I do not watch PW or RR, except if it's on at the nail salon while I am there. But in defense of the somewhat ordinary type cooking, I usually come away with an inspiration. That's why I come here, why I subscribe to Serious Eats, read cookbooks, why I read the food pages in the paper and why I watch FN. I'm old enough so that I tend to slip into a rut when it comes to meal planning or ideas for appetizers or whatever. Just an inspiration is all I ask. Sometimes PW prepares a dish that I have made in the past (or something similar), and the idea just clicks. Sometimes the TV recipe might be a nice variation of what I already prepare, so I can tweak my recipe. Sometimes I learn a nice presentation. Just because the cooking itself is pedestrian doesn't mean that I (not exactly harried, not a true "enthusiast", either, at least not every day) don't pick up inspiration. When I'm wandering around the grocery store and some clerk asks what I am looking for, I just say "Inspiration." Gets a laugh and they leave me alone.

I have to admit I am not a fan of Pioneer Woman. My main gripe is the way she promoted the wild horses on their Ranch. It wasn't until recently she did admit those horses belong to the BLM (a federal agency) and that the ranch receives big bucks for taking care of them. She made it seem as if the ranch was feeding them out of the goodness of their hearts when in fact not only are they paid well per horse per year they also receive tax credit and deductions for the hay they raise to feed them. This is not something a typical ranch has the opportunity to do and it rubs me the wrong way that millions think THIS is the typical life of a ranch wife. Her DIL Missy is the real rancher's wife. As far as Ree being a pioneer?....I can't think of anything nice to say so I won't.... Marilyn makes a good point about PW and not just the snakes and the possum. 'Contrived' is the word that comes to my mind to describe Ree Drummond. I do like some of her recipes and I learned lots about photoshop but any more her site leaves me cold so I don't read there anymore. Just my opinion... Lori

Indeed, the Drummonds have a large holding and the ranch was homesteaded in the early 1900s. The horses bugged me for a long time on PW. It has only been recently she revealed the ranch is paid (alot of money) by the government to care for BLM horses. Until she did so the unitiated would believe the Drummonds took care of the horses out of the goodness of their hearts..which they didn't. That bothered me. I guess because I knew something the average reader did not and could not know until PW enlightened them. At first I got a big kick out of her blog. She made me laugh so much because she didn't take herself seriously. She admitted she was not a country girl and was doing the best she could. Unfortunately for me anyway, that has changed. The whole tone of her blog is different now. She doesn't make fun of herself like she used to. She has also contradicted herself many time in regards to the ranch, her abilities and her participation on the ranch and I don't understand why. Her motto was always 'keepin it real' and I don't see that anymore. I'm just disappointed. I miss the old Pioneer Woman. Lori

Sounds like fun. I used to go to picnics in Griffith Park with a group of Cordon Bleu students, and it was totally potluck and once no one brought bread, except for the calzone that I made, and that was eaten as bread. I was friends with the professor, who is a French-Algerian chef, born in Paris to Algerian parents, but he lives in Los Angeles now. We did not have themes. I like the Pioneer Woman but I've never made any of her recipes exactly, but I make a lot of things that are similar to what she makes, especially the SW style ones. I do not cook for crowds (as a rule), and so my style has to be different.