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The Pioneer Woman's Final Frontier
The blog diva releases her first cookbook
By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer
Published: 10/27/2009 2:19 AM
Last Modified: 10/27/2009 11:01 AM
On Tuesday, Ree Drummond will begin a 19-city book tour for "The Pioneer Woman Cooks." But before she saddled up, she invited us to her ranch.
For those unfamiliar with her, Drummond is the accidental country girl and face of the Pioneer Woman, her blog that gets about 13 million page views a month.
Raised in Oklahoma, Drummond moved to Los Angeles for college, expecting never to return. But on a visit home for the holidays, she met Ladd Drummond, known to her blog readers as the "Marlboro Man," a fourth-generation cattle rancher who would soon become her husband.
Now she lives on a remote ranch north of Pawhuska where she cooks hearty meals for cowboys and home-schools her four children.
Cows come home
As we drove down a narrow and seemingly never-ending road, leaving a trail of kicked-up gravel, we followed Drummond's directions to "turn at the first road you see." This road, as she told us, would not have a sign, as it had been knocked down by a cow.
That's no doubt true, because along the way to the family's lodge, the only traffic stop was a group of three slow-as-molasses cows crossing the road to the next pasture.
The cows, the horses, the fried chicken — it's all part of the life of the Pioneer Woman, and it's all in the book.
Drummond wanted the book, like the blog, to be a representation of her life, and she was sure she had captured it, except for the cover.
Her publishing company secured a sought-after photographer to
come to the ranch to shoot the cover. The result was beautiful, but just not the Pioneer Woman.
"I had on this pink, ruffly blouse, looking ethereal, posed with a rolling pin," she said. Something wasn't right.
Days later, Drummond, her Marlboro Man and the kids loaded up for their own photo shoot. She set up a tripod, and her husband shot what turned out to be the book's cover.
"I love it because we're all there," she
said. "You can see my kids, and I know
my husband is behind the camera."
What's for dinner?
Last week, Drummond held a copy of her book, published by William Morrow, for the first time. Two years in the making, the book was a major accomplishment. But to her kids, not so much.
One of her sons said: "Is this a real book?" They couldn't imagine anyone would want to read about their mom and her cooking.
"They're indifferent about it," she said. "They just want to know what's for dinner."
And really, that's what her readers want to know, too. The cooking portion of her blog is the most popular, with followers popping on every day to see what's cooking. And whether it's pan-fried pork chops or chocolate truffles with sea salt, her readers gobble it up.
In the book, Drummond has cowboy staples such as chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes but also "cowgirl food," including sherried tomato soup and potato-leek pizza.
She's already at work on a second book, which may be holiday-themed. And although Drummond will be on her tour through mid-December, she wouldn't miss the cooking extravaganza that is Thanksgiving for anything.
"Oh, I'll be here — cooking and washing dishes," she said.
Being on tour isn't going to stop her from letting readers know what she's doing. She has a few recipes stockpiled, but she'll also be posting about the tour. Her children, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and husband will be with her on different legs of her travels.
Not all of the Pioneer Woman’s food is
cowboy food. Some she reserves for the
cowgirls in her life. This tomato soup,
adapted from “The Pioneer Woman
Cooks,” is one of them.
SHERRIED TOMATO SOUP
Makes 8 servings
1 medium white or yellow onion
6 tablespoons butter
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (46-ounce) bottle or can tomato
juice
3 to 6 tablespoons sugar
1 or 2 tablespoons chicken base or 3
chicken bouillon cubes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sherry (optional)
1½ cups heavy cream
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup chopped basil
1. Dice the onion.
2. Melt the butter in a large pot or
Dutch oven. Throw in the onion and
cook until translucent. Now dump
in the diced tomatoes, and stir to
combine. Add the tomato juice.
3. Next — and this is important in
order to combat the acidity of the
tomatoes — add 3 to 6 tablespoons
sugar. Now, you’ll want to
start on the low side, then taste
and add more as needed. Some tomatoes
and juice have more of an
acidic bite than others. Next, add
1 to 2 tablespoons chicken base to
the pot. Now you can add lots of
freshly ground black pepper. Stir
to combine, then heat almost to a
boil. Then turn off the heat.
4. Add the sherry and heavy cream.
Stir it together.
5. Now chop up a handful of flat-leaf
parsley. Next, chop up a few leaves
of fresh basil. Now go ahead and
throw in the parsley and the basil,
and stir together.
6. Keep the soup warm, and serve it
on a cold day to people you love.
MEET THE PIONEER WOMAN
Sponsored by Book Smart Tulsa
When: 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday; doors open
at 6 p.m. — parking and seating are
limited
Where: Tulsa Historical Society, 2445 S.
Peoria Ave.
Admission: Free; books cost $27.50
Natalie Mikles 581-8486
natalie.mikles@tulsaworld.com
By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer
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