All Episodes Talk

[grisgris]

I agree with almost everything on SuzyLee's list, except I don't think Ree flirts with Cowboy Josh -- just the opposite. I think she treats him like "the help," yet he's privileged because he occasionally gets to join the Drummonds in "the main house." I think Ree barely conceals her contempt when she drives up in the fields and serves a bunch of cheap-ingredient, greasy, fatty Tex-Mex crap off the gate of her dirty pickup truck to the ranch hands.

 

It's funny, I've never been able to watch a single episode of any program that Guy Fieri's been in. (The exception would be if he makes a limited appearance on a show like FNS.) I just cannot stand him and I think his food looks terrible. OTOH, I like Anne Burrell. I know she's abrasive and a sore loser, but I think she's quirky and snarky and man, can she cook!

 

I just don't get it. Isn't there anybody in the FN stable of stars to host their own show? What happened to Eddie Jackson? He had that brief stupid BBQ show where he didn't even get to cook. Now he's gone. Wouldn't any of the "Chopped" judges be able to have a show? I'd watch Marcus Samuelson or Marc Murphy. I'm tired of seeing charlatans, wannabees and has-been actresses.

[txvoodoo]

Finally watching Chicken Cordon Bleu. Yup, as stupid as I thought. She likes this versus real CCB because you can freeze it. Gee, I must've been hallucinating all those CCBs my mom would put in the freezer in the 70s! And those were great because you'd take out however many you needed, not a trough of catfood.

 

"Ladd's out feeding cattle this morning. It's that time of year here on the ranch." You only feed them at one time of the year?

 

Her hokey little thing of starting up the truck annoyed me. My husband's had an auto-starter on his for a decade now. 

 

 

On the other hand, Guy Fieri and Anne Burrell completely irritate me to the point that I can't watch them at all for their personalities, even though they're both far better cooks than Ree (with Anne being light years better than Guy).  

 

I've actually learned from Anne, especially with meat cooking, though I cringe when she talks about meat. "Big meat" growling, urgggh. But she knows what the hell she's doing. 

 

"My ranch woman muscles." Oh puhleeze.

 

I swear, Ladd has a unique ability to make what he's doing seem even more boring than it must be. 

 

It's weird how she cooks some beans from scratch, and uses a can for others. 

 

Ladd, take off that filthy jacket when you come in the house. Who wants all that cow dirt around their work space?

 

Edited to add - I'm watching the Chinese takeout ep for the first time, and did she literally just give instructions for ordering from Panda Express's drive through? What a buffoon.

Edited March 16, 2016 by txvoodoo

[3pwood]

... I swear, Ladd has a unique ability to make what he's doing seem even more boring than it must be. ...

 

Yes indeed -- he & she are a well-matched couple.

[maggiemae]

I love the interaction they have with their kids.....

Ladd - are you hungry?

Ree - thank you Toddy or any other ___y or ie kid. HIGH FIVE!

[VioletNevermind]

Finally watching Chicken Cordon Bleu. Yup, as stupid as I thought. She likes this versus real CCB because you can freeze it. Gee, I must've been hallucinating all those CCBs my mom would put in the freezer in the 70s! And those were great because you'd take out however many you needed, not a trough of catfood.

 

"Ladd's out feeding cattle this morning. It's that time of year here on the ranch." You only feed them at one time of the year?

 

"My ranch woman muscles." Oh puhleeze.

 

I swear, Ladd has a unique ability to make what he's doing seem even more boring than it must be. 

 

Ladd, take off that filthy jacket when you come in the house. Who wants all that cow dirt around their work space?

 

Edited to add - I'm watching the Chinese takeout ep for the first time, and did she literally just give instructions for ordering from Panda Express's drive through? What a buffoon.

 

Oh my Lord, this is all hilarious and spot-on.  "A trough of cat food."  That is precisely what it looked like.  (And I feel you on the "big meat" thing.  I want to like Anne because she actually has some respectable cooking chops, but I can't get past "big meat" and the way she refers to her ingredients as "little cuties," etc.  Damaris does the same thing and it drives me nuts.)

