Mandolia

Hi Charlize - in your first 2 paragraphs you've hit upon the things I'd wondered about. Funnily enough, the strawberry jam and "biology" episode was shown here yesterday. I'm not entirely sure how useful staring at a mason jar full of dirty pond water is in terms of education but probably there was some sort of purpose to the exercise. Of course, I had no idea that the situation with teachers in Oklahoma was so weighed down with politics and/or funding. How awful.

Kohola3, that's a really interesting insight - thank you so much for replying to my (rather random and slightly off-topic!) question. While every school isn't exactly excellent - we have the state school system in the UK, what you in the states would call "public school", and it is a lottery of which catchment area you fall into...some schools have a A+ reputation, some are shockingly low on the alphabet scale of grading. I was very fortunate and went to private (what we call "public school"...all v confusing!) school throughout my education decades ago: only possible, really, because my father worked abroad and his company contract covered the cost of school fees (AND travelling to and from the West Indies for the school holidays). There are scholarships/bursaries available for children within the state system to move across to private education IF there is exceptional talent in a given subject and you apply to the right place. It's rather sad to think that there are children in the States insulated from the (pretty wretched) real world because of faith/beliefs or because of mistrust in the system. Or both.

Yesterday afternoon was a veritable feast of The Pioneer Woman on Food Network in the UK. I could barely contain my delight. Two new (to the UK) episodes followed by what must have been two of the original shows - Todd as a little boy displaying front teeth gap and Ree almost, but not quite, brunette rather than the burnished (?) red tresses. Yes: I spent well nigh 2 hours watching when I could have been doing something useful. It's jaw-droppingly, mind-bogglingly addictive. Frankly, I fear for my sanity! (I'd love it if someone could explain to me about home-schooling: it's not that I don't understand the concept and I know there is a set curriculum pattern to follow, but I find it odd that there's this buncha of children who don't attend local schools...is it because the local schools are lacking in some way, perhaps in terms of educational standards?)

Not that I am remotely cynical (much), but it would be interesting to know quite how many behind the scenes/invisible minions there are to perpetuate the myth that the Drummonds are just an ordinary ranching family (tho the gilt on the myth is a bit tarnished with the revelation of TWO kitchens plus a chef employed to cater for the crew).

The blonde Ree looks quite dreadful. Her skin tone just isn't suited to blonde. (ditto her daughter and the dreadful "new hair" - the poor girl looks like a wraith who has never seen daylight.)

It does rather make a mockery of the "ordinary" lives Ree and her husband, their family and assorted cowboys purport to lead! And a chef to feed the crew. All Big Business for Mrs Drummond. As if that's a surprise. The two poncho outfits are beyond awful. Although, as someone else said, Missy had the better idea based on something so hideous. Here in the UK we've started getting some more recent episodes. I watched a couple back-to-back yesterday afternoon (don't tell on me: I should have been working on spreadsheets). Nothing hugely different: more or less the same Tex-Mex/cowboy friendly food with a shovel-load of jalapeno, just shot from a different angle. With some bits of the Merc thrown into the mix and random delivery of goodies hither and thither. Ree in Lady Bountiful mode is a force of nature which is about as welcome as a cyclone. The bit part players look like startled deer in headlights when they receive these delights. I really don't know why I watch as the contrived/choreographed nature of the whole thing is repetitive and irritating. I do enjoy watching Ina Garten as I find her, in a strange way, rather soothing - it's as contrived/choreographed as The PW but somehow gently entertaining. I just laugh when the Barefoot Contessa has one of her beach picnics, with the interior decoration chap creating a stage set on the sand - kilim rugs, baby palms in Moroccan planters, scatter cushions, etc, etc. In a howling gale. With very unhappy looking guests. Just pure fun. I'm never interested in puddings (sorry: UK-speak for dessert) but some of Ina's main courses do look wonderful and I would cook them. And she's good at talking through technical bits which might be daunting for someone who hasn't really ever cooked much.

