All Episodes Talk

[chessiegal]

32 minutes ago, ariel said:

Somehow, Ree has a lot of crazy fans that worship the poop covered ground that she walks on, think she's the next coming of Julia Child,  & think that Ladd is hot.  Go Figure!

And this is why her show has such high ratings. FN will never get rid of a cash cow.

[txvoodoo]

1 hour ago, grisgris said:

If she'd prefer to become "Frontier Flipper"* on HGTV, go for it.

She's way too old for HGTV these days. You've gotta be 25-35, sort of hot, and preferably in a couple. 

[Lura]

The FN could always turn "Pioneer Woman" into a game show since that's about all they have on these days.  Ree and Ladd love competition.  There could even be a junior version for the kiddies.  Almost anything would be an improvement over the show as it is now.

[Qoass]

I watched the latest episode On Demand and it is part of season 17. SEVENTEEN, people!

[HyeChaps]

The kids have aged out of the cute years. 

[film noire]

On 10/4/2017 at 10:17 PM, chessiegal said:

a cash cow.

That's the PERFECT name for Lura's game show - contestants mount Drummond cattle & answer skill testing questions (winner doesn't have to eat Ree's cooking).

Tomorrow on Her Frontier: Ree's making Strawberry Cherry Lemon Limeade (hasn't she already made multi-fruit limeade?) Missy's Marinated Tomatoes (a recipe on her blog back in 2011) slow cooker lasagna and Orange Bars -- the same recipe as her Lemon Bars (link below) but with oranges instead:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/rees-lemon-bars-0239643

So yes, @grisgris, at this point I would absolutely watch Frontier Flippers -- Reehabbing! -- over another 'new' show with recipes that were dull the first time they were trotted out on her blog, or slightly tweaked ("Ladd's spent a long afternoon, culturally appropriatin'  while working on his drag act -- Ms. ALaddin -- and he's mighty thirsty!  So I'm fixing to add Cherry to my Strawberry Lemon Limeade for a magic carpet ride!')

Edited October 7, 2017 by film noire

[film noire]

On 10/5/2017 at 9:08 AM, Qoass said:

I watched the latest episode On Demand and it is part of season 17. SEVENTEEN, people!

Can you fucking believe her with that shit?

Seventeen since 2011 -- just like her cooking, it's a whole buncha imprecisely measured seasons.

[LillyB]

Did anyone else notice that when she made that lemonade she left the stems on the cherries? 

[ariel]

41 minutes ago, LillyB said:

Did anyone else notice that when she made that lemonade she left the stems on the cherries? 

That's what cowboys like.  Removing the stems would be too girly for those manly men who might show up & want to drink it.

[film noire]

Filed under "Been Here & We Friggin' Done That":

Today on PW, "Hay There!"  First line describing the episode: "The family is hauling hay in high summer..."

Five "seasons" ago on PW:  "Hay Day".   First line describing the episode: "It's high summer and Ree Drummond's family has got a long, sweltering afternoon of hauling hay..."

*******

Reecipes:  Four cups of sugar in that crappy drink, people! Plus the sugar syrup in the bottled cherries! Fool that I was, I actually thought she’d use fresh cherries. (Just when I think I’ll never take anything about her cooking for granted again, there Ree is, mocking me for not seeing what’s right in front of my face -- that she’s the frickin' Keyser Söze of FN). 

Kid's snack of sugared fruit water and sugar bars = diabetic coma.

Slow cooker lasagna: prefer canned whole tomatoes you crush yourself vs diced (too many bits of skin in diced) and way too much tomato paste, imo.  That sauce cooking down will get acrid, very fast. (And slow cooker is right; making it that way took twice as long from start to table, imo.)

Worst shot: cows being trucked up for slaughter, cut right to beef browning in the skillet. 

Frontier Fashion:

Hair:  too red, too flat, too long. She needs lowlights in that brassy red, volume on the crown, and shorter hair.

Styling: Earrings like ancient Tibetan cymbals + shirt made out of a Victorian piano shawl.  

[ariel]

What's "high summer"?  Are they smoking weed?  If so, that might be an interesting episode.  Most of Ree's food does seem to be tailored toward stoners.

