Sandra Lee is in the mood for a food fight when asked which celebrity she’d most like to invite over for dinner.
Posts Tagged ‘Sandra Lee’
Red Carpet Confidential: Sandra Lee Tells Anthony Bourdain to ‘Lighten Up’
August 9th, 2009 / Author: Valerie NomeTV Weekly Recap: Real Housewives NYC, Sandra Lee and the Cuomos!
January 30th, 2009
I felt a little like an honorary real housewife of New York City after spending two evenings in the presence of the cast, whose series returns to TV next month.
On Tuesday night, Alex McCord and hubby Simon van Kempen threw a book party to announce their next collaboration, a book on parenting.
"We don’t consider ourselves parenting experts, but this is a great opportunity for us to share our stories and trials of raising our children," Alex told me as we sipped champagne inside the sleek French Bruno Jamais Restaurant Club on the East Side.
I’ve sneaked a peek at the premiere episode of The Real Housewives of New York City, season two, where Alex and Jill Zarin have a little bit of a disagreement over a certain newspaper article. So I asked how the gals get through the rough patches.
"Even if we don’t get along with everyone all the time, it’s a shared experience and we respect each other," Alex declared.
Well, the Housewives definitely seemed to be in harmony the next night as they converged on Jill’s fabu Manhattan apartment for an exclusive photo shoot for OK!.
As all six Housewives, including newest entry Kelly Bensimon, hugged and kissed and exchanged pleasantries, I allowed myself to be amazed by the blue and gold trimmings throughout the main rooms.
"The apartment was decorated using Zarin Designer discount fabrics and furniture," Jill said proudly. Hey, can’t fault a girl for seeking out a little free advertising!
(Catch the second season premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 11 p.m. on Bravo.)
An hour later I was congratulating Food Network star and lifestyle maven Sandra Lee on the launch of her new magazine, Sandra-Lee Semi-Homemade, in the rooftop lounge of the Empire Hotel.
"It’s for 30-something women and beyond who want to bring a little simplicity to their busy lives, but in a great way," Sandra shared.
Is that possible in this conomy, I pondered.
"This magazine will give them tips to save money," Sandra declared.
Hey, we’re all down for saving a buck nowadays.
The highlight of night was seeing the Cuomo men: former New York governor Mario (my mom’s ex-boss!) and sons Andrew and Chris mere steps away from where I had sampled the chicken skewer platter.
Nothing like being in the presence of political royalty!
Until next week, fellow fanatics!
Semi-Homemade Fourth
July 3rd, 2008
America isn’t the only one gearing up for its birthday. Sandra Lee, host of Semi-Homemade Cooking on the Food Network, is celebrating hers today.
Even though she’s the b-day gal, Sandra’s giving TV fanatics across the nation a gift: a six-show marathon on Independence Day with a feisty flame-seared theme!
Knowing most of us will fire up the grill on the nation’s big day, Sandra shared with me one of her fave Fourth recipes, which can be found in her new book, Semi-Homemade Grilling 2.
“It’s Saucy White Hots,” she declares. “You take a skillet, put it on the grill and ground some beef. Put in some beef broth, chili sauce, onions and steak seasoning. The secret to this recipe is a ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. It gives it a really earthy rich flavor. That’s your meat sauce. The White Hots are bratwurst from Johnsonville that you put on French rolls that are toasted.” Mouth watering right about now!
With her b-day in full effect, Sandra’s also got an easy recipe to glam up a plain sheet cake. “Take a white sheet cake from any store, and then put a white round cake on top. Decorate it with cupcakes and decorated cookies that you buy. Add your candles, and you’re done.”
So where will Sandra be blowing out her candles tonight? “I just got back from St. Tropez with my sister Kimber Gaskill,” she shares. “Normally, my sweetie does something very special for me so I’m sure he’ll ask me where I want to go and what I want to do.”
I’m sure it will include some fabulous cocktails!
Semi-Homemade Cooking, the marathon, begins Friday, July 4 at 11 a.m. on Food Network.
Star Jones Dresses for Success
April 17th, 2008
Star Jones is the draw during the Dress for Success Worldwide Gala and a gaggle of reporters gather to accost her with questions about her marriage. She makes us wait until 45 minutes after the event begins.
In the meantime, Tommy Hilfiger slides through with his date, fiancée Dee Ocleppo, who is carrying a purse that looks exactly like a cherry fruit roll-up. “I thought I needed a pop of red because I’m all blue-and-white, so I had to have the red, white and blue,” she tells me.
Former Apprentice judge Carolyn Kepcher tells me how she dresses for success in the workplace.
“Everything really has to be appropriate,” the mother of two tells me. “When you wake up, you put your clothes on and you look at yourself in the mirror, and you say, ‘I don’t know if that’s quite right,’ chances are it probably is not right.”
What are her office fashion don’ts? “Too tight clothes, too much cleavage, bright wildflower colors, stilettos — maybe not.”
Semi-Homemade Cooking star Sandra Lee is an event fixture. What does she look forward to enjoying at these galas that she can’t get anywhere else? “Open bar. Am I allowed to say that?” she laughs.
The xylophone dings as Diddy’s mom Janice Combs, stylist Philip Bloch and philanthropist Denise Rich take their last sips of Stirrings simple pomegranate martinis and head into the gala.
We’re getting antsy for Star. Word arrives that she’s not doing interviews, but she is a huge deal so we stick around for a shout-out.
Here comes drama. It’s Star Jones! At long last she breezes through as another reporter directs her “right this way” before asking her the marriage question. “No, no, no, get away from me,” she says. Talk about intensity! Ah, “who designed your dress?” I ask as she is running away. Star smiles and says, “Alice and Olivia.”
At least Star puts herself out there for a worthy cause. Dress for Success promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
Fashion Week Diary, Day Two: Mischa Barton Gushes Over Hoboken
September 7th, 2007 / Author: cwillett
•At the Bill Blass fashion show presentation at the New York Public Library, the look was "sophisticated lady who lunches." It was very retro and very girly. Food Network star and cook Sandra Lee gushed over the collection: “I think it is classic and absolutely stunning. The fabrics are sumptuous, and I think they are mature to enough to feel very sophisticated in but young enough to feel like you’re not trying to feel too mature. It’s effortless.”
But she confided she doesn’t have time for much else during this fashion week: “Busy editing five books — three cooking books, entertaining book and a memoir, a great book everyone should read. It’s a thoughtful book on how everyone can get from A to Z no matter where they come from.”
•Later that day at the Save the Children Event at Lincoln Center, former O.C. siren Mischa Barton, wearing a yellow-beaded Missioni dress, is in New York shooting her latest flick, Assassination of a High School President. “We’ve been having a blast making it,” she said. “It’s great living in Hoboken. We’re filming right here, so it’s convenient.”
Guess she’s too busy shooting that movie because someone as stylish as Mischa wouldn’t miss fashion week for anything less. “I’m not really going to any shows.”
Blythe Danner also stopped to talk to reporters, and when she wasn’t gushing over her daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, and her family, she had only the best wishes for the recovering Owen Wilson: “It was heartbreaking, but this is such a tough business. And here he is at the pinnacle. It’s a very delicate thing when you’re in that position. It’s tough. I was sad. Anytime anything like that happens, it’s heartbreaking.”
By Jocelyn Vena
