Sandra Lee reveals why bigger Thanksgiving turkeys aren't always better
Chef and TV host shares Thanksgiving favorites, says substituting one ingredient makes better mashed potatoes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sandra Lee is busy these days. With a holiday slate that includes three new specials on QVC and two new shows, not to mention her recent selection to the White House Historical Association's national council, it's a wonder she still has time to cook.
Fox News Digital spoke with Lee during a break in her schedule to hear about her favorite fall foods, what she's cooking this Thanksgiving and where she's spending the holidays. (See the video at the top of this article.)
The 58-year-old California native is back in her home state, where she's been recording episodes of "Blue Ribbon Baking Championship," a new Netflix show.
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A former blue-ribbon winner herself at the LA County Fair, Lee said she crafted the concept for the series and pitched it to the Food Network (it turned her down). But she didn't give up on the idea and took it to Netflix — which debuted the eight-episode series earlier this year.
Lee also launched "Dinner Budget Showdown," which she co-hosts, on the Roku Channel. The reality show challenges contestants to come up with innovative budget-friendly cooking techniques that test their culinary skills.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sandra Lee shared her Thanksgiving favorites with Fox News Digital. She's working on two new shows and has three new QVC specials in November. (iStock; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)
Also, Lee's "Aunt Sandy Claus" collection will be featured during three one-hour shows she's hosting on QVC in November.
After that, she'll be spending Thanksgiving in New York with her best friend Alexandra Stanton. And what will she be making?
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm doing whatever Alex tells me to do," Lee said to Fox News Digital.
Whatever it is, it'll likely include one of Lee's favorite side dishes.
"You have to have a great mashed potato, right?" she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lee said she'll be in New York for Thanksgiving this year with her best friend. (iStock; Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)
Lee uses sour cream instead of milk or buttermilk to make her mashed potatoes, "which makes it thicker," she said.
"I like it a little bit lumpy."
But the mashed potatoes aren't complete without the gravy, Lee pointed out.
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"I love gravy," she said, saying her family refers to her as the "gravy queen."
"Not the gravy train," she added with a laugh. "The gravy queen. I guess I'm both in my family."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sour cream — not milk or buttermilk — is what Lee uses in her mashed potatoes. It makes them thicker, she said. (iStock)
Lee revealed how she makes her gravy.
"I like to do a flour and an oil roux, and I make it nice and dark," she said. "And I use the giblets from the turkey. Boil it in water. Simmer it for a long, long, long, long time – like a day – and then let it kind of sit, so you get a really beautiful flavor in your stock that you make."
Lee said she also uses the drippings from the turkey. She prepares a cornbread stuffing with celery, green onions, Campbell's chicken with rice soup, butter and poultry seasoning.
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"I do two small birds," she added. "I don't do one big one."
She prefers the smaller 10-to-12-pound turkeys "that are really full of flavor."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Said Lee, "Doing a big turkey takes a long, long, long time and can be hit-and-miss."
Lee says she prefers cooking two smaller Thanksgiving turkeys to preparing one large one. (iStock; Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for GLAAD)
Other favorite Thanksgiving side dishes of Lee's include sweet potatoes (she is fond of the canned yams), green beans or steamed broccoli (she's skipping the green bean casserole this year) and cranberry chutney that she serves with baked brie, she said.
"So, you can double down on that recipe, which is the fresh cranberries and the orange juice and the seasoning and the sweetness," she said.
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"I also like the pre-made canned cranberry sauce. That's the jelly form that you slice and serve. A combination of the two could be great. So, you slice the cranberries out and then you could put the chutney on top if you wanted to."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After Thanksgiving, Lee said she'll be turning her attention to Christmas, her television endeavors and a trip to New Orleans in February to attend the Super Bowl with her brother, who has accompanied her to each one since their first together in 2011.
"We are already making our reservations for restaurants, although neither of our teams are going for sure," Lee said.