All Episodes Talk

[Lura]

My father-in-law grew spaghetti squash in his garden, and my mother-in-law made it once when I was visiting.  I really didn't care for it.  I love all kinds of squash, and I think I could have learned to like spaghetti squash if I got used to the taste.  She just served it with butter over it, I think.

[Kohola3]

48 minutes ago, Lura said:

She just served it with butter over it, I think.

It is pretty bland and just take on the taste of any sauce on it.  Much like zucchini, I think.  

[anneofcleves]

20 hours ago, tabloidlover said:

Wish I were joking, but a contestant on Worst Cooks in America used Ree’s  Omelette in a Ziplock tonight.   It didn’t go well 

Bwahahahaaa.  Now there’s a testimonial.

[Kohola3]

Quote

Wish I were joking, but a contestant on Worst Cooks in America used Ree’s  Omelette in a Ziplock tonight.   It didn’t go well 

That is freaking hysterical. I wonder how Ree feels about that!

[Qoass]

Spaghetti squash is fine as long as you expect it to be squash and not spaghetti.

[Mnemosyne]

1 hour ago, Qoass said:

Spaghetti squash is fine as long as you expect it to be squash and not spaghetti.

This right here. I like spaghetti squash with just a bit of butter and S&P. I don't think it stands up well with marina, though. I'm a big fan of butternut squash noodles for a  pasta replacement for heartier dishes like meatballs with sauce. Zucchini noodles are too watery.

I don't think I've ever been more twitchy watching an ep of PW than the good ol' omelet in a bag ep.

[ChickenLatte99]

I just watched an episode and she just HAD to add cayenne to falafel.

[Kohola3]

Quote

I just watched an episode and she just HAD to add cayenne to falafel.

Now where did I put that barf bag....

[Westiepeach]

39 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Now where did I put that barf bag....

I was the last one to use it. Here, I got a new one for you. 

[IOU Payne]

I'm still pissed over her description of falafel as "New York street food", not to mention the extraneous ingredients that she added or her unwillingness to use raw, soaked chickpeas instead of canned, cooked garbanos.  I've had both Israeli and Lebanese-style falafel, and I bet Ree's tasted more like cow patties.   Although my blood pressure also rose with the dressing for Greek Salad In A Jar, that contained mayo and balsamic vinegar, two very non-Greek ingredients.  

Despite my hypertensive concerns, I've come to the conclusion that this show is actually good for my health, because it allows me to vent in a safe, controlled manner.  Thanks for listening, everyone!  

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Although my blood pressure also rose with the dressing for Greek Salad In A Jar, that contained mayo and balsamic vinegar, two very non-Greek ingredients. 

Shouldn't that have been yogurt and lemon juice?

[grisgris]

Speaking of spaghetti squash, look what I found. (NO! This is a serious recipe that I think some of us would like.  The only box it ticks for Ree is that it includes a bit of bacon.)

http://12tomatoes.com/spinach-bacon-spag-squash/?utm_source=12t-12t&utm_medium=social-fb&utm_term=20160902&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=spinach-bacon-spag-squash&origin=12t_12t_social_fb_link_spinach-bacon-spag-squash_20160902

Edited January 10, 2018 by grisgris

[Lura]

Not joking here.  If you don't care for spaghetti squash like me, picture the other ingredients together.  It sounds like a delicious spinach salad to me, especially using baby spinach.  No cooking except for the bacon.

[LillyB]

So in Ree,s world a little bit of cream is a half cup. Yikes.

[grisgris]

I just was reminded of something else today that Ree says that bugs the hell out of me right up there with "buncha" and "bal-SAM-ick." Every single time she scrapes the seeds out of a vanilla bean pod, she refers to it as "caviar." I know that's a proper technical term for it, but it sounds so pretentious and outdated. I was watching Ellie Krieger's show today (the perfect companion for using my little mini cycle) and she was using a vanilla bean and said to "scrape out the seeds," then went on to describe/explain how the little black flecks add great flavor. Neither one of them is right or wrong but it just sounded so much more comfortable and natural coming from Ellie. But then .... Ellie is a decent cook and prepares nutritious healthy foods. I never thought Ellie was the most dynamic person on camera, but she's worlds better than Ree and I have noticed gradual improvement over the years, whereas Ree has remained stagnant.