I saw ziti on a PW episode this last weekend. Shortly afterwards it popped up on another show (I was bored, had the Food Network on as there was nothing else to watch!) - can't remember the name of the cook. I had not an iota of a clue what ziti is...another internet sleuthing session...all was revealed. I must say, it looks and sounds delicious and I may well give it a go! (but probably considerably reduce the cheese element!!) (would have to use penne as ziti isn't a type of pasta I've ever seen in the UK) On a side note, an irritation with Ree is her relentless but very forced (and very scripted) enthusiasm, almost squealing with high-pitched excitement over something really quite ordinary - it's not like she's split the culinary atom. I do wonder how much her family and assorted cowboys, friends and other bit part players enjoy being fed in front of a camera crew in what are obviously choreographed "set pieces". Nobody ever seems to finish anything (tho I'm not suggesting every mouthful should be captured on camera but the occasional empty plate would be good) as PW will suddenly shriek "who's ready for dessert?". Most unnatural but one has to remember it is a tv show, it's not real life! Mrs Drummond is described as a "chef" on wiki-whatsit. Yes, and I'm Napoleon Bonaparte. My laptop has gone mad - sorry about duplicated quote bit!

Lura at your suggestion I've posted something about village lunches on the Small Talk thread...it will probably bore you rigid as I got carried away describing how it all works, i.e. mega word overload! I didn't mention that the local farmer * here is an absolutely brilliant pastry cook: he makes restaurant standard things - the most unlikely person to make his own pastry. Not very Ladd!!! *he does all the cooking at home as his wife doesn't "do" food. I went to supper with them and he did beef Wellington: worthy of a Michelin star.

I may have to try it out...perhaps not Mrs Drummond's version, tho! Having seen PW make Funeral Potatoes , I was intrigued and did a bit of internet sleuthing. It does seem easy-peasy to make. I suggested to a neighbour that I make it for a village lunch. The response was less than positive when I said I'd seen it on The Pioneer Woman and that it involved frozen hash browns (which 1 or 2 of the bigger supermarket chains in the UK do stock) and tinned soup. I think my neighbour was more anti the idea because of the PW connection than the actual "concept" of Funeral Potatoes - my neighbour has a near allergy to PW, and now won't watch - not even for fun. So the village party had to make do with dauphinoise potatoes. I'm sure Ree (or one of the unseen minions) would have found the correct blade for the food processor first off, unlike me who started off with the shredding one...little potato "worms"!! Luckily I didn't have a camera crew in my tiny kitchen.

That's really interesting - thanks for "doing the digging"!

Thanks so much for that explanation. Occasionally Ree "credits" one of her weird concoctions to a friend/her mother/her great aunt's husband's cousin 5 times removed (I made that one up but you'll get my drift!) but I think the thrall in which she holds her fans means they fail to see that is a rehash of something familiar with the help of the back of a packet and chucking in some extra ingredients!...jalapeno alert!! Which I find really irritating. Just come straight out and tell it like it is. But I suppose the pretence perpetuates the myth she has rather successfully created. We all have hand-me-down recipes and ones which have appeared in, say, a fundraising cookery book for a local charity (there have been loads of those in the UK). But Ree blithely chucks more sticks of butter into the Kitchenaid or a skillet to create another of her home-on-the range delights and her fans swoon as if the result is a miracle. Madness, really. As to cooking temps F v CL it's a minefield - almost literally.

I know I'm on the other side of the Atlantic and there are quite a few culinary differences between the US and the UK. I had never heard of - much less tasted - green bean casserole and then PW popped up on one of her shows (probably ages old) with this as a vegetable dish with the addition of bacon, onions and a cheese sauce (which I think is a deviation from g/b casserole which has long been popular and involves condensed soup, but I've refrained from doing an internet search for recipes as I must not allow myself to be distracted any further!). I can almost imagine what a g/b casserole might be like but it seems - to this "Limey", anyway - a rather strange idea. Perhaps it was a dish that was born out of an annual glut of green beans and what to do with them with not many other ingredients? I'd be interested to know the history as I find the background to unfamiliar dishes really interesting.

I think the attempt to resurrect Dallas was only shown on subscription tv (which I don't have) in the UK. I read about it, and it got pretty dire reviews. (at the height of Dallas fever over here, people turned down invitations to parties if the timing conflicted with the next episode!) Back to topic... The Food Network channel I get on my "free view" tv is about a million miles behind the Food Network channel in the States and has the most bizarre scheduling: as well as not showing shows in chronological order, it will suddenly go into repeat mode with shows such as The PW. What we get here is way behind anything recent. But I don't suppose it actually matters, particularly with Mrs Drummond as her repertoire could be described as same-old-same-old on a loop.

