All Episodes Talk

[peacheslatour]

I think Ladd is cute and he seems like a stand-up guy. His relationship with Ree baffles me, though. I just don't know what he sees in her. Especially looking at how well his brother did in the wife dept.

[autumnh]

I'd take the Pioneer man over the Pioneer woman anyday! lol

[anneofcleves]

I'd cry if my date night meal (that we had to cook and clean) was breaded, deep fried shrimp, curly fries (WTH?), corn casserole (double WTH?) and a brownie ice cream sundae.  Or maybe die (of a heart attack) would be more likely.

If I'm going to load up on that much fat and calories for a romantic, at-home date night, it's going to be cocktails or a bottle of wine and the easiest thing in the world to prepare that involves no mess.  Like good cheese, bread, maybe some good cured sausage, olives, nuts, fruit, and chocolate.  And more wine.

Truthfully, I'd rather throw a couple of Stouffer's French bread pizzas in the oven than eat the Denny's-inspired slop she made.

Edited September 17, 2016 by anneofcleves

[peacheslatour]

We usually have some brie, crusty bread, grapes, pears and maybe some smoked salmon and crackers. And wine, lots of wine. If we're feeling especially nostalgic, we'll have what we used to get when we went to the drive-in movies; popcorn and ice cream bon bons. And wine, lots of wine.

[anneofcleves]

Oh yes, smoked salmon.  Perfect, peacheslatour.  On that note, I watched Pati Jinich make a Mexican Style Gravlax recently that had me drooling.  She served it on thin toasts with a dollop of crema, some thin-sliced avocado, and a splash of fresh lime juice.  That would be an excellent date night food.  Plus, she could send all the leftovers to Paige for dorm room waffle maker quesadillas!

Ree makes curly fries.  hahahahahahahahahaaaa...

[peacheslatour]

Yum!

[autumnh]

Ohhhh....Brie.....triple creme is my fave. I wrap it in puff pastry with some walnuts and fresh made cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.....delicious.

[grisgris]

Ai! Yi! Yi! Was that episode all kinds of awkward or what?  I hate "on-the-spot" grilling of one's spouse (even though it was scripted, I'm sure) especially with loaded and potentially embarrassing questions.

One thing is certain, after eating that grease-, sugar- and carb-loaded meal, Ladd's not going to be feeling up for any kind of *erm* "appreciation" or otherwise or/of Ree's body. Ugh.

I never deep fry anything because 1) I'm a chicken-shit and 2) It seems like such a waste of cooking oil and effort to make something for one person and crispy fried food doesn't keep well, so making big batches wouldn't fly. Anyway, I've never heard of "marinating" curly (or any type of) fries prior to frying them.  Now it makes me wonder if places like Arby's do that because their curly fries (I eat, them, just don't fry 'em myself!) have a very distinct seasoning to them that isn't something that's sprinkled on.   I didn't have an opinion either way on seeing the method demonstrated. It was just the first time I'd seen or heard of doing that.

I thought Ladd had a better idea for battering the shrimp, actually.  It seems to be that the process of deep-frying is already going to guarantee (well ...) a crispy coating, so why use panko? Now, for oven-frying, I think panko works great, but it seemed kind of redundant for this purpose.

I get so tired of people throwing a dash of cinnamon into anything chocolate and ole' it's "Mexican." (Good quality) Mexican chocolate has other flavors, I think, specifically, almond and some even have a touch of heat. I was really surprised that Ree didn't add a few drops from her ever-present bottle of hot sauce into the cake batter. I'm sure Ladd would disapprove.

The only thing this episode had me lusting over was a spiralizer. I must have one. I love zucchini zoodles and they are so expensive to buy ready cut at the grocery store.

Speaking of using your grocery store for shortcuts, Sandra Lee is going to be one of the judges on this season's "Halloween Baking Competition." I know many former Semi-ho fans post here, so thought I'd spread the word.  The first episode is Oct. 3. The other judges are Carla Hall and Damiano, one of the rejects from this year's FNS competition. Should be a good time!

