I'm at a loss for words.

[valis2]

I'm watching an episode of Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade cooking.

Look, I'm not a cook. At all. Nor a baker. I hate cooking. I'm awful at it. So really, I'm not one to criticize a cooking show. Except that...holy cow. This show completely boggles my mind.

The host claims that she is saving time. She seems to rely upon buying store-bought food, and then adding an extra ingredient to make it appear that she's made the food from scratch.

I believe, however, that this show is entirely devoted to the illusion of making cooked food look as if you have made it from scratch. It's a very strange niche to explore. How many women really want to buy packages of dried gravy and pass it off as real gravy? Are there really that many women who are interested in such tomfoolery?

This show is filled with "widgets," booze, an obsession with creating "tablescapes," and a relationship with buttermilk which, quite frankly, frightens me.

Worse yet, when I try to give this show the benefit of the doubt, thinking, well, perhaps single mothers or those who don't have a lot of time would enjoy this show, I run into a logistics problem. You see, her "recipes" call for all sorts of canned goods, store-bought prepared foods, extra ingredients, and strange, single-purpose tools. The problem? It all seems more expensive and less tasty than just making it from scratch.

Seriously. I know nothing about cooking, but I watch Rachel Ray once in a blue moon, and she has 30 minute meals which look tasty and simple. She has a recipe today for a mushroom salad which does not, as far as I can tell, contain a single prepared food, yet looks quite yummy, and probably doesn't take that long.

Compare that with Sandra's meal today, which included a berry pie made with frozen berries, canned pie filling, premade pie crusts, and an insane "widget" whose only purpose is to fake a lattice top for pies.

Who is her audience? Vain middle-class women who want to somehow appear like wonderful cooks, and have the money to spend on all of these extra ingredients? It's bizarre.

This is all gillieweed's fault for pointing out this insane phenomenon.

Comments

[whitemunin.livejournal.com]

I despise that show almost as much as Emeril. I don't see the purpose of it, and you've listed all the reasons why it's so inane. I've used some of Rachel Ray's suggestions and think her show is far more practical. I wish she'd cut down on the perkiness though. I can only stand to watch about 5 minutes straight before walking away from the TV or turning the channel.

Give me Alton Brown any day. He is the god of all things culinary.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I can't imagine why anyone tunes into that slop show.

Rachel Ray is a bit too perky, but if I concentrate on the 30 minute meal itself, I can almost tune her out. ;)

I adore Alton Brown.