Edited March 17, 2016 by SuzyLee

[3pwood]

I want to like Anne because she actually has some respectable cooking chops, but I can't get past "big meat" and the way she refers to her ingredients as "little cuties," etc.  Damaris does the same thing and it drives me nuts.)

 

I feel the same way, SuzyLee.  For me, the answer is to read the recipes for the shows on the websites -- I know that both of them understand how to cook, so I'm interested in what they produce even though I don't want to watch the process.  Or, I suppose I could watch the shows with the sound off & closed captioning on, but then I'd still have to see all that shimmying....

 

[captain1]

I normally watch this along with y'all for the snark value, but I have to say I thought the Cordon Bleu casserole looked yummy. (Hanging head in shame and slinking away....)

[VioletNevermind]

I feel the same way, SuzyLee.  For me, the answer is to read the recipes for the shows on the websites -- I know that both of them understand how to cook, so I'm interested in what they produce even though I don't want to watch the process.  Or, I suppose I could watch the shows with the sound off & closed captioning on, but then I'd still have to see all that shimmying....

 

My anecdote to what you've described is three simple letters: PBS.  80% of those cooking shows leave the BS at the door and focus on the recipe and the techniques used to achieve them.  Christopher Kimball is my spirit animal, despite his occasional crotchety obnoxiousness.  Too bad I'm also a glutton for punishment and find myself returning time and time again to Ree's (luxuriously appointed) lodge like a moth to a (horribly annoying) flame.  

[txvoodoo]

My alternative is food /cooking blogs, but so many of them have become Ree-ified, too! Honestly, it's perfectly OK to post a recipe without a cutesy (and usually rather stupid) story accompanied by 30 pictures of process: Lift Spoon of Flour, Pour Spoon of Flour, Stir Flour, Flour in Bowl....etc. But noooo, they all think that's the only way to do it now. 

 

Most of my favorite cookbooks don't even have a picture of a dish! They're old school things with just words! (gasp!) I'm so old-fashioned. 

[Kohola3]

Most of my favorite cookbooks don't even have a picture of a dish! They're old school things with just words! (gasp!) I'm so old-fashioned.

 

Table for two. Irma Rombauer, Betty Crocker, Julia Childs .........none of them assumed women were morons who couldn't figure out how to pour a teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl without 7 pictures.  Anyone who has a lick of sense doesn't need a picture of every finished product, either.  How many crumb-topped casseroles have a unique look?  Stew is stew.  An occasional picture is fine for something unique but come on.

 

But of course with 5 million useless pictures, the book has 500 pages so the price can be boosted accordingly.  So you get far fewer recipes for your money. Ripoff artists, one and all.

[savingsanta]

Table for two. Irma Rombauer, Betty Crocker, Julia Childs .........none of them assumed women were morons who couldn't figure out how to pour a teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl without 7 pictures.  Anyone who has a lick of sense doesn't need a picture of every finished product, either.  How many crumb-topped casseroles have a unique look?  Stew is stew.  An occasional picture is fine for something unique but come on.

 

I fully admit to being a sucker for a well laid-out cookbook with artistic photographs of finished dishes (evidence: my sagging bookshelves) but I was astonished to look inside a PW cookbook and see that nope, we readers really do get a picture for every solitary action in the recipe. Personally, I grew out of step-by-step pictorials when I was about ten.

 

Unless, of course, it's a more complicated technique being presented, but "more complicated" and "Pioneer Woman recipes" rarely, if ever, intersect.

[Qoass]

Besides, my finished products rarely look like the photographs anyway.

 

(Although my very first lemon meringue pie came out so beautiful I wanted to bring it door to door!)

