(It’s a sunny Saturday morning here at the ranch and Ree’s signature sweet rolls will here in about fifteen minutes! More on our time here next week. In the meantime Arden, Elaine, and Christen are our winners! Congratulations!)
It was only two years ago when Maggy and Sharon said, “Mom, it’s time. You’ve got to start a food blog.” They were right.
As I was contemplating my identity as a food blogger, both girls were insistent: check out The Pioneer Woman. Once again, the girls were right. The woman who had charmed them was about to dramatically broaden my world
Maggy had discovered The Pioneer Woman as a young bride living outside London. At that point her cooking repertoire was limited to burgers, and Bolognese. She grew up around cooking, of course, and when she was in high school I tried to coax her, but hanging out at the mall was more interesting than learning to make meatloaf with me.
I dutifully sent her off to college with a set of my books that promptly got lost in all her moves. But then Maggy found Ree, the person she could check in with every few days and find a new recipe her man would love.
Sharon had always been drawn to the kitchen and didn’t need as much recipe inspiration. A hopeless romantic, she was drawn to Ree’s prose. During her two-year stint as Fine Cooking’s assistant web editor, she admits spending office hours reading Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. It was, after all, her job!
And then I started paying frequent visits to The Pioneer Woman site. Like my daughters I was attracted to Ree’s classy, warm, bumptious virtual ranch. I was thrilled that the daughter I thought would never take to the kitchen was calling home to say she had just made Olive-Cheese Bread, Ranch Dressing, or Marlborough Man-approved Crash Hot Potatoes.
I wanted to find a way to thank this woman who had entertained one daughter with heart-throbbing romance and lured the other into the kitchen with crowd-pleasing recipes. I did the only thing I knew to do. I sent her a couple of cookbooks and a note thanking her for all she’d done. When it comes to raising kids, it’s true: It takes a village.
And now I thank Ree for helping Three Many Cooks find our way into the food blogging community. We hope to show the same kindness to our friends and colleagues just starting out.
In anticipation of Maggy’s and my visit at the Ranch this weekend we’re giving away three sets of Ree’s three books: The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, and Charlie The Ranch Dog. Deadline is 6:00 PM Friday, June 24 Central Time when the party starts. In the spirit of the weekend’s theme, tell us your go-to recipe for when you’re just havin’ people over.
P.S. Sharon, we know come July you’ll be mightily relieved to have your intensive Hebrew course behind you, but know that Three Many Cooks feels a little incomplete without you at the Ranch.
Here’s Ree’s Blackberry Cobbler to add to the fun!
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen), rinsed and pat dry
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking dish.
- Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of the sugar and flour into a mixing bowl and whisk in the milk. Mix well. Pour in melted butter and whisk it all together.
- Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup sugar over the top.
- Bake until golden and bubbly, about an hour. If you’d like, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.
That is wonderful that you all are visiting the ranch! If I recall correctly, this is Pam’s second visit. Have fun!! My go to recipe in the summer is homemade ice cream.
PS I found this website through Pioneer Woman… which I have read for a long time.
I like to do tacos or pizza. Then everyone can create their own to their own tastes.
Mine go-to company dish is often my bacon and spinach frittatta, even if it’s dinner-time!
Franks Hot Sauce Buffalo Chicken dip! That is my newest go to recipe! People LOVE it! But much like Maggy, who turned me on to Pioneer Woman a while back, I go to Ree’s site MANY nights to please my kids and food loving boyfriend! and for when we’re having more than just a few people over! Her BBQ sauce is my boyfriends new fav dish I have tried!!
Please have a great time this weekend!
I adore Ree – her website is saved in my faves, and I must check her out daily!
My go-to for company?? SOOO easy!!! I pull a container of my homemade spaghetti sauce from the freezer, and voila!, a delicious meal that everyone loves!
Of course, the ‘hard’ part is taking a whole afternoon to roll over 100 meatballs, but really, it is worth the time!
I tried a new recipe (for me anyway) recently and think it should be my new go-to for company: beer can grilled chicken. Yum!