[Lillybee]

So Ree put two sticks of butter in her chocolate sauce, way too much.

 

I am glad to see that Aunt Sandy is feeling well enough to be a judge on a baking show.

[Qoass]

I counted 3 1/2 sticks of butter in that meal for two people.  That's on top of the oil in the fried foods.

[Hildegard802]

Those two have exactly zero chemistry.  He's as awkward on camera as she.  What a "gloriously" awful show.  

[Natalie68]

On 9/19/2016 at 6:16 AM, Qoass said:

I counted 3 1/2 sticks of butter in that meal for two people.  That's on top of the oil in the fried foods.

I was counting butter sticks as well!  Ladd is much more entertaining.  Pioneer Man show please!  Or lets have Ree paw through an average fridge/pantry and make something.  One doesn't have to be a good cook when its slathered in butter/cheese/hot sauce.  To ME it says she is hiding some shitty cooking.  The corn casserole really bugged me.  Maybe I didn't see it but she threw the salt/pepper/god knows what else and didn't stir.  

Those kids are eating a ton of fat/sugar/calories.  Is she going for a world record such as youngest person getting angioplasty?  Luckily they seem active.

[Gam2]

I watched a few minutes of this program the other day. I had to turn it off after hearing her say "Now I'll just" about 14 times. Why don't the producers tell her to stop saying that over and over and over? Geese, people.

[chessiegal]

36 minutes ago, Gam2 said:

I watched a few minutes of this program the other day. I had to turn it off after hearing her say "Now I'll just" about 14 times. Why don't the producers tell her to stop saying that over and over and over? Geese, people.

Because she has a devoted band of followers who worship her and think she can do no wrong. She's a ratings goldmine moneymaker for FN. Go figure.

[anneofcleves]

I saw part of a rerun of hers on Saturday where she layered cooked rigatoni, jarred pasta sauce, cooked Italian sausage, and chunks of mozzarella cheese in a casserole dish.  Then she baked it.

Pure genius.

[Natalie68]

On 9/26/2016 at 6:47 PM, anneofcleves said:

I saw part of a rerun of hers on Saturday where she layered cooked rigatoni, jarred pasta sauce, cooked Italian sausage, and chunks of mozzarella cheese in a casserole dish.  Then she baked it.

Pure genius.

I need to copy and paste this for when I just can't think of what to make!  Her show is a joke.  But I just can't quit it.

[grisgris]

Is season 2837623 over already? I swear there were only about three episodes.  It looks like tomorrow's show is also a Ree-peat. Don't tell me Ree's winding down on us.  (Unfortunately, I think things are just quiet on the FN front gearing up for the horrible holiday shows -- old and new -- that will start rolling out in November.)

The Ree-isms that I can't stand are "I just added a buncha ..." and also that she purposely doesn't pronounce the g at the end of words, like "I'm goin' over to Chuck's 'cuz he's shuckin' a buncha ears of corn for us."  I also noticed that one the fairly recent episode where she took the retirement dinner over to her father's house, that she didn't speak that way around them.  Hmmmm ...

[Albino]

Today was a repeat of the Rancher's Dinner and I know this was discussed before, but did Ladd actually "grill" the steaks by basically boiling them in butter?  What the...?  I'm not a griller so maybe this is a thing, but it sounds awful.  

In addition to the "I'll just..." and "buncha" I would like to add "Now I'll move forward with the boiled beef...".  No one says this in real life.  In an office, maybe.  But in the wilds of Oklahoma?  Why not just say "start on..." or  "get to work on..." or whatever.  It just sounds so out of place.