[Automne]

Another salve to PW, Tiffani Thiessen, Valerie Bertandernie, and the nine million of food blogs that plagiarize from established food publications and each other: Panna. It's $20/year, but for it you get instructional videos that is like watching a cooking show, original recipes, chef Q&A, and actual chefs who have decades in the industry and aren't just trying to barge their way in without putting in the work while demanding the same level of respect.

[peacheslatour]

 

Irma Rombauer, Betty Crocker, Julia Child

Fanny Farmer FTW!

[anneofcleves]

Ree's got a care package for every situation!  It's far from comprehensive, but I can see the outline of the book forming now:

 

Havin' a baby

Your cow havin' a baby

Your cow fallin' through the ice

Snake-hidin' party

Sneakin' those veggies into your cowboy

Sneakin' that wine into your cowboy
Goin' off to college

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 1 (mother-in-law)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 2 (husband's grandmother)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 3 (sister-in-law)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 4 (mom and sisters)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 5 (mother-in-law)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 6 (daughters)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 7 (church ladies)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 8 (investment club that you never thought you'd see again)

Showin' off that you're a better cook Part 9 (college friends that you never thought you'd see again)

[maggiemae]

Good grief......shouldn't Ree have made a rue for her funeral potatoes rather than dump the flour in and then everything else right away?

[Westiepeach]

There was a repeat today about Easter. She made hot cross buns to give to her favorite friends on Good Friday. She told everybody, "Happy Good Friday!"

 

Um ... I don't think you are supposed to wish people a "Happy" Good Friday ... just sayin' ...

[anneofcleves]

Good grief......shouldn't Ree have made a rue for her funeral potatoes rather than dump the flour in and then everything else right away?

 

I was actually surprised she even made her own sauce.  Honestly, funeral potatoes are one of those classic potluck recipes that involve condensed soup, usually cream of chicken.  I don't ever use condensed soup at home, but you can be darned sure that if someone asks me to make funeral potatoes that's what I'm buying and using to make them.  People love those potatoes.  

 

I bet Ladd really loves those potatoes, and you just know that when Ree makes them at home she's using canned soup - she just had to put a twist on it so that now when you google "funeral potatoes" her "special" recipe comes to the top of the list.  

 

Mormon grandmothers should storm the ranch and pelt her with cans of cream of chicken soup.  

[maggiemae]

LOL, I looked up Funeral Potatoes on pinterest. I noticed most of them used a corn flake topping. So Ree has a double tweek. They do look good.

However, I came across a "Greiving Cowboy" version on that page....right up her ally. It contains hamburger, rotel, taco seasoning etc with corn chips. Ha!

[grisgris]

Huh. I'm not sure what I thought of today's episode. I felt ripped-off that I sat midway through the episode before Ree slyly revealed that the baby was actually two months old! LOL!  After the fact, I wondered if maybe making food that the kids would really like would have been a better option, such as maybe that would have been a good opportunity to whip up a batch of chicken drumsticks or one of the endless variations of Tex-Mex or pizza. (Since the other kids are girls, they could have vegetables and goat cheese as toppings!) Ree also missed a golden opportunity to make cookies that included crushed up cookies in the batter, marshmallow treats topped with marshmallows, well, you get the picture.

 

Those almond cracker things were just a knock-off of "cheater's toffee," a recipe that always resurfaces at the holidays. Usually, you use unsalted saltine crackers and a layer of melted chocolate prior to sprinkling on the almonds or pecans. I think Ree was trying to keep the recipe in her family of "originals" made with Townhouse crackers. Whatever.

 

Star anise and thyme seemed like an odd combination with honey. That's what happens when you watch Giada's shows, but don't take careful notes. That fruit salad recipe says to use only half of the honey/water mixture to dress the salad. What do you do with the other half?

 

The funeral potatoes were clearly the star of the show. The brisket barely got a nod. I was curious as to why Ree cooked the brisket in a disposable foil pan, then delivered it to the new mom in a regular dish. I would have done the opposite. The foil pan would have traveled better and it would be one less dish for the mom (or Josh) to have to wash and return. (I mean Ree knows where he lives ...)

