Critical Reaction
Amanda Hesser wrote in The New York Times that Lee "...seems more intent on encouraging people to create excuses for not cooking than on encouraging them to cook wholesome simple foods", concluding that "...she has produced two books in which she encourages a dislike for cooking, and gives people an excuse for feeding themselves and their families mediocre food filled with preservatives".
Food writer Anthony Bourdain has been harshly critical of Lee and described a video of Lee preparing a Kwanzaa cake as "eye searing". Lee's Kwanzaa Cake has been called "scary" by the Houston Chronicle, and "the most ghastly-sounding dish in Lee's culinary repertoire" by Tulsa World. Salon.com says the video "takes pride of place in the pantheon of hilarious culinary disaster videos".
The Charlotte Observer summarized the reaction to Lee by saying "It would be a stretch to call Sandra Lee semi-controversial. Judging from the reaction to her Food Network show 'Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra Lee,' she's completely controversial." Noting that Lee has both harsh critics and adoring fans, the Observer asked Lee about the criticism. She replied "I was surprised by the reaction on both sides", adding "that's how you know it's meaningful, when you get a reaction."
When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a review of Lee's cookbook Semi-Homemade Cooking that criticized both her recipe and her "Semi-Homemade" concept, the review's author received a response "that was more impassioned than I anticipated", with most readers agreeing with the article. However, a number of readers disagreed with the column. One reader wrote, "Lots of people who don't want to take the time to shred a cup of carrots want to cook a good meal."
Kurt Soller, writing for Newsweek, compared Lee's impact upon television cooking with that of Julia Child, noting that although Lee's show "is the furthest from Child's methods", both women "filled a niche that hasn't yet been explored".
Read more about this topic: Sandra Lee (cook)
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