Thank you all so much for visiting and entering the contest! Reading your comments was so much fun and reminded me of even more reasons that I enjoy her blogging. Having grown up in the country, helping my parents with cattle, eating country food and roaming the pastures on summer days, I feel like Ree helps remind me of my roots each day that I read her posts. I’ve spent my adult life in cities so it’s refreshing to look at her picture and see her children doing country-kid things that I used to do.
Back to the matter at hand, though. We have a winner!
The cookbook is going home to Sabra Childers! Congratulations, Sabra! Email me with your information and I’ll get the book shipped out to you. I know you will enjoy it!
As you many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Pioneer woman, her blogs and her endless talent. She’s clever, witty, entertaining and….real. So very real. She’s someone that people all over the world can relate to and feel a connection with. She’s an incredible cook, a photographer, a homeschooling mom and a seriously hard worker. Her name is Ree and she is an inspiration to women–and men–everywhere. She knows how to entertain us through her writing, draw us in with her delicious recipes, and keeps us laughing with her Ethel Merman impressions. And for me, she’s my inspiration to not throw my hands up and give up as a housewife and mother when the laundry keeps coming, dishes keep getting dirty and the kids just want to be kids.
If you’re not familiar with her, let me assign you some PW homework. You won’t regret completing this assignment. Trust me.
- First and foremost, scroll to the bottom of this page. Read each and every chapter of Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, the story of how Ree met her husband, Marlboro Man.
- Now that you’ve read that and are head over heels in love with Ree’s sense of humor and passion for story telling, go fall in love with this recipe.
- And this one. My family loves these.
- Check out a few of these.
- I love her for her Photoshop tips and actions and for her gorgeous photography.
You get the idea. I could link all day, but I want you to take some free time and lose yourself in her sites for awhile. It’s the good stuff.
Now. On to my story….
She’s currently on her book signing tour for the amazing cookbook she just released. When I found out she was coming to a bookstore (somewhat) near me, I was thrilled! I felt a little twinge of I-might-be-a PW-groupie-ness as I got giddy at the prospect of meeting her, if even for just a moment. As the date neared, though, it wasn’t looking good. The book signing was at 7pm on a school night….over 2 hours away from home. The day arrived and I accepted that my plans that day just couldn’t include meeting Ree. Who would pick up Alex? Who would wash Elliott’s curls and tuck the kids in? What if the roads got too nasty with the snow in the forecast?
I was doing housework and settling into the daily mom routine, when all of a sudden my in-laws arrive acting a bit…sneaky. Lo and behold, Shayne had arranged for the kids to be taken care of. He cleared his work day. He did all of this so that he could take me down to Dallas and spend many hours waiting with me to get my cookbook signed. That’s love, man.
Within minutes, I was showered and ready to roll. We hopped in the car and drove as quickly as we safely and legally could in hopes that by the time we arrived at the bookstore, there would be a wristband left for me. And there was. So we settled in and waited. 
And waited.
After killing 3 hours roaming around the store and nearby retailers, our group was called to get in line….where we waited almost four hours for our turn to have our book signed. We met a lovely group of ladies and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. As the line slowly moved, we realized that we should have brought drinks and snacks. We laughed our way through our thirst and dropping blood sugar with our new friends and finally we arrived at the front of the line!
After hours of waiting, one would think I had come up with something witty to say. One would think. By that time, though, I was fresh out of personality. I’m not at my best at 10:30 at night, for sure. All I could muster was something like, “Hi, Ree. How are you? Thanks for doing this” or something equally bland. Fortunately, she’s as radiant, gracious and charming as you would expect and once she recognized “The Green Wife” we had a conversation about how I’d won a Le Creuset from her fairly recently.
And I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for this pic.
Then she looked at me and said with a touch of sadness to her voice and a touch of Ree-style humor, “I used to have red hair, too.”
We discussed red hair.
And she signed my book.