 

I thought the baby photos of Alex were cute.

[sabretooth]

The brisket looked a little dry when she was slicing it and I would have let the juices reduce a bit before pouring them back over the meat and the veggies, but that wasn't a bad recipe. The almond crackers, blah. Kudos to her for trying to throw in some high protein yummies, but club crackers, all that sugar and almonds just doesn't sound good. 

 

Buttercream on angel food cake. No. No. No. No. Why would you take that light, fluffy airy cake and put on 17 pounds of dense buttercream frosting? 

[Kohola3]

. Why would you take that light, fluffy airy cake and put on 17 pounds of dense buttercream frosting?

 

Because plain angel food cake does not contain the overdose of sugar and fat required in each of Ree's recipes.  And then she can call it an ""original" recipe since no one on the planet is stupid enough to ruin a good angel food cake that way.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Kohola3

[anneofcleves]

Ree really missed a great opportunity to doll that cake up with some Corn Nuts, apple pie filling, and Kwanzaa candles.  This is how it should be done.

[Kohola3]

This is how it should be done.

 

 

Holy crap, at first I thought it was some sort of spoof!  That nitwit must be Ree's muse.

[anneofcleves]

Kohola, that nitwit was the BEST show Food Network ever aired, in my humble opinion.  I've never had a cooking show make me laugh more.  God Bless you, Sandra Lee.  Bring Aunt Sandy back!!!  

[Kohola3]

Kohola, that nitwit was the BEST show Food Network ever aired, in my humble opinion.

 

Yikes!  Can't say I'm sorry I missed it. I truly thought that horrible concoction was some sort of a joke.  Canned frosting AKA whipped chemicals?  Blech.

[ariel]

When Aunt Sandy F'ed up recipes, at least she did it with flair.  She also had those krazy kocktails.  I never thought I would miss her, but I do.   Compared to Ree, she's a top chef.

Edited March 20, 2016 by ariel

[txvoodoo]

Oh, I miss Aunt Sandy! By the end of every ep, she was at least 1 sheet to the wind. It wasn't about wanting to eat what she cooked, or even wanting to cook it. It was straight-up comedy. 

 

 

Table for two. Irma Rombauer, Betty Crocker, Julia Childs .........none of them assumed women were morons who couldn't figure out how to pour a teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl without 7 pictures.  Anyone who has a lick of sense doesn't need a picture of every finished product, either.  How many crumb-topped casseroles have a unique look?  Stew is stew.  An occasional picture is fine for something unique but come on.

 

But of course with 5 million useless pictures, the book has 500 pages so the price can be boosted accordingly.  So you get far fewer recipes for your money. Ripoff artists, one and all.

 

I have all those! And about 3 editions over a span of 40 years of Better Homes & Gardens. I also have this one - Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook of 1950. Read the first review - hilarious and accurate! 974 pages, some pics, but mostly good recipes! It also has instructions on how to build a storage cellar, so it's like the 1950s version of Martha Stewart for Preppers.

 

Another salve to PW, Tiffani Thiessen, Valerie Bertandernie, and the nine million of food blogs that plagiarize from established food publications and each other: Panna. It's $20/year, but for it you get instructional videos that is like watching a cooking show, original recipes, chef Q&A, and actual chefs who have decades in the industry and aren't just trying to barge their way in without putting in the work while demanding the same level of respect.

 

Another good one - America's Test Kitchen. Worth the subscription, and sometimes when you subscribe, you get their free book. Another "worth it" book!

 

 

I was actually surprised she even made her own sauce.  Honestly, funeral potatoes are one of those classic potluck recipes that involve condensed soup, usually cream of chicken.  I don't ever use condensed soup at home, but you can be darned sure that if someone asks me to make funeral potatoes that's what I'm buying and using to make them.  People love those potatoes.  

