Sandra Lee says her next cookbook will be her last. At least for a while.
The Food Network star known for semi-homemade cooking - and more recently as the live-in girlfriend of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo - says the release this month of her 25th cookbook marks a turning point.
She wants more time to focus on her eponymous magazine, as well as to write a home and gardening book.
'It's quite a milestone,' the 46-year-old said of her new book, Every Dish Delivers.
'Especially when you take into consideration that when I was out shopping my very first cookbook, everybody on the planet told me it wouldn't work.
'I'd sit in these meetings and say to people, "Seriously? Have you been to Middle America? Do you know the American housewife?"'
Though she loves writing cookbooks, Ms Lee, who was born in Santa Monica, California, said she prefers the immediacy of a magazine because it can better reflect the moment and season.
'I am completely and passionately dedicated and intimately involved with every line in the magazine,' she explained in a telephone interview.
'And I don't know a lot of people who are like that anymore,' she said.
Moving on: The TV personality and author of the new book Every Dish Delivers: 365 Days of Fast, Fresh, Affordable Meals, will use her time off to focus on her eponymous magazine
The cook continued: 'When people go and put their dollars on the table, that's what they deserve. That's what they think they're buying and that's what you should be delivering to them.'
Meanwhile, Ms Lee is joining with fellow food celebrities Emeril Lagasse, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay and Martha Stewart to host her second World's Largest Bake Sale on May 1, an event that raises money for the New York food bank.
Other projects: The 46-year-old says she prefers the immediacy of a magazine over a cookbook
The last one, held in 2011, raised more than $50,000 and made it into the record books as, yes, the world's largest bake sale.
Ms Lee's vast Semi-Homemade empire includes two hit TV shows, a magazine and 25 books, all based around her concept of culinary shortcuts.
A typical recipe from her 'semi-homemade' cooking concept uses 70per cent store-bought food and 30per cent fresh produce.
When asked by The New York Times last year what she thought of the people who criticize her for using processed food in her recipes, Ms Lee responded: 'I think they’re snobs. I'm not sure that some of the food purists are in touch with what really goes on in American households.'
She continued: 'It’s shtick. That’s how some people get their press. There are 17million children in this country going hungry every day, and we're worried about my Kwanzaa cake from ten years ago? That's what I think is ridiculous.'
The TV personality and Governor Cuomo live with his three teenage daughters Cara, Michaela and Mariah in Chappaqua, New York.