[Hildegard802]

Everything Ree does is a direct ripoff of someone else.  Woman does not have an original bone in her body.  The "just"s?  Watch Barefoot Contestssa and count the number of times Ina uses "just."  The car-cam?  Yeaah, Ina did it first.   The running around to lame errands on the side?  Or having someone else doing lame side things?   Yes, Ree-Ree got it from Ina. 

Don't even get going on her shitty products at Walmart.  

Ree's entire concept is Barefoot Contessa Does Oklahoma.  Ina slobbers over Jeffery.  Ree tries to slobber over Ladd.   

The main difference is Ina can cook.  All Ree can do is recycle from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, circa 1952.

[chessiegal]

6 hours ago, Hildegard802 said:

Everything Ree does is a direct ripoff of someone else.  Woman does not have an original bone in her body.  The "just"s?  Watch Barefoot Contestssa and count the number of times Ina uses "just."  The car-cam?  Yeaah, Ina did it first.   The running around to lame errands on the side?  Or having someone else doing lame side things?   Yes, Ree-Ree got it from Ina. 

Don't even get going on her shitty products at Walmart.  

Ree's entire concept is Barefoot Contessa Does Oklahoma.  Ina slobbers over Jeffery.  Ree tries to slobber over Ladd.   

The main difference is Ina can cook.  All Ree can do is recycle from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, circa 1952.

Not to defend Ree, but Ree and Ina do have the same production company. I mostly chalk up some similarities to that.

[anneofcleves]

8 hours ago, Albino said:

Today was a repeat of the Rancher's Dinner and I know this was discussed before, but did Ladd actually "grill" the steaks by basically boiling them in butter?  What the...?  I'm not a griller so maybe this is a thing, but it sounds awful.  

Yes, that is Ladd's trademarked method of grilling very expensive cuts of beef.  He essentially boils them in butter and then douses them with Lawry's lemon pepper.  It always makes me weep to see it.

[Lillybee]

That special sauce that she made for the giant breakfast sausages has to be the worst. So many things in that I don't think go together. Why did she use curry and sugar in it. I think that those flavors would not go well with the sage in the sausages.

[savingsanta]

On 10/1/2016 at 2:09 PM, Lillybee said:

That special sauce that she made for the giant breakfast sausages has to be the worst. So many things in that I don't think go together. Why did she use curry and sugar in it. I think that those flavors would not go well with the sage in the sausages.

BECAUSE SHE CAN!!!

[ShortyMac]

I'm watching the "Pickup Picnic" episode where she makes mocha brownies with TEN cups of powdered sugar in the frosting. Good Lord. My teeth ache at the thought of eating those. I LOVE sweets, but, that's just excessive (and so are most of Ree's 'recipes'). Gross. The Drummond's family dental practice must love them.

[Albino]

2 minutes ago, ShortyMac said:

I'm watching the "Pickup Picnic" episode where she makes mocha brownies with TEN cups of powdered sugar in the frosting. Good Lord. My teeth ache at the thought of eating those. I LOVE sweets, but, that's just excessive (and so are most of Ree's 'recipes'). Gross. The Drummond's family dental practice must love them.

Hahaha...watching it too.  I loved how she said she wanted to make the brownies "extra sweet".  Because they're just not sweet enough on their own.

[maggiemae]

Let alone there were not that many people there - yet 2 pedestals (???!!!!) of them.

[ariel]

Ree is Sandra Lee without the charm, good looks & the funny boozy moments.

[Kohola3]

Tip of the day:  "Sprinkle X evenly over the top so that they are not all clumped together on one spot".  My God, the woman is a genius.  I never thought of that.  I just throw a mountain of X right in the middle of the pan.

[tabloidlover]

Has anyone ever told her that she is not as cute or funny as she thinks she is?  As much as I love to snark on her, she is becoming unwatchable for me.

[autumnh]

Enchilasagna....isn't that just mexican lasagna? although she did use pasta noodles. Anyone love how thrilled Ladd looked at his Cheeseburger salad? lol

 

I do make "turkey joes" and will often times put it over greens with veggies when I am watching my carbs.