 

I bet Ladd really loves those potatoes, and you just know that when Ree makes them at home she's using canned soup - she just had to put a twist on it so that now when you google "funeral potatoes" her "special" recipe comes to the top of the list.  

 

Mormon grandmothers should storm the ranch and pelt her with cans of cream of chicken soup.  

 

I'm not LDS, but I do love their recipes. 

[Qoass]

 

Those almond cracker things were just a knock-off of "cheater's toffee," a recipe that always resurfaces at the holidays. Usually, you use unsalted saltine crackers and a layer of melted chocolate prior to sprinkling on the almonds or pecans. I think Ree was trying to keep the recipe in her family of "originals" made with Townhouse crackers. Whatever.

 

Those recipes work with leftover matzoh sheets too...

[3pwood]

Those almond cracker things were just a knock-off of "cheater's toffee," a recipe that always resurfaces at the holidays. Usually, you use unsalted saltine crackers and a layer of melted chocolate prior to sprinkling on the almonds or pecans. I think Ree was trying to keep the recipe in her family of "originals" made with Townhouse crackers. Whatever.

 

Those recipes work with leftover matzoh sheets too...

 

My favorite version uses graham crackers.

 

[txvoodoo]

Table for two. Irma Rombauer, Betty Crocker, Julia Childs .........none of them assumed women were morons who couldn't figure out how to pour a teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl without 7 pictures.  

 

I just checked my Rombauer's Joy of Cooking - it's from 1943! It had to have been my grandmother's. 822 pages plus the index. :D

 

 

Those recipes work with leftover matzoh sheets too...

 

THAT'S where I remember it from! My neighborhood, growing up, was half Italian, and half Jewish. And come Passover, my Jewish friends' moms would start to experiment with ways to make matzoh interesting!

[Kohola3]

I just checked my Rombauer's Joy of Cooking - it's from 1943! It had to have been my grandmother's. 822 pages plus the index. :D

 

And not a hint of phony tex-mex in the whole edition.

[Lura]

OMG!  I hardly ever watched Aunt Sandy, but I happened to catch that episode.  Thought I'd never catch my breath from laughing!  I'm so glad you posted it here so I could see it again!

 

I picture Ree watching this, transfixed by Aunt Sandy's tricks, her eyes never leaving the screen.  Afterwards, she'd be jealous, but you know how Ree can pick herself up and be pleasant in the face of adversity.  She'd probably wind up laughing at Sandy's cake because Sandy didn't include sprinkles OR a plastic cowboy on a horse.

[tenativelyyours]

There was a repeat today about Easter. She made hot cross buns to give to her favorite friends on Good Friday. She told everybody, "Happy Good Friday!"

 

Um ... I don't think you are supposed to wish people a "Happy" Good Friday ... just sayin' ...

 

Don't let the folks on Fox News hear that.  Sounds a bit too close to "War on Easter" speak to me.  Everyone knows the proper salutation on that day is "Joyous Brutal Crucifixion to You and Yours".  Though Mel Gibson will accept "Glorious Blood on the Cross" if you are pressed for time. 

 

I can't wait for her Happy Veteran's Day give outs. Maybe cookies in the shape of white crosses?

 

 

The brisket looked a little dry when she was slicing it and I would have let the juices reduce a bit before pouring them back over the meat and the veggies, but that wasn't a bad recipe. The almond crackers, blah. Kudos to her for trying to throw in some high protein yummies, but club crackers, all that sugar and almonds just doesn't sound good. 

 

Buttercream on angel food cake. No. No. No. No. Why would you take that light, fluffy airy cake and put on 17 pounds of dense buttercream frosting? 

 

Since it was angel food cake and already lacking so much in proper Ree Drummond Dairy raping, I was surprised she didn't wedge whole sticks of  cream cheese into it and then slather it with sour cream before coating it with the buttercream.

 

I'll give Sandra Lee one thing.  She or whoever figured out her episodes had an incredible imagination.  Though I don't mean incredible like 'the view from the edge of the Grand Canyon is incredible" but rather "the carnage when the shark came up on that unsuspecting seal colony was incredible".