Charlize - thank you for the reply (I'm pleased you found the Jock Ewing of ranching amusing!!) (Dallas remains one of my all-time favourite tv series - it had a massive following in the UK..."who shot JR" almost brought the country to a standstill!!) (I see Ladd as more or a Bobby Ewing figure, which could mean he wakes up and all the PW stuff has been a dream...) I strayed way off topic with my brunch remarks and felt rather embarrassed afterwards to be so self-indulgent. Then thought I'd delete the post but my elderly laptop had one of its moments and went on strike. I'm grateful for you taking the time to reply. I suppose the sheer quantity of choice is what made me a bit startled...the Biltmore was an experience, certainly. A new restaurant local to where I live in England tried out the idea of Sunday brunch on a small scale and it just didn't take off. Trying VERY hard to keep on the PW train of thought, I had a major attack of giggles the other day - episodes of PW and Ina were being shown on a loop. Ina did her lobster mac 'n' cheese...next thing was Mrs Drummond recreating a meal she and her daughters had had on one their trips away together: lobster mac 'n' cheese (plus there was steak, I think - can't quite remember). Ree did at least say it was a rather expensive treat as she flung in copious loads of cheese to embrace the lobster. About 2 hours later there was a repeat of a Jamie Oliver show which featured lobster macaroni cheese. Three versions in the space of 4 hours. Have to say that PW's version was the least inspiring.

Hi Lura. Hope all was ok with the blood tests and that you were able to have a good post-fast feast (but went easy on Eggs Benedict plus the breakfast potatoes!). As I said in my post, I love Eggs B and the components of the breakfast potatoes are just up my street, just not at the same time: as you say, Ree is the master of overkill and the "loaded plate". Anyway, it's a tv show and Chuck's breakfast was probably filmed at at 2 p.m.!

A question (and this may further explain the difference twixt US and UK) (no inter-country offence is intended -it's asked out of genuine interest!). Chuck's birthday (although it's decades since Dallas was first aired, I think of Chuck as being the Jock Ewing of ranching) brunch: does anyone really have Eggs Benedict plus "breakfast potatoes" at the same time? I love Eggs Benedict and the ingredients of breakfast potatoes is appealing BUT there is no way I could tackle both on the same plate. Years ago I spent 3 weeks in South Miami, staying with some friends - husband of the couple had been headhunted from the UK for a work contract...lovely house included, all the finest fandango you can imagine. On 2 of the Sundays I was there my hosts took me out for brunch. Once to a rather swanky yacht club on Biscayne Bay (where I opted for bacon, eggs and hash browns: and that was it!) and the second time to the Biltmore in Coral Gables. The Biltmore, particularly, completely overfaced me. There was SO MUCH to chose from! And I didn't quite grasp the idea that you worked your way through each food station, with the possibility of going back time and time again. I started with a small portion of prawns (whoops: I mean shrimp!) and some lobster salad. And then tottered to the grill, missing out the roasted meat options/hot vegetables and asked for a small piece of steak - a vast fillet steak (which I think is the States is called tenderloin?) landed on my plate. Staggering (I went from tottering to staggering in 3 minutes, such was the weight of the steak!) to another serving station I selected some salad and also a baked potato. And I do remember swooping onto bearnaise sauce! Returned to our table table and got stuck in. It was all delicious. I didn't need/want another mouthful when I finished. My hosts did go back and return with plates of goodness knows what - fresh pasta cooked by a chef imported from the Cipriani in Venice came into it. I never even looked at the puddings. The waiter assigned to our table kept asking me if I wasn't finding the brunch "experience" to my liking. What I had was all fabulous but another mouthful...no way, Jose! This is in no way intended to be derogatory about the the quantities on offer, etc. Just a trip down Memory Lane, really. (have to say that the Biltmore was pretty amazing and not horribly expensive then...I see it's now US$90 per head for Sunday brunch)