My “go to” recipe is my dad’s chip dip. It’s not a party without dad’s dip. And if it’s dinner, it’s dad’s marinated chuck roast with baked potatoes, baked beans and a green salad with dad’s bacon dressing. It’s creamy and warm but doesn’t wilt the lettuce. Best ever.
my go-to recipe these days is brown sugar bacon waffles. people seem glad to eat these day or night!
Arkansas Beef Casserole…an old family recipe!
I hope you have a wonderful time at the Ranch! I love Ree! and would love to win!
My go to recipe is Brown Buttered Pasta with Mizithra cheese – yummy!
mmalavec@med.umich.edu
My go to dish, which happens to double as an appetizer or salad for vegetarian folk, is Texas Caviar. I have a fabulous recipe that I got from the New York Times, with some twists of my own, of course. It never fails, every time I make it, at least one of my guests asks for the recipe!
My go-to meal is always pasta with homemade red sauce, which my late mother-in-law taught me how to make some years ago. I have to say, I’m now spoiled and can’t even touch anyone else’s sauce 😉
Not too shabby for an Irish chick lol!
Anything grilled (we do it all year, even winter). I love Ree and found your website thru her….. Have a fabulous weekend there and please post pics so we can see.
My go to recipe for having people over is chicken tacos. Living in Texas pretty much all our friends love Mexican food and it’s easy to prepare most of it in advance to limit my time in the kitchen once the guests arrive.
It depends on the occasion, but I can’t go wrong with homemade pizza!
i make slow roasted seasonal veggies, but only if the weather allows me to turn on the oven. so simple, people love it.
Ironically enough, The Pioneer Woman’s Fancy Macaroni (with all the delicious bacon and caramelized onions) is one of my go-to dishes for company!
During the summer, our go to recipe involves anything on the grill and fresh veggies and fruit from the market. For colder weather we usually have baked spaghetti and spinach salad with oranges and almonds.
It honestly depends on who is coming over. For one son, it’s mac/corn/cheese casserole, if our motorcycle “gang” is coming over it’s actually Ree’s Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork, for side dishes it will be either my mother-in-law’s macaroni salad or my ramen noodle broccoli salad, and for desert it is either my rocky road brownies or my mother’s lemon meringue pie!
My go-to for company is Chicken Tortilla Soup and a dessert of The Most Incredible Cake. Both are so easy and allow me to spend my time with my company, not with my stove.
Love your books, love your blog, love your daughters, and love Ree….and I adore Charlie.
Risotto is my staple, but I’m looking forward to adding to my repertoire when I see you this weekend at the Ranch!!! OMGosh, so excited!!
I guess burgers or something on the grill. It’s easy and a nice excuse to hang out outside in the sun. 🙂
I make Ree’s lasagna my way, but with not so many steps and with our ground venison Italian sausage! No that’s a meal for kings!!! or My man!
My lasagna, or, if we grill, then steaks (home raised beef) and vegetables in foil packets from the grill. Fresh berries and vanilla ice cream for dessert.
This past year I did quite a bit of entertaining and it seemed my “go to” dinner for company was pan roasted filet mignon roast with a garlicky seasoned rub and a fantastic recipe for penne with vodka sauce which includes asigio cheese, hot peppers and crispy proscuitto. The sauce is so creamy and has a little bite with the peppers, i’ve yet to have anyone not love it and i rarely have any leftovers. Adding a big green salad and crusty bread and everyone goes home very happy.
My go-to recipe for when I’m “just havin’ people over” depends on the season – in the fall/winter I would say it’s a spatchcocked roast chicken (I have perfected roast chicken and this method makes it even faster) and in the spring/summer it’s grilled souvlaki (we live in a Greek neighbourhood in Toronto). Both served with great breads, dips and salads … plus lots of WINE! (And the guests usually bring dessert). Easy entertaining!
I found Ree much like Maggy did and have gotten other people hooked. I already knew how to cook, but I needed to build confidence and Ree’s step-by-step approach gave me the confidence I needed. I also found you guys through her, and have used MANY of your recipes as well. I think my go to recipe is Ree’s Macaroni and Cheese, it’s homey and comforting and eveyrone likes it.
