Dusting Off the Ol' Blog for some Frontier Cooking!

So I announced on facebook yesterday that my "happy mail" had arrived. Here's a picture of what was waiting for me in my mailbox.

I was so excited to get this! And the sugar on top was the fact that I only had to pay $2.01 for these books! I had a $25 gift card I'd earned through swagbucks. The books came to $27.01 and qualified for super saver shipping. After the gift card, there was only $2.01 for me to pay! Awesome deal! (But I would have gladly paid full price...I just had to have the cookbook and really wanted the book as well!) I love the first book and am already loving the second one too!

I've already started to read her love story, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Even though I've already read most of it on her blog, I'm excited to revisit it and discover the new parts! I remember when she would announce that she was going to be posting a new chapter that day or the following day, and I'd sit and hit the refresh button over and over until it would show up. I couldn't read it fast enough! And then she'd leave us hanging...every.single.time! It was torture. I couldn't wait until she'd post the next chapter! But the blog version ended at the day of her wedding, and the book goes beyond that, so I can't wait to get to that part! No...I"m not obsessed with her and her life at ALL...why do you ask?

Now I'm just hoping Ree, aka: The Pioneer Woman, adds an Atlanta stop to her tour so I can go get this one signed. After waiting in line for three hours (with my wonderful husband) I finally got to meet her and she signed my book. But all of a sudden I felt starstruck. I was so giddy and I think I managed to mumble, "I'm so excited!" And then I asked something to the effect of 'aren't you tired?' (of signing all the books). I remember she replied quite cheerfully,  "Not at all!"

Betsy and Hyacinth were with her. By the time I had moved to them, I was much more relaxed and was able to have a somewhat coherent conversation. Though I can't recall any of it.

I'd love not only to get my new book signed, but to redeem myself and be able to say something a bit more intelligent coherent. So...fingers crossed that she will add Atlanta...or at least somewhere in Georgia!

So...after I got my cookbook in the mail and thoroughly browsed it cover to cover, I made a decision. I was inspired by Julie from the movie Julie and Julia. If you haven't seen it, she decided to cook through Julia Child's entire cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In 365 days, she prepared all 524 recipes. That's almost two recipes a day!

With that inspiration, I've decided to cook through The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier. Yep...every single recipe. Thankfully Ree only has 109 recipes (if I counted correctly) in this book. I am not setting a deadline for this quest because if I feel pressured, it won't be fun. And I'm doing it for fun. And for the food...definitely for all the yummy food! I'll just do recipes as I can...at least two a week, and sometimes more! And then I'll blog about my results and be honest about my family's and my opinions. What you won't find is amazingly clever writing, as I'm not a writer. NOT my gift at all! But I can write what I'd tell you if I were telling you face to face about a recipe I've tried. So that's the plan.

I've cooked many of her recipes in the past, including a few that are in this book, and I've loved them all! So I'm excited about doing this. And I'm even going to do the recipes that scare me or don't thrill me...like Eggs Benedict...blech...I do NOT like runny yolks! But I'm going to try it anyway! I'm just thankful I don't have to put a live lobster in a pot like Julie did! ;)

Unfortunately, Ree and I don't have names that go together so cutesy-like as Julie and Julia did, so I wasn't sure what to call this venture. An online friend suggested "Cooking Through the Frontier" and I kind of like that. My husband suggested "The Ree" and that's just not working for me, because it really doesn't say what it is. Though "The Ree Project" just came to mind, or "The PW Project." I kind of like those too. Or I could combine our first initials and call it the "R/J Project" or something like that. I don't know for sure. If anyone has a vote or another suggestion, let me know!

I made three recipes for dinner this evening, and was planning to go ahead and post my results/review tonight. But this post is getting pretty long, so I'll wait and post it tomorrow. So...if anyone out there is reading, help me to decide for sure what to call this little venture! 

Oh...by the way...if you've never heard of The Pioneer Woman before, or have never checked out her blog be sure to click over there now and check her out. You won't be sorry!