I was watching "Kids' Baking Championship" today. (We had very inclement weather today and I was stuck at home.) Valerie had on a "flowy" top but it fit her properly and didn't billow plus it was a flattering cut and color. I think she and Duff are so sweet with the kids. If one of them is having problems and on the verge of tears, Valerie is always so kind to go to the kitchen and talk to them. She is encouraging but without telling them how to get out of their mess. She is about the only celebrity whom I've found was a good and prudent addition to the FN family.

[Kohola3]

10 hours ago, grisgris said:

I was watching Ellie Krieger's show today (the perfect companion for using my little mini cycle) and she was using a vanilla bean and said to "scrape out the seeds," then went on to describe/explain how the little black flecks add great flavor.

America's Test Kitchen cooks also just say "scrape out the seeds".  Their shows are my go-to for watching and learning.  Although I'm loving Baked in Vermont as well.

 

10 hours ago, grisgris said:

I think she and Duff are so sweet with the kids.

I do watch this for Duff, I think he's hilarious. And, yes, Valerie is great with the kids.  I can't imagine having a studio full of kids on the brink of meltdowns and Valerie is very supportive at those moments.  Not that I'd ever make anything those kids make (not that some don't turn out great) but it's more the dynamics of the hosts that I enjoy.

I would starve to death before I'd make anything from PW.

[ShortyMac]

11 hours ago, grisgris said:

I just was reminded of something else today that Ree says that bugs the hell out of me right up there with "buncha" and "bal-SAM-ick." Every single time she scrapes the seeds out of a vanilla bean pod, she refers to it as "caviar." I know that's a proper technical term for it, but it sounds so pretentious and outdated.

Now, that you mention it, this has always bugged me, too.

[IOU Payne]

Me three!  "Vanilla seeds" is a perfectly good term - no need to gild the lily.  In her case, it's more like gelding the lily, TBH.

[Mnemosyne]

I love bolognese (though I wouldn't use Ree's recipe), and polenta. But I'm not sure about that lasagna. It looked like the texture might be weird.

I didn't get calling that dish at the end "pizzas". 

[anneofcleves]

Another ode to hamburger.  Sigh...

Yeah, that polenta lasagna might be one of the heaviest things she’s ever made.  I love both Bolognese and polenta, too, but combining them in a lasagna is really dense.  How about a nice little slab or dollop of polenta, a spoonful of Bolognese, and a few shavings of parm?  That way all the great sauce is not lost in all the cheese of a lasagna.

She made a meat sauce that looked fine.  I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a classic Bolognese.  I know there are many, many variations but most that I’ve seen use pancetta, use less tomato (because it’s not really a red sauce), use white wine (again, because it’s not really a red sauce), and do not have all the additional herbs she threw in.  Of all the things she doesn’t add pancetta (or bacon) to, she chose this recipe.  She does trick us sometimes.

Her hair no longer looks human.  It’s like long, stringy clown hair.

[HyeChaps]

Such the back and forth from the cattle to the meals they will become. 

[grisgris]

What a boring episode. The only thing I took away was a reminder that I need to make Ina's "Weeknight Bolognese."  I had forgotten all about that recipe. I really like it and it's fast and easy.

Polenta seemed like an odd choice to use in lasagna. At the very least, wouldn't you pour it into (drum roll .... ) a sheet pan and let it firm up? I guess I could see cutting it into square to use in lasagna, but why? What Ree made just looked like a gloppy mess that was soldered together by molten cheese.

Southwestern lettuce wraps? Bobby Flay you are not.

The last dish resembled Rotel dip (minus the Rotel) and served on cocktail rye bread.