My go-to main dish tends to either be Mexican Lasagna or a two-sauce Italian lasagna. We usually have more casual dinners. I also have cold salads in the rotation that can be made ahead: broccoli salad with grapes, pecans, and crumbled bacon, spinach salad with apple & red onion, or mixed greens with cranberries and walnuts and a creamy orange dressing. It’s the main dish, with entertaining, that always makes me nervous:)
Baked Ziti in the winter and Herb Citrus Crusted Tilapia in the Summer.
I don’t really have a go to recipe. I tailor the menu to the guests. I’m having a dinner guest tomorrow night who is a picky eater. I’ll be making turkey schnitzel because I know she likes it. I discovered Pam from the Pioneer Woman blog. I love both blogs.
Lately it has been homemade pizza and salad and the kids make them for me! Before it was grilled burgers, baked beans and Frito salad, family standbys and favorite requests!
I move around a lot. It depends on what looks fresh at the store and what time of year it is. We just had friends over for shrimp and grits and I always have a fried chicken party once a summer. Happy Summer, everyone! 🙂
I’m a big fan of doing homemade mini pizzas for a gathering! Do up all kinds of toppings and let guests create their own masterpiece!
Awesome giveaway! We all love the Pioneer Woman! I must say I’m a bit of an adventurous entertainer- although not highly recommended, whenever people come over I usually make something new that I’ve never made before. That said, appetizers and desserts are usually what people ask me to make, and a good sheet pan of home made brownies never is a bad idea!
That’s my problem. I don’t have a go to recipe. Even when family is just dropping by for a casual dinner, I get all crazy and make everything too complicated. I have so many cookbooks, and recipes, and I try to keep it simple, but somehow, it starts to get out of handand I have a menu that’s time consuming and exhausting. Before you know it I’m starching the tablecloth ( just kidding, but almost!)So this weekend when I come to the ranch ( hooray!!!!) I hope you’ll help me tone it down alittle and give me some great go to recipes! See you soon!
my go to recipe is setting up a taco bar
I poke around my cookbooks and piles of clippings and find something I’ve been dying to make. It always takes twice as long as I had planned, but that just means people wind up in the kitchen and dining area. Sometimes it’s great, and sometimes it’s a bomb. But that’s half the fun, you never know how it will turn out and we can always laugh about it.
Hi girls! My go-to dish for having people over is roast pork and potatoes, and garlic bread! Both crowd pleasers!
Hi ladies! My go-to dish is roast chicken. Always fabulous and simple, yet glamorous. 🙂
My go to meal is turkey or chicken tetrazzini, a warm crunchy loaf of french bread and a crisp salad with sugar coated almonds and mandarin oranges. Great company is a key ingredient!
It depends what season is, but homeade pizza can always be so accommodating. Ree has been an inspiration to me too, and she actually indirectly led me to your site as well!
Soup, italian bread, and salad. Perfect in the middle of a long Minnesota winter.
Grilled shisk-ka-bobs and homemade pita. Thanks for the chance!
Chicken curry, vegetable biriyani, and raita
If the weather is right, I like to make a jambalaya.
Cook’s Illustrated Carnitas (June 2008) served with Aldi’s Artichoke Fresh Salsa and Blue Corn Chips, Black bean and Bell pepper salad, a Green Salad with Creamy Chipotle-Lime Dressing and some kind of cold dessert (Paula Dean’s banana pudding, coconut pie, etc.). I LOVE this whole meal, and much of it is make ahead.
Thanks for all of your recipes and writing. I love your site and tend to think it’s your Southern roots that have served you so well!
Rebekah
Birmingham, AL
Cook’s Illustrated Carnitas (June 2008) served with Aldi’s Artichoke Fresh Salsa and Blue Corn Chips, Black bean and Bell pepper salad, a Green Salad with Creamy Chipotle-Lime Dressing and some kind of cold dessert (Paula Dean’s banana pudding, coconut pie, etc.). I LOVE this whole meal, and much of it is make ahead.
I love doing homemade pizza in the cooler months, and grilling fish or chicken in summer.
I wish I was visiting her ranch. Have a great time. The recipe I make when friends stop by is PW’s Pico de Gallo!!!! Love it!!! Right now I can’t get enough of her Iced Coffee either!!!!
I guess my go to recipe would have to be syrian foods, I have an array of family recipes to make and everyone loves it.