[grisgris]

Oh, I thought I'd tuned into a "mash-up" (/snerk) of "Worst Cooks in America" and "Halloween Wars."

1. Enchilasagna. BFD. Chicken enchilada filling layered with the starch instead of being rolled in it.

2. The kicker for me was the zucchini waffles which were nothing more than zucchini/carrot bread cooked in a waffle iron. What bugged me was when Ree was making the batter, again, "I'm just adding this to a whole buncha buttermilk."  Baking is precise, so if anybody was actually following along and home and wanted to try the recipe, they were screwed.  But the absolute worse was that cream cheese syrup.  I love sweets, especially involving maple syrup, but that made my teeth ache just looking at it: Cream cheese, powdered sugar (a whole buncha), maple syrup and vanilla.) I could tell the kids didn't care for the final product at all and even Ree didn't look that thrilled with the outcome. I think Todd's indecipherable name for the recipe was alien-speak for "hot mess."

3. Trader Joe's came out with chocolate covered potato chips a couple of years ago and I haven't seen them on the shelves since.  Tip: If something doesn't work for TJ's, then don't try it at home.  Good advice for Ree's cookies.

4. Finally, the cheeseburger salad.  So that was basically a taco salad and instead of using the flavors for #1, Ree just used burger condiments and called it a day. That didn't even qualify as a recipe (as did any of the rest.) Ladd didn't look very thrilled by the idea, either.

[anneofcleves]

36 minutes ago, grisgris said:

Enchilasagna.

Ree's got a future working with the 15 year olds Taco Bell hires to come up with their menu items!

And yeah, that salad.  I think the phrase "hot mess" was actually invented to describe her cheeseburger salad.  I eat my grilled burgers as a salad all the time.  But you know, they're actually something you might want to eat with grilled onions and peppers.  Not drowning in a pool of ketchup, mustard, and bbq sauce.

Edited October 9, 2016 by anneofcleves

[autumnh]

15 hours ago, grisgris said:

Oh, I thought I'd tuned into a "mash-up" (/snerk) of "Worst Cooks in America" and "Halloween Wars."

1. Enchilasagna. BFD. Chicken enchilada filling layered with the starch instead of being rolled in it.

2. The kicker for me was the zucchini waffles which were nothing more than zucchini/carrot bread cooked in a waffle iron. What bugged me was when Ree was making the batter, again, "I'm just adding this to a whole buncha buttermilk."  Baking is precise, so if anybody was actually following along and home and wanted to try the recipe, they were screwed.  But the absolute worse was that cream cheese syrup.  I love sweets, especially involving maple syrup, but that made my teeth ache just looking at it: Cream cheese, powdered sugar (a whole buncha), maple syrup and vanilla.) I could tell the kids didn't care for the final product at all and even Ree didn't look that thrilled with the outcome. I think Todd's indecipherable name for the recipe was alien-speak for "hot mess."

3. Trader Joe's came out with chocolate covered potato chips a couple of years ago and I haven't seen them on the shelves since.  Tip: If something doesn't work for TJ's, then don't try it at home.  Good advice for Ree's cookies.

4. Finally, the cheeseburger salad.  So that was basically a taco salad and instead of using the flavors for #1, Ree just used burger condiments and called it a day. That didn't even qualify as a recipe (as did any of the rest.) Ladd didn't look very thrilled by the idea, either.

Trader Joes in my area still carries the chocolate covered chips..

[VioletNevermind]

I only caught a few minutes of the new episode yesterday.  Did I really see her top that "cheeseburger salad" with torn pieces of sesame seed hamburger rolls (attempting to mimic croutons, I assume)?  Please tell me I didn't see that.  

[tabloidlover]

So yeah, you saw that... :(

[ShortyMac]

I would just like to point out that I heard "enchilasagna" on the FN show Southern at Heart first. No trademark for you, Ree.