Hello and thank you to you and others who've welcomed me. I am pleased I took the plunge by posting!! The PW "themed" compilations/rehashed segments of other episodes pop up - randomly - over here. The "themed" element always seems a rather tenuous connection between theme and content. More or less an excuse for filling the time span on a episode. What I find quite (only quite - I'm not obsessed or anything else borderline-deranged about this programme!) interesting is the PW pantry at the Lodge. It's stocked like a shop. Actually, it's stocked as if the nearest shop/supermarket is a 3 hour drive away...or as if ready for a siege...or as if ready to be snowed in for 6 weeks. Of course, this is all part of The Show and the make-believe/myth its success (or otherwise) is built upon: shopping is difficult when you "live in the middle of nowhere" so you need to stock up. Except it's not in the middle of nowhere. The reliance upon tinned (sorry: canned!) goods and jars rather skews the pioneering element. Why doesn't Ree do things like make her own marinara sauce? Why not roast sweet (bell!) peppers and jar them up in olive oil. Etc, etc. And do some episodes on this subject. On a side note, there is a small language problem in watching cooking progs from the US: one needs to know American cooking speak! I've become quite good at it - some of the ingredients I could do, like zucchini and eggplant as one can see what they are. But arugula, initially, had me flummoxed. I had to google it, to discover it's what we call rocket. And cilantro (coriander). Sticks of butter were a mystery. I suppose it works both ways: watch a programme from the UK and there might be completely mystifying ingredients! (oh: weights and measurements are different, and oven temperatures are F in the US and C in the UK, which can trip you up.)

Thank you so much for the welcome. A friend of mine in the UK also watches PW and is staggered at the ineptitude of the cooking. I told my friend, who is a very accomplished cook, that the food is incidental, or secondary, to the actual programme, and that it's all a vehicle for promoting "other things" within the Drummond brand (which, as they've that tiny landholding - 400,000 acres? - is a pretty appropriate word!). I'm a fairly good cook, too, which is why I get slightly irritated by Mrs Drummond's repetitive creations, all of which seem to involve pounds of butter, a ton of cheese, gallons of cream and jalapeno peppers by the bucket load. (I have no problem with jalapeno peppers: I grew up in the Tropics but there is a moment of hot pepper overkill) Some would say "why watch?": I suppose there's a weird fascination about the fabricated/choreographed oddity of the programmes. (Did someone really order one of everything at the deli: good heavens!!)

I watch The Pioneer Woman in the UK (confusingly, there's no rhyme or reason to the order of episodes so you might get 2 fairly recent episodes and then a massive backtrack to something that's ages old!). I decided to do a bit of internet scouting to see what the "back story" was to the success of someone who has a tv show but who doesn't really cook awfully well - seemingly variations of the same thing but in slightly different (contrived) set piece situations in which the participants (cast, even) look less than relaxed or sometimes downright miserable. I also watch The Barefoot Contessa where at least the set pieces are a bit - only a bit, but you take it with a good pinch of (kosher) salt - more believable or so outrageously OTT that one can only giggle...tho Ina Garten seems to present her programmes in a way that makes one laugh with her, rather than laughing at her. Also, IG is a pro cook, so what she creates is based on culinary knowledge and experience. Of course, all these programmes aren't remotely "real" but there's something about The Pioneer Woman which just doesn't ring true, hence my sleuthing. Finding this forum, among others, has been a real eye-opener as well as a most enjoyable read! My gut instinct was correct. Clearly, Mrs Drummond has many devoted fans - you might even call them devout followers, who in some deluded way think she's a friend if your look at comments on her Facebook page. She's not a friend: she's a savvy businesswoman who has created a brand. She's not an ordinary rancher's wife cooking up a storm to feed "hungry cowboys" while homeschooling/blogging/photographing and creating the Merc shop/the hotel/the (pizza?) restaurant and all the other bits and bobs she crams into her day (where does she get the time to do all these things?!). It's smoke and mirrors, really: while not exactly deceit, it's certainly an illusion. Incidentally, I am still recovering from the idea of the creamiest-mashed-potatoes-ever which seemed to involve pounds of butter, cream cheese and cream. With a bit more butter on top before the dish goes into the oven. This is my first post and it's a bit long, for which apologies.