Cooking With The Pioneer Woman

 As all y'all know, I love to cook and have amassed quite a collection of cookbooks from all over ranging from The New York Times' to Paula Deen's. I read them as a bookworm would a novel or a musician would a book of sheet music. To be honest, I look at cooking as an art form which allows an individual an opportunity to express themselves. There are as many cuisines as there are genres in painting or music. And I love to try out recipes from my cookbooks and add my twist to them much as a musician would when playing.
 Now one of my favorite cookbooks isn't even mine. It belongs to my wife, Jane. However, I did get it for her and even sent it to the author who was kind enough to autograph it and mail it back to me in time for Christmas; so I don't feel bad about borrowing it from time to time.
The author of this book is none other than Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. 

  For the few of you who might not know who she is,  she's a wife and mother who happens to help her husband run a working cattle ranch up in Oklahoma along with being an author and star of her own cooking show. I've tried several of her recipes and found them to be delicious... In fact I've used some of her methods for food prep and it has really made a difference in  the texture and how it tastes.

What makes her book one of my favorites is the fact the she uses what's available and does most of her shopping in a small town grocery store.And, one of her favorite ingredients is butter. If a little is good, then more has to be better? My kinda thinking.Her recipes are simple yet very tasty and very filling. She has all different kinds of recipes in her books, but I'm drawn to the "Stick to Your Ribs Food" recipes. You know, the kind of food that will get you to the next meal without your stomach thinkin' your throat's been cut. A meal that will let you do a day's work with feeling famished. If you've ever worked cattle and been in the saddle from breakfast till dinner, or any other kind of hard physical labor, you know a watercress and cucumber sandwich isn't going to cut it. 

 I'd like to share some of her recipes that have really been favorites that not only were delicious but very simple to make. I'm gonna just tell about them starting with:

Breakfast: Her Blueberry Pancakes are awesome to say the least. Very simple to throw together and delicious. Couple them with some sausage and eggs and you have a serious meal on your hands.

Dinner: Comfort Meatballs are filling, tasty and easy to make... Ever mixed milk with your hamburger?? You need to try it once before turning up your nose. It gives it a whole new texture and works well as a binder.

Sunday Dinner or Supper: Ree's Perfect Pot Roast... the name says it all. Her roast has a depth of flavor from one of the cheapest cuts of beef you can buy. Add the obligatory root vegetables and you got yourself a Sunday Dinner that will be a regular on your table.

I do think it would be fun and educational to share a kitchen with her and see what we could concoct. Be a lot like like a musician "jammin' with Willie", but  I heard he uses a different blend of herbs. Who knows, her being from Oklahoma, she might like some real Texas Style Barbecue.

 Well, there you go, a cookbook that even the most inexperienced cook can use and recipes that will make you a hit and hero with your family.. Oh, did I mention my wife, Jane has also tried some of her recipes with some successes and some that didn't quite turn out the way she had expected... But, as in life, it happens to all of us from time time to time... All we can do is just keep trying... Soup's on...

Oh, on a closing note, if you'd like to read about Jane's trip down recipe road just  click!

Click Here