They make the kids do the stupidest things for the camera. Dressing up the dogs? Really? 

Also, Bryce and Todd have grown so much. Yet, Todd still tries to pull off the cutesy phrases. That got old years ago. 

I agree that Ladd did not look thrilled at all about his cheeseburger salad. Haha. 

[tenativelyyours]

That cheeseburger salad was foul.  One of my favorite meals my one aunt made (who was the baby in the family and single and probably doing a lot of hangover cuisine when my siblings and I got to spend the day with her) was her cheeseburger salad.  But dang was it different.  She made two big incredibly thin (think fast food burger thin) square burgers -- fried one on both sides, set it aside and then fried the other one -- when she flipped it over to fry the last side, she dumped a mix of soft cheeses on the cooked side and then topped it with the cooked burger -- making a square burger cake with the cheese melting inside.  She then cut it into bite sized squares  so you had a bunch of small little double square burgers -- mixed it with greens (always half of the greens had to be finely shredded ice berg lettuce to give it the right texture.  She threw on halved cherry tomatoes, chopped dill pickle and made a dressing of nothing more than equal parts mayo, ketchup mustard and a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce.  She put in a squeeze bottle and gaze each serving a nice healthy drizzle.  If we were lucky she had bacon cooked to crumble on it as well and good local deli sprinkle cheese or crumbled blue cheese.  And always her famous shoestring fries on top as garnish.

She always said this way when my mother complained about the ice cream shakes she made, she could always honestly say she fed us a salad for lunch.

 

And what is wrong with making an enchilada lasagna?  With the actual ingredients?  Layer the tortillas instead of rolling them works just fine to make a nice casserole instead of the pasta which seems kind of wrong to me.  Or make a lasagna with pasta that uses meat as the main layering component over the ricotta (though she likes her cottage cheese doesn't she?  yuck).

 

Again a strong episode proving she has no idea how things will taste before she slops them together. 

Another thing I have seen is potato chips that are dusted with a mix of cocoa powder and chili powder -- you warm the chips just enough and then lightly dust them with it.  Seems that would have been a better tie in to the episode since she was doing a mashup Mexican dish also.  Though I missed the actual segment on the chips since I found something more interesting to catch my attention and I forgot the show as even on.  Something that if she isn't outraging me with her heinous cooking choices I find happens all too often.

[peacheslatour]

I've been making "enchilasagna" for decades. It's just because rolling was too messy and labor intensive. I have found that if you put sauce on the bottom of the pan and then layer the tortillas/chicken/cheese/sauce I only have to use six tortillas, if I roll them I always either run out of chicken or tortillas before the end. I've never told any one because it just seems lazy. It's been my dirty secret for all this time and now Ree goes and blabs on T.V. *hangs head in shame*

[Lisin]

8 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I've been making "enchilasagna" for decades. It's just because rolling was too messy and labor intensive. I have found that if you put sauce on the bottom of the pan and then layer the tortillas/chicken/cheese/sauce I only have to use six tortillas, if I roll them I always either run out of chicken or tortillas before the end. I've never told any one because it just seems lazy. It's been my dirty secret for all this time and now Ree goes and blabs on T.V. *hangs head in shame*

Heee! I do the exact same thing but I for some reason call it "enchiladasagna" yours is better. You're not alone! It tastes the same and is so much faster and I like to think it's healthier too because 1) less tortillas in general and 2) I don't cook them in oil first like I did when I used to roll them. 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

2) I don't cook them in oil first like I did when I used to roll them.

Yep, I just stack them up and nuke them for about 30 seconds. Voila, no oil. And you're right they taste exactly the same, but a lot less mess.

[grisgris]

I've done that, too, and I've also made it with a ground beef filling. I call it "Tex-Mex Lasagna." Which is all great, but ... none of us are crowing like we were the brain child of the concept and that it fits right in there with the trend of "mashups" that's hot right now. Most foodies and hipsters would turn up their nose at a Mexican-Italian combo as too elementary anyway!