I still don't understand why Ree buys so much ground beef at the supermarket. Don't the live on a cattle ranch? /eyeroll

[anneofcleves]

10 hours ago, grisgris said:

The last dish resembled Rotel dip (minus the Rotel) and served on cocktail rye bread.

I still don't understand why Ree buys so much ground beef at the supermarket. Don't the live on a cattle ranch? /eyeroll

That’s a perfect description of the rye bread pizzas.  My mind went to cat food on cocktail rye.

The ground beef buying at the grocery store is totally ridiculous.  She’s mentioned before how they have sides of beef processed and frozen, which makes perfect sense given what they do and how far out of town they live.  She made a big deal out of this during one episode that focused on using the lesser, tougher cuts of beef for stews or slow cooking or something.

Did anyone notice how fancy the store was when she was shopping?  Did Pawhuska Hometown Foods get a facelift?

[Mnemosyne]

Thank goodness we have good ol' Ree around to teach us how to make chicken stock.

I love cheese as much as the next lactose-tolerant person, but the dip at the end looked really unappealing to me.

[patty1h]

Oh, what, Ree?  You don't like bananas?  I would never have guessed.   Now shut up about it!

[novhappy]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/Fromage-fort-

Ree's cheese dip is a copy of Alton Browns. Except she added butter lol! 

[chessiegal]

6 minutes ago, novhappy said:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/Fromage-fort-

Ree's cheese dip is a copy of Alton Browns. Except she added butter lol! 

[anneofcleves]

59 minutes ago, novhappy said:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/Fromage-fort-

Ree's cheese dip is a copy of Alton Browns. Except she added butter lol! 

Wow, that’s pretty close, isn’t it?  Ree added her usual glob of cream cheese, but other than that it looks like Alton’s.

I guess it was leftover week on FN, because all the shows seemed focused on using things up.  I can’t imagine doing what she did with pie crust to make those cheddar crackers -they would be so greasy, especially if served with that cheese dip.  I like cheese like you wouldn’t believe, but that’s overkill. 

[Kohola3]

Why did she need both butter and olive oil on those potato peelings?  There are a million recipes out there for these and not a single one has butter.  How much grease do they need, for heaven's sake.

[grisgris]

Well, this is a first for me.  I actually didn't mind today's show and paid attention to it.  Now, before you throw bricks at me, my reasoning is because Ree actually did something new and different that deviated from her usual glib "because I can" demeanor regarding expensive ingredients (moreso in calories/fat than dollars) and potential waste. Using scraps seems like a practice that a "Pioneer Woman," (in the literal sense) would actually do. It also fits into society trends of minimizing waste.

So, those things were all good. Would I make any of the dishes? I already have a good recipe for banana bread with blueberries and peaches which oddly, I was planning to make tomorrow. Otherwise, a resounding NO! The fritatta just had too many ingredients and it definitely didn't need the addition of green olives to compete with kale, spinach and asparagus. I don't remember what cheese Ree used there but I remember thinking, "Oh, ugh ... that's not gonna work."  I also don't think that serving a limp soggy salad on top of the fritatta seemed like a good idea, either.  I never had really understood the fascination of serving salad on top of something, like a pizza.

No. No and no on reusing the pie crust scraps. I agree with anneofcleves that there was way too much cheese on the first crackers which would make them limp and greasy and the suggestion to serve them with the "Dip o'Million Cheeses," was not a good one. I thought the cheese dip looked disgusting -- even if it was the brainchild of Alton Brown (who actually, isn't one of my FN favs.)

The slow cooker chicken broth didn't seem like such a bad idea and the same with the broccoli stem stir-fray -- up to the point of adding cilantro. I know that cilantro is used quite a bit in some Asian cuisine profiles but not there. If I have broccoli stems and save them, I usually make soup, but I will give her props for at least thinking outside the box there.