If you haven’t gotten a copy of the book, I highly recommend it. It’s chock full of real-people, everyday-ingredient recipes.
Oh, yum.
It has pictures of life around her ranch.
Pictures of her ‘punks’.
And pictures of dogs in hats, of course.
Oh, wait! What’s this?
How did I end up with an extra copy?!
And it seems as though….
it’s signed! And it says…
That must mean one of my lucky readers is getting their own signed copy!
To enter, leave one comment on this post letting me know what you love about PW. Do you love her photography best? Her recipes? Her cowboy pics? Or maybe her burps? If you’ve never heard of her, just tell me that you’re going digging through her archives.
This contest will end Saturday, Dec 5 at 5pm and the winner will be announced soon after. One comment only, please.
–Abbie
I missed the chance to go meet her in the Chicago area. Thursday during the day wasn’t feasible. I was pretty darn upset too. You’re so lucky! We love her recipes and reading her blog ALWAYS picks me up too. Although I have one more kid than her I don’t homeschool. She is AMAZING.
I ADORE the Black Heels and Tractor Wheels entries. I got hooked on them like 2… maybe 3 years ago I guess? I just remember it was new years eve and one of my best friends who lives in Seattle and I were on Yahoo IM reading them together. It was total greatness as we devoured chapter after chapter.
I first loved her photography – I never knew cows and bulls could be so beautiful! LOL
Then I fell in love with her humor and realness. Her recipes are amazing as well.
I will admit – I haven’t read any of the love story *bag*
I love her recipes and the realness of her stories. I grew up farming so I guess she’s someone I can relate to even in my busy urban life.
I love everything about her! yay PW!!!
(read the stories Dina!!)
I love drooling over her recipes the best. I always feel like I gained a lb just READING them. But I love her photography of the landscape, the cows, and of course, the “punks”!
I love PW’s chocolate sheet cake!
I love the creativity in each of her posts, and I love her Black Heels to Tractor Wheels story.
Thanks!!
I love her recipes! I’m so jealous (but happy) you got to go! 😉
I love her hilarious sense of humor! Oh, and she ditched that guy in Cali and fell in love with MM 🙂 Maybe I can find my own MM someday!
I fell in love with her photography first. I love her actions and her style. It was her photography that drew me into her recipes! LOL I do not have her cookbook. 🙁 This is one I’d love, love, love to win! 🙂
I love her recipes and her realness. I could spend hours rummaging through her site.
I love her recipes! I collect cookbooks and would love a copy of Ree’s! I made her “Holiday Bacon Appetizers” and they are so yummy! Also, the cinnamon rolls are to die for!
Oh, are they awesome? I just can’t bring myself to make them, since I’m pretty sure I’d eat the ENTIRE batch by myself….the rolls I mean.
they’re worth it! I make them every couple months and send in several pans to work with Kyle.
I love her recipes and her realness. I could spend hours on her site!
I can’t decide if Black Heels is my fav or if her photography and all the hilarious stories that go with it is my favorite. She’s been a heck of an inspiration while I’ve been teaching myself different tips and tricks….
I first enjoyed the homeschooling – real descriptions and how she addresses the many different tasks. Then I discovered the confessions – growing up in Oklahoma I can relate to many of the things she says. I love reading the recipies, although I will admit I’ve only gotten brave enough to make 1-2 and I’ve been reading the site for years. A cookbook might force me to make a few more. My husband would love it. 🙂
i love her photos of chaps!
LOVE Ree!!!
Ree and I have husbands that like to eat them some butter! I am ALWAYS on the hunt for delicious recipes and while I rarely cook b/c I don’t think I’m any good, her recipes have ALWAYS turned out to be a hit in our house. My husband LOVES her meals, which is great inspiration for me to get her book and start cooking!!!
I love her recipes…although I’m sure they are all fat free. Her humor is a close second to her recipes tho.
I’m in love with her basset hound with stretchy skin, Frito scented paws and darling ears. Her love for her older brother. Lastly her Chicken Spaghetti and Farfalle with zucchini recipes. *drools*
How awesome. I love her recipes!