[tenativelyyours]

I prefer doing what I call a quesidilla torte; I just make a multi layer oven baked quesidilla and then pour enchilada sauce I heat on the stove over it to serve.  I prefer the crisp it gives to the tortillas.

But the real point is, she says she makes stuff, like the cheeseburger salad or the enchilasagna and yet it really goes pear shaped the minute she opens her thin lipped yap and starts saying how brilliantly she is going to go about creating this culinary disaster.  She opens with a flavor combination that many are familiar with, even among her fans I suspect, and then completely bulldozes through the most common sense approach with the prep, flavorings, construction and serving of the dish to the point it totally avoids any real compare to the way the name suggests.  And suggests as an appeal to eat let alone go to the effort of cooking it. 

And for someone who makes such a huge mess -- both figuratively and literally (twenty pots and pans when ironically often two if not one will do), she can't deconstruct worth shit.  She has less culinary insight to culinary flavors than Homer Simpson.  And that is not a slam because Homer Simpson is a drooling cretin.  It is a slam because Homer Simpson is a fictional cartoon character who does not exist.

[anneofcleves]

26 minutes ago, tenativelyyours said:

She has less culinary insight to culinary flavors than Homer Simpson.  And that is not a slam because Homer Simpson is a drooling cretin. 

ROFL.  Careful throwing around the word "cretin." She'll confuse it with "gratin" and we'll suddenly be seeing a recipe for Apple-Snickers Cretin' a la Ree.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I prefer doing what I call a quesidilla torte; I just make a multi layer oven baked quesidilla and then pour enchilada sauce I heat on the stove over it to serve.  I prefer the crisp it gives to the tortillas.

I like to make mini pizzas using quesadillas. I just take flour tortillas, fill them with cheese, fry them on each side (non-stick pan, no oil) top them with whatever sauce or salsa, more cheese, peppers, onions and fresh tomatoes and bake. Easy-peasy. I think anybody with an ounce of creativity could come up with much better stuff than the Pioneer Woman. Why she has a show on the FN is one of the great mysteries of the universe.

[anneofcleves]

6 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I like to make mini pizzas using quesadillas. I just take flour tortillas, fill them with cheese, fry them on each side (non-stick pan, no oil) top them with whatever sauce or salsa, more cheese, peppers, onions and fresh tomatoes and bake. Easy-peasy.

But why in the world don't you use a WAFFLE IRON?  Are you at least mixing something in your Kitchen Aid mixer?  

[peacheslatour]

Isn't it enough that I use four pounds of butter and extra sprinkles? 

[anneofcleves]

8 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Isn't it enough that I use four pounds of butter and extra sprinkles? 

That's a very good start with butter and sprinkles.  Ranch dressing, soy sauce, and sriracha would really have rounded that out.  But don't worry, peacheslatour, it's takes years to develop the kind of skills Ree has developed.  I've barely broken level 5 and am not sure I'll ever get to Grand Master level. 

Edited October 13, 2016 by anneofcleves

[Lillybee]

Please don't forget the extra hot sauce in almost everything even if it is not needed for normal people.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, anneofcleves said:

That's a very good start with butter and sprinkles.  Ranch dressing, soy sauce, and sriracha would really have rounded that out.  But don't worry, peacheslatour, it's takes years to develop the kind of skills Ree has developed.  I've barely broken level 5 and am not sure I'll ever get to Grand Master level. 

Sigh. I stay up long winter nights worrying about it. I don't suppose I'll ever rise to the dizzying heights of 47 cans soup. BTW, I have two words: Annabel Langbein. What a revelation. I learned more from her in 2 minutes than I ever learned from Ree.

[anneofcleves]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

BTW, I have two words: Annabel Langbein.

Yes!  Such a down to earth cook with reverence for ingredients.  Everything she makes looks so good.