I was wondering how you'd ever accumulate enough potato peels to make it worth the time to fry a batch? Would you freeze them? It wasn't a terrible idea because people eat potato skin appetizers all the time. The recipe just seemed a bit impractical. I also think you'd have to eat them immediately or they'd quickly get limp and greasy.

Wanna bet that the fritatta, broccoli, cheese crackers and cheese dip never faced the likes of Ladd, Bryce and Todd? They probably got the potato peels, fruit bread (maybe) and fried pie dough.

[Marathonrunner]

At least it was a new episode & her hair didn't seem to exactly match the color of the kitchen cabinets

Question - instead of tossing all those food bits & pieces why hasn't she incorporated composting into the home schooling science curriculum? Using the small amounts of food in new ways is better than throwing them out but she should have mentioned composting as another alternative - it would be a great project for those kids - imagine the wonderful garden Ree could have with the compost & cow manure fertilizer!

[anneofcleves]

13 hours ago, grisgris said:

I was wondering how you'd ever accumulate enough potato peels to make it worth the time to fry a batch? Would you freeze them? It wasn't a terrible idea because people eat potato skin appetizers all the time. The recipe just seemed a bit impractical. I also think you'd have to eat them immediately or they'd quickly get limp and greasy.

I had the same thought.  I’m lazy and don’t peel potatoes much, only when I make mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, and would rarely have enough of them for a batch of roasted skins.  Just like with her chicken skin idea. If I buy chicken with skin on it, I cook it on the chicken and eat it.

It’s always a good idea to use food in ways to reduce waste, and I think she offered some good basic tips.  This does seem like a departure for Food Network, who historically has had so many shows where hosts are wasting a lot of food during prep.

Edited January 21, 2018 by anneofcleves

[Lura]

Why do I get the feeling that next December Ree will haul a big trash bag of pie crust scraps from her freezer and cut out Christmas cookies for everyone in town?  All that "good will," and she didn't spend a penny.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Lura

[tabloidlover]

That frittata grossed me out.  Too many conflicting ingredients.  And then she admitted the greens looked bad, yet made a salad for the top?   She didn't mention what salad dressing that was, but it looked orange.   

[Calibabydolly]

Regarding all the waste of food on the Food Network, and ESPECIALLY my pet peeve; when they do not use a spatula to scrape a cup or bowl and waste a ton of the batter or oil or whatever! I have been watching Martha Stewart on PBS lately too and she ALWAYS gets all of the batter out. She has all of the tools and ingredients spread out on the counter (along with the measurements written facing her on the bowls even!) so it is no trouble to grab the spatula and use it. I wish more cooks would do that. Ree and Ina and Valerie are a few that seem to just dump and waste! I scream at the TV all the time. Martha will even hand pick up a couple of missed chopped carrots or whatever and it take literally 1/2 a second to do. Watch and you will see it too?

[peacheslatour]

My mother was always very big on scraping every last molecule out of the bowl. When I was a kid I found this tedious and asked why she did it. She just said it was wrong to waste food. Now I'm like that too, my rubber spatula always gets a good work out.

[Fairfax]

22 hours ago, grisgris said:

... I already have a good recipe for banana bread with blueberries and peaches which oddly, I was planning to make tomorrow.  ...

That sounds wonderful!  If you'd be willing to post the recipe, I'd love to try it.

[grisgris]

Sure thing! I'll have to dig through my very badly disorganized Pinterest board (LOL!) and post it in the Test Kitchen thread.

[chessiegal]

I was watching Martha Stewart today and found myself wondering if she even knew who Pioneer Woman was. I hope not. Otherwise her eyes would be rolling out of her head.

I am part of a social club that has a Community Outreach group that makes meals for our local homeless shelter. One involves making cookies for bag lunches. It's lead by a member who is a food professional. She is appalled by anyone who doesn't scrape the last little bit of dough out of the bowl - doesn't allow it to happen!

[Qoass]

Well, I don't mind a little baking batter left in the bowl because, yes, I eat raw cookie dough. I live on the edge.