[Lura]

There was a repeat today about Easter. She made hot cross buns to give to her favorite friends on Good Friday. She told everybody, "Happy Good Friday!"

 

As I was watching her ring the doorbells and hand out hot cross buns, I could almost picture the recipients inside hearing the doorbell and saying, "Oh, no.  That has to be Ree with another holiday giveaway."  I noticed that the minister didn't get one this year, though.               

[Westiepeach]

As I was watching her ring the doorbells and hand out hot cross buns, I could almost picture the recipients inside hearing the doorbell and saying, "Oh, no.  That has to be Ree with another holiday giveaway."  I noticed that the minister didn't get one this year, though.               

Well, she said she was passing them out to her "favorite" friends. Evidently the minister did not make the cut.

[anneofcleves]

Since it was angel food cake and already lacking so much in proper Ree Drummond Dairy raping, I was surprised she didn't wedge whole sticks of  cream cheese into it and then slather it with sour cream before coating it with the buttercream.

 

I'll give Sandra Lee one thing.  She or whoever figured out her episodes had an incredible imagination.  Though I don't mean incredible like 'the view from the edge of the Grand Canyon is incredible" but rather "the carnage when the shark came up on that unsuspecting seal colony was incredible".

 

LOL'ing at your entire post!  Ree needs to up her game a little, or at least figure out how to color coordinate her neon hair with...anything she wears.

[maggiemae]

I was more surprised that there were not any sprinkles on the angel food cake.

[Aquarius]

Well, she said she was passing them out to her "favorite" friends. Evidently the minister did not make the cut.

 

From what I remember, nor did her BFF Hyacinth.

[autumnh]

Am I the only person who thought that "new mom" gift basket was lame? She totally phoned that one in.

[peacheslatour]

Am I the only person who thought that "new mom" gift basket was lame? She totally phoned that one in.

Not only that, but "Funeral Potatoes"?  Isn't that a little in inappropriate for the celebration of new life?  If I had been given those as a new mother I hope whoever gave them to me called them something else, since I've never heard of them.  If I had known what they were called, I would have chucked them.

[Lura]

I love everybody's suggestions and comments!  LOL!!!

 

More and more, I'm beginning to suspect that something is wacky in the outskirts of Pawtuskah or my brain cells are diminishing by the minute.  HINT:  Alex went off to college last fall.  Do you  see any connection between the shows going downhill and Alex leaving?  AHA!  ALEX has secretly been doing all of the cooking since she was 2 years old!  Ree is lost without her.  It's as simple as that.  Page is interested only in the running of the ranch, and the boys care only about having birthday parties.  Alex went out the door, and Ree had a breakdown.  Could we please unite, and march on P. Town, and carry signs and yell, "ALEX, COME HOME!"  (Ree would shout the loudest!)

 

Afterwards, Ree could drive us two hours to Tulsa, and we could have a real Chinese take-out, followed by a Welcome Home party for Alex, featuring a bonfire of church cookbooks and a new cookbook for Alex by Julia Child!

Edited March 24, 2016 by Lura

[Gam2]

We've made those "funeral potatoes" for years in the South. However, I personally have never heard them called that. We prepare them for any special meal or even Sunday dinner. They're horrible for you, of course, but we only have one spoonful of them. And they are so delicious! If you only eat one spoonful a couple of times a year, it's not nearly as awful as it sounds-ha. Don't judge until you've tried them.

[autumnh]

Not only that, but "Funeral Potatoes"?  Isn't that a little in inappropriate for the celebration of new life?  If I had been given those as a new mother I hope whoever gave them to me called them something else, since I've never heard of them.  If I had known what they were called, I would have chucked them.

