Review: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Summary: My name is Ree.

Some folks know me as The Pioneer Woman.

After years of living in Los Angeles, I made a pit stop in my hometown in Oklahoma on the way to a new, exciting life in Chicago. It was during my stay at home that I met Marlboro Man, a mysterious cowboy with steely blue eyes and a muscular, work-honed body. A strict vegetarian, I fell hard and fast, and before I knew it we were married and living on his ranch in the middle of nowhere, taking care of animals, and managing a brood of four young children. I had no idea how I'd wound up there, but I knew it was exactly where I belonged.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks is a homespun collection of photography, rural stories, and scrumptious recipes that have defined my experience in the country. I share many of the delicious cowboy-tested recipes I've learned to make during my years as an accidental ranch wife—including Rib-Eye Steak with Whiskey Cream Sauce, Lasagna, Fried Chicken, Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler, and Cinnamon Rolls—not to mention several "cowgirl-friendly" dishes, such as Sherried Tomato Soup, Olive Cheese Bread, and Crème Brûlée. I show my recipes in full color, step-by-step detail, so it's as easy as pie to follow along.

You'll also find colorful images of rural life: cows, horses, country kids, and plenty of chaps-wearing cowboys.

I hope you get a kick out of this book of mine. I hope it makes you smile. I hope the recipes bring you recognition, accolades, and marriage proposals. And I hope it encourages even the most harried urban cook to slow down, relish the joys of family, nature, and great food, and enjoy life. -- William Morrow

I have THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS by Ree Drummond everywhere! Quite a few bloggers have raved about it, plus it's a New York Times Bestselling cookbook. Considering my love of cookbooks, I knew I had to get my hands on this one. So, I got in the wait list at the library and it took awhile, but I finally received it. I can see what all the fuss is about!

This cookbook is absolutely beautiful. To be honest, I think I enjoyed looking at the photographs and reading about her family and life more than I enjoyed the recipes. Not to say that the recipes didn't look delicious, but there really weren't a whole lot of things in there that my family would eat. The style of recipes was exactly what you'd expect -- family favorites. It's just that I rarely cook down-home (and high-fat) foods! Having said that, I can see how loads of moms would just love these relatively-easy recipes.

There were wonderful recipes for macaroni and cheese, lasagna, chicken pot pie, barbecue, etc. I will admit that my mouth was watering as I read this cookbook and saw all of the gorgeous pictures of the recipes. Of course, I was drawn to the dessert section -- no shock there! The desserts were heavenly and pretty easy to whip up.

I did decide to make Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler because it was so easy and I had all of the ingredients on hand. Plus, I thought the recipe looked different from what I knew traditional cobbler to look like. The recipe took me about five minutes to throw together and I only needed butter, sugar, flour, and blackberries (I used frozen.) You can see the entire recipe with pictures on The Pioneer Woman Cooks website.

I ended up using frozen blackberries -- the recipe calls for any berries, fresh or frozen. And, I admit to using skim milk in the recipe. I figured with an entire stick of butter, using a little fat-free milk wouldn't hurt! Here's what my cobbler looked like:


I thought it was delicious although it definitely wasn't like the cobbler I grew up on. I have been trying to find a word to define the "cake" part of the cobbler, and I still don't have a good one. I guess you could say that it was dense and almost custardy! Whatever you call it, it was a delicious fruit dessert! I think it would also be fantastic with blueberries or raspberries too.

One appeal that this recipe had for me (besides the ease of preparation) is that I think I can modify it to work for my son with his food allergies. He absolutely adores blackberries! Since there aren't any eggs in this recipe, it makes it a little bit easier to adapt. I am going to substitute his dairy-free margarine for the butter and I can use rice milk (or soy milk) for the milk. I can't imagine that it wouldn't work!

I highly recommend taking a peek at THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS. It's a gorgeous cookbook with incredible photographs and yummy recipes!

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