Question: I've always said hal-uh-PEEN-yo and Ree says hal-uh-PIN-yo. Are both right? I can handle it if I'm wrong, but you will never convince me that the past tense of grease is "greezed".

[StatisticalOutlier]

4 hours ago, Qoass said:

Question: I've always said hal-uh-PEEN-yo and Ree says hal-uh-PIN-yo. Are both right? I can handle it if I'm wrong, but you will never convince me that the past tense of grease is "greezed".

It's definitely not PEEN.  PIN is closer, but it's actually PEN, but in that part of the country, there's not really a difference between PIN and PEN when spoken.

[Marathonrunner]

19 hours ago, Calibabydolly said:

Regarding all the waste of food on the Food Network, and ESPECIALLY my pet peeve; when they do not use a spatula to scrape a cup or bowl and waste a ton of the batter or oil or whatever! I have been watching Martha Stewart on PBS lately too and she ALWAYS gets all of the batter out. She has all of the tools and ingredients spread out on the counter (along with the measurements written facing her on the bowls even!) so it is no trouble to grab the spatula and use it. I wish more cooks would do that. Ree and Ina and Valerie are a few that seem to just dump and waste! I scream at the TV all the time. Martha will even hand pick up a couple of missed chopped carrots or whatever and it take literally 1/2 a second to do. Watch and you will see it too?

I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who pays attention to this! There seems to be so much left in the bowls, pots, pans, etc. on many of these shows 

To stay on topic - that frittata was way over the top on the ingredients - just because you have all those veggies doesn't mean they should all be used in one egg dish & I don't care if that cheese dip thing was from Alton Brown - that didn't look very appetizing either

[Qoass]

Well, I just went to Dictionary.com and they say it's pronounced "hol-up-PAYN-yo. 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

It's definitely not PEEN.  PIN is closer, but it's actually PEN, but in that part of the country, there's not really a difference between PIN and PEN when spoken.

This is one of the things that drove my DH nits when he watched the show with me. She was always going on about "pinning" up the cattle. He would be exasperated by this mispronunciation. "Pin" he'd say "PIN??" "Are they sticking pins in them, WTF?"

Edited January 22, 2018 by peacheslatour

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 hour ago, Qoass said:

Well, I just went to Dictionary.com and they say it's pronounced "hol-up-PAYN-yo. 

I'd say it's a little softer than PAYN--between PEN (properly pronounced) and PAYN.  Closer to PAYN but not quite there, but PAYN is much better than PEEN.

[ariel]

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 7:50 AM, Marathonrunner said:

At least it was a new episode & her hair didn't seem to exactly match the color of the kitchen cabinets

Question - instead of tossing all those food bits & pieces why hasn't she incorporated composting into the home schooling science curriculum? 

Did Ree really ever home school her kids?  I thought she hired paid professional tutors to come to her house to teach them.

[anneofcleves]

You guys, it’s halla-pee-nuh.  Rhymes with tuh-may-tuh.  And puh-tay-tuh.  Emphasis is always on the “uh.”

:-p

Edited January 23, 2018 by anneofcleves

[Kohola3]

Pronunciation one

Pronunciation two

Pronunciation three

Pronunciation four

Take your pick. 

[Lura]

I have a feeling that we could give Ree our little pronunciation lesson one hundred times, and she'd still never get it right.  She's too focused on the color of the food and her long, gorgeous hair color, and smiling to show her million dollar dimple than she is about a silly little thing like pronunciation.  Remember, Ree walked into that plate glass door a million years ago in high school.  It may have scrambled her brains, but one thing is for sure:  She can still pronounce the word "money."

Edited January 25, 2018 by Lura

[Mnemosyne]

I know those huge, stacked burgers look great on social media (Ree's hardly the first person to make one), but how in the heck does one actually EAT one? It doesn't look like it could be easily cut into smaller portions like the other over-sized things she made today. And it seems like mac-n-cheese (and I love me some mac-n-cheese) would squish right out of any sandwich, so that's a thing I don't get.