This month, I read Sandra Lee’s “Made From Scratch: A Memoir.” I have never watched Sandra Lee’s show on the Food Network and have never been particularly interested in her, but I admit, like everyone else in the Cook Club, she intrigued me at the South Beach Festival, and now she’s on my radar screen. So, I came across her memoir and decided to read it for the June Challenge. I was amazed to find out that Sandra’s childhood included a severely dysfunctional family and abuse, forcing her to grow up well before her time to take care of five brothers and sisters. She is entirely self-made and very dedicated to her craft: making life easier for busy women with the “semi-homemade” concept. As a working mom, I can certainly appreciate the concept of combining fresh and package foods to create a delicious, healthy, and quick meal for my family. But while I came away from Sandra’s story with a respect for her that I didn’t have before, I found the writing bland and a lot of the details lacking. The book was just semi-ok for me.
I do have two of her cookbooks, and was inspired to break one out to try a new recipe. I chose “Crock-Pot Beer Cheese Chicken” to try. The recipe follows:
1 onion, diced large
1 cup frozen green pepper, diced (I used once fresh pepper)
16 oz bag of diced red potatoes (I used wedges from the refrigerator section)
Garlic Salt
Pepper
1 can of Campbell’s condensed cheese soup
¾ cup Lager beer
4 chicken breast halves
3/4 cup bacon pieces
I do have two of her cookbooks, and was inspired to break one out to try a new recipe. I chose “Crock-Pot Beer Cheese Chicken” to try. The recipe follows:
1 onion, diced large
1 cup frozen green pepper, diced (I used once fresh pepper)
16 oz bag of diced red potatoes (I used wedges from the refrigerator section)
Garlic Salt
Pepper
1 can of Campbell’s condensed cheese soup
¾ cup Lager beer
4 chicken breast halves
3/4 cup bacon pieces
Combine onion, pepper and potatoes in the bottom of your crock-pot. Season both sides of chicken with the garlic salt and pepper, then lay chicken over vegetables. Combine beer, bacon and cheese soup in a small bowl, then pour over the chicken. Cook on low 3 ½ to 4 ½ hours.
My Rating:
I had high hopes for this recipe, but it was just ok for me. The chicken was very tender but the sauce was too thin for me, and not as flavorful as I hoped. Mr. Focker said he liked it, and maybe with a few tweaks, I could be more into it. Anothe semi-ok result!
I almost read that book too. It was fitting considering we just saw her in person. Great job getting the challenge done so early in the month!
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