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Corn dogs, funnel cakes and fried Oreos may come to mind when you think of state fair food, but fairgrounds are also the place where bakers test out their creations by entering competitions.
The sense of community and creativity found at state and county fairs is especially meaningful to Sandra Lee, a cookbook author and TV personality known for the Food Network shows “Semi-Homemade Cooking" and “Sandra's Money Saving Meals." Lee won a blue ribbon at the Los Angeles County Fair in 1992 for display and design. (Her TV shows also featured segments with tablescape and arts and craft ideas inspired by each meal, so it tracks.) Next, she's taking state fairs to a global streaming audience with “Blue Ribbon Baking Championship," out Friday on Netflix.
On the show, 10 talented pastry chefs compete in bake offs for a blue ribbon prize and a shot at $100,000. Lee co-hosts with “American Pie” actor Jason Biggs, who she says is a talented baker: “He’s got a banana bread recipe that is unbelievable." She's also a judge alongside former White House pastry chef, Bill Yosses, and award-winning baker, Bryan Ford.
The venture is a part of Lee's new chapter both professionally and personally. She battled breast cancer in 2015 and ended a 14-year relationship with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019. Lee's beloved uncle Bill was battling cancer himself at that time and she moved from New York to California during COVID-19 to help him.
“I really cleaned house of my life over the last decade, which was extremely painful and very hard to do," said Lee over Zoom from her Malibu home. “I’m finding peace now with my decisions and with my new life. Part of my new life is coming back to television, hopefully wiser, and back to business hopefully even better than ever.”
In a Q&A, Lee tells The Associated Press about starting over, her new show and Christmas trees. Answers are shortened for length and clarity.
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AP: You seem to be at a really great place where you have ideas and you're ready for what's ahead.
LEE: I took enough time off to really replenish myself and to really think about what I wanted to do. When I was coming out of being sick in 2015, it really made me focus on what I want to accomplish. And, for me, work has always been extremely important. There's things on my career bucket list to get done. One of them is “Blue Ribbon Baking Championship.”
AP: What are the others?
LEE: I have an idea for a show that will change daytime television. That's my heartstring and it's a big deal. The other one is with a character that I launched on “Today” with Jenna Bush. Her name is Aunt Sandy Clause, which is what my niece and nephews call me. During COVID, I wrote a ton of content, so I have a lot of TV show (ideas.) I would love to do a reality show based on real estate and home staging. My sister has a huge real estate and staging business in Seattle. I want to go up there and do a family reality show.
AP: Besides its premise, what makes “Blue Ribbon Baking Championship” different than other cooking competition shows?
LEE: The comradery and sense of family among the contestants. They lifted each other up. Many of the bakers would actually leave their station and go help the other one. I don’t think the world sees who we really are as Americans. They hear the politics and they hear the kerfuffle in the news. I think that it’s going to be kind of amazing for viewers from other countries to get to watch us and to get to see what our fairs look like and our lifestyle and how kind people are. And — unlike other competitive shows — we shoot in real time. There was no stop and pick up the next day. We were shooting an 18-hour day. There was no cool off time or swap outs.
AP: What's your first love? Cooking? Baking? Entrepreneurship?
LEE: My first love is cake decorating. When kids were playing with dolls, I was playing with powdered sugar and Wilton icing tips. When most kids were looking at Teen Beat, I was getting cake decorating books.
AP: What do you do in your spare time?
LEE: I antique a lot. I’m a huge antique collector. I also go to stores to see how others shop. I can see things differently than most people walking up an aisle. I can stand back and scan a room and I can see where the voids are. I can see what’s needed. I can calculate what's missing and how to fix it.
AP: That must help in business.
LEE: It’s very helpful. There’s always the challenge of people saying no, like with “Semi-Homemade,” everybody said, “No, it won’t work.” I go, “I’m telling you it’s going to work.” Finally, I had to write two books to even get the show. And the show was No. 1 for like five years. I went to them and I said, “We’ve got to do a show called ‘Money Saving Meals.’” They said, “No one wants to save money on food.” So I called my publisher. I go, “I want to do a new book and I want to call it ‘Money Saving Meals.’” And they go, “Great.” We had it on the shelf within a couple months. The Food Network saw it, and called me back. They’re like, “Oh my gosh, we need a show called ‘Money Saving Meals.’”
AP: Let's jump ahead to the holidays. How many Christmas trees do you put up?
LEE: It depends on how many rooms I have in the house. I like to put one in every room. There’s certainly something in every single room of my house.
AP: Do you stick to a theme or is each tree different?
LEE: If you're decorating your rooms differently, and most people do, then I think that trees should represent those rooms. I don't go over the top, unless you think that toilet paper with Santas on it is over the top, which I don't.