If it's 5 p.m. and you’re at a party with Sandra Lee, it's time for one thing: cocktails. And by all measures, this woman deserves one. In the past four years, she has written 16 cookbooks and a memoir; shot more than 200 episodes of her show, Semi-Homemade Cooking; launched her own magazine, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade; and added a second show, Sandra’s Money Saving Meals, to her lineup. Sandra took a break earlier this year to throw a party for charity at Miami’s Standard Hotel during Food Network’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival, where she treated the crowd to a margarita-themed spread. She kicked off the evening with a toast to her fans, and she didn’t go home until every last one of them got an autograph. “I really enjoy my time with my fans,” she says. “I’m a huggy, kissy person. I’d much rather be down here enjoying the party than up on a stage.”
See Sandra's South Beach party recipes
Photographs by Mark Peterson
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