I LOVE PW!
I like her witty comments that accompany the AWESOME photos of the food she’s making!
Oh and one of my favorite recipes from her is the pot roast!
I love her recipes. Every one I’ve tried has been a hit.
I love PW. Her recipes are awesome. The cookbook is actually on my wishlist. 🙂 She has recipes, that if the hubby looks at the list doesn’t freak out. He knows what everything is.
I love the way she speaks life into every little thing she talks about. And how she can make even the most ordinary picture a masterpiece. I am in awe of everything she does!
How cool! I have just recently found out about PW and love her. I have tried a few recipes and they were great!
I’m sort of scratching my head wondering how I’ve never heard of her! She seems to be right up my alley, so I’m off to check out all the fabulous things she seems to do! That picture of the “Sour Cream Pancakes” is currently making my mouth water!
Her recipes are wonderful! She was recently on a local show here and she was darling…you couldn’t help but love her.
I LOVE her COWBOY food. Makes me happy. Makes me work out a bit more so that I can enjoy it. I enjoy everything about her…but I just dig that food.
Oh, and her whiskey glazed carrots rocked my socks too. YUM.
She makes me happy…oh so happy. I say happy a lot, huh?
Oh! I really wanted to go to the signing! I was sick that day.
I Love everything about Ree … Her way with words ans sense of humour is fabulous! I Love her recipes also!
I’m SO thrilled for you that you met her. Where do I start with what I love? I started hearing about PW from different blogs and sites and went to find out about this woman and just was engrossed. I started by reading her “Black Heels” and eventually worked my courage up to try one of her recipes. The Chocolate Sheet Cake – and I was hooked. It’s fun to be part of Ree’s community and enjoy her successes along with her and she’s helped me become a more confident cook!
You make me sooo jealous! I love her photo tips, no wait, her marlboro man recipes, no wait her blogs….. No wait just all of it!!!! Hope I win!
What I love most is how down to earth she seems on her blog (which you confirmed from meeting her!). I feel like I’m reading one of my friend’s blogs instead of a strangers!
I LOVE her recipes! She delivers them with such a great sense of humor and they are always fun to read!
I love her apple dumpling recipe.
Oh man, “Not Your Mama’s Mac & Cheese” is my clear winner. I do find her take on reality a lot of fun. I, too, check her site every day.
I love P-Dub! She is so easy to relate to. I love her recipes too. 🙂
I don’t get out to read her blog as often as I should but I <3 her actions!!!
Love the PW!! Can’t wait to see the new cookbook!
she has gorgeous photos and great recipes!
I started exploring her site after you mentioned her site on Facebook…and I’m hooked. I especially love digging through the recipes and really want to try one that looked like chile rilleno in casserole form! I’m a bonified cookbook addict and can easily toss a couple of other ones on the shelf if it means I’m making room for this one 🙂
Her sense of humor is what keeps me reading fir sure 🙂
I love her writing and photography! Her blog is a such a joy to read 🙂 Right now, I’m at Meeting MM Part V and studying her photography equipment. I’d like to try the sour cream pancakes…I don’t like sour cream in “real life” but it should be awesome in pancakes drenched with maple syrup. Yum!
I LOVE PW! I started reading the love story one night and couldn’t stop – so good! I love her lasagna and chicken spaghetti. Mmmmm…. 🙂
How to narrow it? Real life with wit and yummy food.
I love her sense of humor best, but that is followed closely by her recipes!
Love her recipes! They ALL look sooo yummy!!
I can’t get enough of PW. Her wit, charm, recipes & her photography is what first drew me in!
I liker her personality the most, and her Okieness, because I’m an Okie too.
I am sooo jealous!!! I so wanted to go meet her. Her site is one of my favorite things. I think everyone should read Black Heels, I read it all in one sitting. She is awesome and her recipes are the best!!!