PEOPLE
November 14, 2007

A Domestic Diva’s Painful Past

She looks like the picture of serene domesticity, and her Semi-Homemade empire - a hit Food Network show, a dozen cookbooks - has earned her legions of fans. But in her new memoir Made from Scratch, quick-and-easy queen Sandra Lee reveals a surprisingly troubled history. Shuttled between California relatives as a toddler, she moved back in with her abusive, mentally ill mother at age 6; by 12, she was the primary caretaker of her four siblings. “People watch the show and see this Stepford kitchen and perfect little blond-it’s important for them to know you can create a beautiful rose garden out of a pile of manure,” Lee says. “If I did it, other can too.” – Beth Perry

From her Memoir…

I was doing all the laundry, cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping. I daydreamed of being a normal kid, but that wasn’t the reality. [My mother] Vicky spent most of her days watching soap operas. All she seemed to do was use her nasal spray, take her pills and scream at me. We were forced to go on welfare and collect food stamps so we could eat. I had become mom, sister, caretaker and homemaker of our family.
[When I was 15], one morning Vicky looked me in the eyes and said, “You are going to be so much more than I am when you grow up.” She was right. I was going to be so much more in ways she couldn’t possibly imagine. I stared at her in disgust and said, “You’re right. I am going to be more than you.” She flew into an uncontrollable rage. Her punches were landing fast and hard – I could barely catch my breath. Both of my eyes were swollen and my body was covered in welts. I had a boyfriend at the time named Duane, and I called and asked him to come get me. He took one look at me and said, “Go pack your stuff.”