Chef Sandra Lee has risen to fame on will, charm and Cool Whip. Now she’s taking on cancer

SANDRA LEE, THE CREATOR OF THE SEMI-HOMEMADE brand of cookbooks, magazines and TV shows and a person who leaves nothing to chance, is sitting in a high-ceilinged ballroom on Wall Street on a rainy evening the weekend after Thanksgiving, listening to a local official present her with a tribute. But, sincere as the speech is, it cannot be heard over the chatter of the members of the New York City independent-film community who have turned out for the IFP Gotham awards.

This is not Lee’s usual audience. To New York’s indie-film elite, she is that woman who rose to fame on her ability to gussy up ready-made food into something that feels like a home-cooked dinner on the Food Network. Rachel Weisz, Glenn Close and Ethan Hawke are among the assembled throng—it’s probably more