment. Many of us foodies watch her for the shock of it all.

I wanted to echo the sentiment: What Sandra Lee attempts to do is indeed noble. It's the execution that fails miserably. Short cuts? Who doesn't love them?? But they need to be real food short cuts.

The first time I watched an ep of Semi-Homemade, I did so with optimism that somehow, some way, this woman was going to make my life easier. I was hoping for an improvement on Rachael Ray, but it was not to be. If I could relay to you the sound of my jaw clanking to the floor the first time she dumped a can of chicken and rice soup into a bowl of turkey stuffing, you'd laugh your heads off. It was right out of a Bugs Bunny Cartoon! "Whahhh? Chicken and rice soup?" And it only got worse. (Corn nuts on cake, LaChoy canned Chinese Vegetables in salad, not to mention the frequent and haphazard use of Cool Whip...)

I'd rather see someone buy a rotisserie chix and cole slaw on the way home from work than "cook" like Sandra Lee. I know everyone does not derive pleasure from cooking but the garbage ingredients used by Lee do not constitute a solution. Show people how to cook simply and easily - using real food - and you'll have that problem solved. So far, RR comes the closest.

WOW!! I didn't realize what she is actually cooking! I watched her show twice, when it first aired, couldn't make sense of what she was cooking, and haven't watched it since. I did see her 'Chef'ography, and because of her childhood, it seemed to me she was/is trying to be Miss Perfect, but only to a certain bunch of people. When she first went on air, it was said she compared herself to Martha, and could outdo Martha in all things, but in a way that would appeal to 'regular' people. Well, when I saw her matching everything, and her tablescapes, and what she seems to think is the highlight of her show, the booze, I simply quit watching. Her food, IMO, was, as ya'll (sorry, I know ya'll hate that---ya'll, this is) say, SLop, so there was no reason to keep viewing.
All I was trying to say was, while most everyone here was bickering, or quibbling with each other, possibly losing 'friends' and causing others to leave, SL is totally oblivious to your feelings, and probably laughs all the way to the bank on payday, or when her royalty checks roll in. I thought it would be a shame to lose, in a manner of speaking, to SL. Since I am new to this site, or any food forum, I wasn't aware this is how everyone behaves. Having said that, I'll bet Elmo cooks better than SL, and he's so cute and cuddly, and best of all, unpretentious.
JudyV

He sure did. That Elmo gets around, ya know? If I remember correctly, that time Paula cooked better than Elmo, even though he questioned her use of SOOOO much butter, mayo and sour cream. That may have been the day she made blueberry dumplings, which are to die for, but the dumplings are heavy on the butter. Of course, that's what makes them so dad-blamed good. I'm trying to cut back on the use of so much butter and olive oil, so I don't wake up dead soon, but sometimes, as in Paula's b.berry dumplings, I just let go and next day take the dog out and run. So far, I'm still as plump as her dumplings, so I guess I need to work a bit harder.
JudyV

Most people I know, even those who enjoy good food, think I am nuts to make as much from scratch as I do. But I work at home, so I have the opportunity to knead a batch of bread and babysit it while it rises and bakes. If I worked outside the house, I'd buy bread, among other things.

Even the few people I know who do truly enjoy cooking and understand why I do what I do generally aren't in the position to spend as much time cooking as I do.

Because I know so few people in RL who I can talk to about cooking, and who understand my passion, I go online, to places like this, where you-all understand what I'm talking about.

Would we be SL fans? Probably not. Would we love to eat her food? Probably not on purpose. But does she appeal to a significant majority of the other people who aren't like us food weirdos? Probably. Thus, she draws an audience to FN, which isn't a bad thing. I mean, you have to start somewhere.

And like any other recipes, folks can change what she does to suit their preferences. It's pretty simple to look at a SL recipe and say "I'll substitute fresh green bean and homemade marinara for the frozen beans and jarred sauce, and the combination could be good." Not that I'd do that, because I don't watch SL and there are plenty of other places I get my inspiration. But other people might make that leap and end up with 70 percent scratch and 30 percent store bought. It's a beginning. It wouldn't be hard for most people watch what she does and upgrade it a bit, and if that's what it takes to get them out of the fastfood lane and the frozen dinner aisle, it's fine with me.

I seriously doubt there are people who watch SL and nothing else on FN, which is another redeeming factor for her show. They watch her, because it's all they're capable of at this time in their lives, but maybe they tune in to RR or Ellie Kreiger or Mario Batali or someone else, and they see the difference, and they aspire to upgrade their cooking skills.

Everyone starts somewhere. Hopefully they move on.

That might have made me laugh also, geauxtger. But it also would have made the usual business meeting full of dull people, boring food and lack of creative ideas into something memorable and different.

Did several people really run horrified from the room? Wow. I'd like to see that - it sounds like a movie.
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I'm wondering, after thinking about it more, if one of the major sub-sets that watches SL is the "I don't want to touch real food at all" group. It's the touching part that bothers this group - it's too messy, too real, too visceral . . . sort of a bit more extreme than people who can only eat meat poultry or fish if it is plastic wrapped and without eyes or feathers. So that the food is not only about time-and-money saving while looking as if there were personal care going into it but more about distancing oneself from the reality of what food is to start off with - something rather messy.

But some packaged stuff is more expensive than fresh, isn't it?

Definitely. That's the "lying" aspect of why I dislike Lee so much. Her opening sequence's voiceover says, "Semi-homemade will save you time and money." Neither is true. It takes time to hunt down all that day glo food and fake stuff; and prepared food is sold at a premium. You pay for the "convenience."

Would FN put her on Iron Chef, ya think? That would be classic.

Only if they'd promise not to edit out the part where she bursts into tears and runs from the kitchen, horrified that the secret ingredient is untrimmed chicken breast.. She'll also go mad when she realizes there's not a bucket of Cool Whip on prem; nor is there any pre-chopped garlic. No corn nuts. No cake mix. She's screwed.

BF has a sense of humor. We were just in Sam's Club and I ran back to get gum. (God forbid I can't chew my Eclipse...)

When I caught up to him, he was at the books. He said, "I found a good book for you." I saw a beautiful bread book propped up on the book stand. It's magnificent even though I haven't a clue who Margaux Skye happens to be. It was inexpensive so I grabbed it and said, "Thanks!" When I got to the cart, SLop's book was also in it. I spun around and he was already hysterical laughing.

I put SLop's book back.

Face down.

Sandra Lee: the world will only be safe once she is cleaved in two.