Back to reality

One of the most amazing blessings we had after welcoming Melia into our family was having meals provided to us by our friends and family. I didn't have to cook for a month!!! And that my friends is a HUGE deal. Thank you again for everyone who graciously blessed us with their time and their yummy food.

But all good things must come to an end, and now I am once again in charge of providing my family with dinner every evening. But I have a friend, whom I have never met, helping me to keep things interesting. Ree Drummond (aka the Pioneer Woman) and her cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks have inspired me. After browsing through the book one time I knew I wanted to own it. As soon as I got my hands on my copy I sat down and read it cover to cover. A cookbook. But Ree's voice is so entertaining and her recipes so enticing (not to mention the step-by-step pictures!) that it was truly an enjoyable read. All of the recipes looked amazing. Most of them sounded like they would TASTE amazing. And the ones that I have made did not disappoint. And I give all of the credit to the Pioneer Woman's well-documented genius.

I'm toying with the idea of doing a Julie and Julia version of her cookbook... one by one making all of the recipes in her cookbook. I've already learned some new things about cooking after making only four of her recipes... namely how to make gravy from scratch. This is a task that has always daunted me and that I've failed at in the past. But as Ree says "Please, my friends, do not be afraid of the gravy."

I've documented the four recipes I've tried with pictures which I will share below. I've only made them once each with the exception of the Chicken-Fried Steak and Creamy Mashed Potatoes. I made that again for the second time tonight to share with our friends. I'm happy to say the second time was much faster and even a little bit tastier than the first time!

Obviously, this is a cookbook I would highly recommend. And those that I've shared my culinary endeavors with all agree on one thing - yummmmmmmm!

Basic Breakfast Potatoes brought to our "Breakfast for Dinner" Neighbor Dinner a few weeks ago

Yes my friends, that is bacon, yes BACON wrapped around a meatloaf. Wow.

And the finished product with yummy glaze on top. I almost forgot to get the picture and as you can see there wasn't much left over after our Small Group folks got a hold of it!


And Chicken-Fried Steak and Creamy Mashed Potatoes. One of my most favorite meals ever.

These mashed potatoes were super creamy because of the first lesson I learned... don't "eyeball" to get you to half of the 5 pound bag of potatoes... actually use a scale and measure until you get the required 2.5 pounds. Otherwise you are left with a super creamy dish of potatoes. The word "runny" could also be substituted for "creamy" in this case due to the addition of butter, half and half, and oh yes cream cheese! Don't worry - the taste was EXCELLENT. Just a little bit too rich. You can even see the butter in the picture! Sinful. Fortunately, the second time around the consistency was much better thanks to my oft-used kitchen scale.

So those are the recipes I've made up until today. I am constantly planning my next social event. I've already sent two dinner invitations and am just waiting on date confirmations so I think I will go to bed now with my cookbook in hand and start plotting my next calorific meal. I really do love having people in my home. And cooking for them - especially when I'm almost guaranteed a home run of a meal thanks to my friend Ree.