When you’re young, you think you can do anything, and that was really a gift. That’s why I can never understand someone telling me ‘no’ today. ‘No’ just isn’t an option. – Sandra Lee
Give yourself permission to get the most out of your life. If you’re spending all your time scrubbing corners with a toothbrush, you’re kind of missing the point. Taking shortcuts doesn’t mean shortcutting the end result. – Sandra Lee
I like being independent. I don’t think that marriage means you’re not independent, but right now I’m very comfortable, and I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I feel solid. I feel safe. – Sandra Lee
My most cherished possessions are my grandma’s letters and my vintage Martha Washington cookbook. – Sandra Lee
When I’m really stressed out, I go to church. I light candles and sit and pray. And I’ll ask myself, What’s the lesson? Why am I going through this? There’s got to be a reason I’m here. What am I supposed to learn? – Sandra Lee
Seventy percent store-bought, ready-made plus 30 percent fresh allows you to take 100 percent of the credit. – Sandra Lee
Baking cookies is comforting, and cookies are the sweetest little bit of comfort food. They are very bite-sized and personal. – Sandra Lee
I’m an activist for gay marriage equality and children’s rights. I’m the face of Share Our Strength. – Sandra Lee
The issue I have always felt most strongly about is hunger in America, in particular the children. – Sandra Lee
I don’t think there are any footsteps to be walked in. No one else has taken things that you can buy at the grocery store and put them together. I hope that I have a career as long as Julia Child. – Sandra Lee
Nobody makes bouillabaisse from scratch. It’s all a bunch of malarkey. Even the restaurants buy a commercial-grade product. I had a very famous chef tell me that. – Sandra Lee
My audience knows me, and I wear beautiful clothes as a badge of honor. They remember where I came from. – Sandra Lee
Raising myself and caring for my brothers and sisters allowed me the benefit of a lot of information that I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. I had to be frugal, thoughtful, resourceful. I didn’t have anyone to tell me, ‘You can’t.’ – Sandra Lee
When I was at the Cordon Bleu things took hours and hours and hours to make. And they were beautiful dishes – and I know how to cook that way – but I was like, ‘no one is cooking like this.’ – Sandra Lee
I’m not sure that some of the food purists are in touch with what really goes on in American households. – Sandra Lee
Instead of doing cinnamon, nutmeg, and all those baking spices I’ll have one spice that’s for sweets, and that’s pumpkin pie spice. – Sandra Lee
I like to create what I call ‘tablescapes.’ It’s so much more fun when you organize your table around a theme, don’t you think? – Sandra Lee
Yes, I love white, and I’d wear it all the time if I could. Some people think I have an issue with cleanliness, but to me it’s just so pretty. – Sandra Lee
Christmas is more stressful with present buying and making sure everyone gets included, but Thanksgiving is really not that. I don’t ever really get stressed out about the food. – Sandra Lee
When I came to the Food Network, I didn’t want to do a cooking show. I told Kathleen Finch for nine months I didn’t want to do a cooking show, I wanted to do a home-and-garden show. – Sandra Lee
Sometimes I feel like I’m not only the engine but the caboose. I have to be in the front car and pull forward, and at the same time run around behind and push everybody along with me. – Sandra Lee
It’s really easy to figure out why I love what I love, the holidays and food. I know the difference between having them and not having them. – Sandra Lee
Why I have had such a huge career and why I have sold over four million books, is that people can do what I share with them to do. – Sandra Lee
