Ah yes, another month, another reason to pick on ole Dandy Sandy (aka I Loathe Sandra Lee). Many thanks to Joe and his evil friends for presenting him with the calendar that fuels our monthly stab at the Food Network’s most useless “cooking” show.
This month’s dish came to me while I was home from work sick and laying on the couch. I was watching the excellent Food Network shows that cradle the noon-time hour like a perfect hot dog bun; Boy Meets Grill, Molto Mario, Sara’s Secrets, Paula’s Home Cooking and Everyday Italian, getting hungrier and hungrier. No matter what you think of these five celebrity chefs, on these shows they bring something to the table that’s useful to home cooks of all levels.
So how is this related to Dandy Sandy? Well, they kept showing her commercial. He grating voice, her useless tablescapes, her stupid matchy-matchy outfits, her lurid, technicolor “cocktails”. I was on the fence about what to have for lunch. Should I call for takeaway? Should I not move and just starve? Should I just eat the block of Gruyere moldering in the fridge because it would be easy? Oh look, there’s Sandra Lee, again. NO. I will not be like her! No matter how shitty I feel, I. Will. COOK!
And so cook I did. I boiled up the shells leftover from the blueberry pasta, tossed in gorgeous, halved Greenmarket grape tomatoes, harvested some basil from the plant on my windowsill, pulled out some Salem blue and asiago cheeses, added a few capers and finished it all with a healthy glug of my extra special Croatian olive oil. It was delicious, comforting and soul satisfyingly easy. And,
most importantly? Not a can in sight. (Okay, there was a jar for the capers, but seriously people, you can’t expect me to make my own capers too!).
So, of the ingredients in this months I Loathe Sandra Lee “recipe”; sour cream, McCormack curry powder, Dole pineapple chunks, an avocado, an apple and bowtie pasta; I used only one, and I used the “wrong” shape to boot! How’s that make me feel? Great!
I’m posting this early as I’m headed up to the ‘dacks for a few days with my family, and you know what? This means there’s still time for all of you guys out there to enter!
Just make something real from one (or none) of the ingredients listed above, post it, and then email the link to: joe AT foodienyc DOT com by July 31st! Happy REAL cooking ya’ll!
Sweet! Looks delicious, fresh and wholesome.
It looks gorgeous! Take that Snadra Lee. Have a good time with your family–bring back pictures and stories.
That’s a beautiful salad.
Someone told me that the reason Sandra Lee always serves cocktails is that you’d have to be drunk to eat some of the stuff she (pretend) cooks. It seems like a reasonable explanation to me.
HA! julie, awesome! i love it!
s’kat, i’m assuming i’ll be seeing your entry in ilsl by the time i get back, no?
and thanks sher, i will have fun, and you just know there’ll be piccies!
yay! happy weekend ya’ll!
what´s that about not making your own capers? tut tut.
I don´t even know who Sandra Lee is , but she sounds a perfect nightmare. Your post made me laugh.
I HATE Sandra Lee! (And I just discovered your blog, which I love). I thought I was alone on an island of seething hatred of what you so rightly term her “matchy matchy”-ness. But I still love Food Network and Mario’s orange shoes.
Sandra Lee has got to go.