 

I didn't even think about that! I have the flu from hell lol...plus three tiny bottles of water? a journal and body wash/cream for the Dollar Tree? (thats what it seemed like)...at least Haley the babysitter got the good meatball/melon scoop and a whole damn party! WTF? lol

[chessiegal]

I still can't get by the "Happy Good Friday!" comment. Does she know what Good Friday is? Happy Your Lord and Savior Has Been Crucified Day! Geez. But we live in redneck country, and some of our neighbors set off fireworks on Memorial Day. Missing the point much? /rant over.

[grisgris]

To me, there was something off-putting about Cowboy Josh's wife and I don't mean perhaps just normal new mom exhaustion. (I thought the same thing the first time we met her in that stupid "Picnic with Paige" episode.) She didn't seem very friendly and kind of dismissive to Ree. (Of course, that would be pretty easy to do.) In my evil fiction mind, the woman is on a secret mission to be Princess of the Prairie -- with marrying Ladd as her end goal. Her first step was to somehow get onto the ranch and into Ladd's orbit. Easily accomplished by seducing and marrying Cowboy Josh. As she raises their new baby, she can daydream about her plot to take down Ree. LOL!

[Aquarius]

I noticed that Amanda was a little cold toward Ree as well.  But I put it down to an attitude of Ree's that I picked up during the "Picnic with Paige" episode, and to a lesser degree this one as well.  I don't think Ree approves of Amanda.  There's something in the way that she points out that Amanda already has three kids of her own, and how Josh always wanted to be a father and they're so happy for him that he finally is, that's very off-putting.  In the episode with the picnic, Ree went waaaayyyyyyy overboard with the "oh, we just love these kids!", "we are soooooo happy to have kids on the ranch again!", "Paige just loves these adorable little girls!", "Ladd just loves these adorable little angels!!", "I just love these adorable wonderful little children, you must have never seen little girls so wonderful, they are amaaaziinggg and we just love them!!!!" 

 

Smacked of wicked over-compensation, and it made me feel sad for those little girls, who did seem sweet but will always be Amanda's-not-Cowboy-Josh's.  Regardless of living on the ranch.  So I'm not surprised that Amanda might not be the biggest Pioneer Woman fan on the planet.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Aquarius

[grisgris]

That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, thinking back on both episodes, Ree had a condescending attitude towards Amanda.

 

I think introducing Mrs. Josh to the audience had a dual purpose: First of all, she provides some desperately needed new subject matter for storylines. Unfortunately, that wasn't a good move, because both the picnic and new baby episodes were two of the lamer (if that is possible) ones we've seen thus far.

 

Secondly, I Googled Cowboy Josh quite some time ago and there were quite a few dubious entries or inquires that linked him to both Alex and Paige. (That was around the time of the French silk pie episode where CJ was giving one-on-one ranchin' lessons to Alex.) Haters are going to hate, and it's not Alex's or Paige's fault they got roped (pun intended) into mandatory appearances on their mother's smoke-and-mirrors sham of a TV show. (Admittedly, I'm not interested enough to have gone back periodically to check on what's out there now ...)

 

Anybody with a lick of common sense would recognize petty and malicious gossip when they see it, but doing a little preemptive damage control doesn't hurt either. That said,  Ree is fair game for snark, but not her underage daughters.

Edited March 25, 2016 by grisgris

[tenativelyyours]

I still can't get by the "Happy Good Friday!" comment. Does she know what Good Friday is? Happy Your Lord and Savior Has Been Crucified Day! Geez. But we live in redneck country, and some of our neighbors set off fireworks on Memorial Day. Missing the point much? /rant over.

 

Maybe she'll stumble over these for her next season Easter inspiration.

 

[peacheslatour]

 

I think introducing Mrs. Josh to the audience had a dual purpose: First of all, she provides some desperately needed new subject matter for storylines.

See, this right here bugs the shit out of me (not directed at you lovely grisgris) so many cooking shows, yes even my beloved Ina, seem to think there needs to be some kind of narrative.  We don't need to meet your friggin family, your best friend from college or your book club. Just show us how the make the damn dish! *shakes fist at neighbor kids on lawn*