[film noire]

14 minutes ago, ariel said:

What's "high summer"?  Are they smoking weed?  If so, that might be an interesting episode.  Most of Ree's food does seem to be tailored toward stoners.

Yes, that would explain many of her Reecipes; )

"High summer" usually means hottest part of the summer.

[Natalie68]

On 9/25/2017 at 6:28 AM, Qoass said:

Did she happen to explain what the difference was between a "street" taco and a... taco?

She did not.  A street taco is made with the smaller corn tortillas (not fried) with meat (pollo or carne asada or carnitas/al pastor), onions and cilantro with maybe salsa or guac, in other words really simple.  A regular taco is the type you get at mexican restaurant that typically has lettuce, cheese, salsa and maybe sour cream in a fried shell.

[anneofcleves]

There is no way on God's green earth I'm ever going to make lasagna in a slow cooker.  I will never understand the appeal of this. Over cooked pasta.  Yum.

The orange bars looked good, but they're just like every other lemon bar out there and just like lemon bars she's made before.   Another berry lemonade.  Nothing interesting to see on the Ranch.

[Samwil]

This is just what I watch cooking shows for.  Ice cream with warmed apple sauce and cinnamon.  WTF??  I hate this hag.  

[grisgris]

Hey, Ree ... here's an idea .... how about serving the parched slaving family some GATORADE???  It would quench their thirst and provide much-needed electrolytes and other essentials that they are sweating out toiling in the hot sun. I didn't understand the concept of combining cherry/strawberry and then lemon/lime.  For me, the cherry and lime flavors would be dominant, so she basically made cherry limeades. Speaking from my experiences, when I'm hot and thirsty, I just want rehydration and don't necessarily care what flavor the beverage is. It's consumed so fast that it really don't matter.

No words for the slow-cooker lasagna. Why is it that Missy's recipes always look so much better than Ree-diculous's? The marinated tomatoes looked good but not paired with the lasagna. Too much tomato going on for me.

Why in the fresh hell does Cowboy Josh insist on dragging that baby around in the hot sun? The poor kid was overdressed and looked tired and fussy.  Ree's response was awkward and strange but that's on Josh and the kid's mother to have adequate snacks, etc., on hand for their spawn.

[Totale]

33 minutes ago, grisgris said:

Hey, Ree ... here's an idea .... how about serving the parched slaving family some GATORADE??? 

Or Brawndo.  It's got electrolytes, and it's what cowboys crave.

[ariel]

1 hour ago, grisgris said:

I didn't understand the concept of combining cherry/strawberry and then lemon/lime.  For me, the cherry and lime flavors would be dominant, so she basically made cherry limeades.

You know someone is totally out of ideas when they start ripping off "recipes" from Sonic Drive-in.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

that she’s the frickin' Keyser Söze of FN

I wish. "And *poof* like that, she's gone".

[novhappy]

7 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I wish. "And *poof* like that, she's gone".

And then the murders began

[rocketinu]

She is the cover for People magazine this week. No doubt Food Network had everything to do with that. Is she the first FN "star" to grace the cover?

[Lura]

 I still can't get it through my head that Ree actually made the cover of PEOPLE or of any magazine but her own, for that matter.  Julia Child, yes.  Ree, no.  What on earth has Ree ever done to receive such a prominent nod of recognition?  With this country, filled to overflowing with outstanding chefs, what qualifications does Ree possess that would land her on the cover?  I hope that someone writes a stinging letter to the editor.  What's next?  TIME's Woman of the Year? 

[film noire]

2 hours ago, Lura said:

 What's next?  TIME's Woman of the Year? 

Worse -- the Nobel Pizza prize!

 

~showing myself out now...

Edited October 9, 2017 by film noire

[anneofcleves]

6 hours ago, rocketinu said:

She is the cover for People magazine this week. No doubt Food Network had everything to do with that. Is she the first FN "star" to grace the cover?

Yuck. But let's keep this in perspective.  How many times have the Kardashians and Duggars been on the cover of that rag?  It's not like it's Food and Wine magazine, or Saveur.  Then there is a problem with the universe.  :-D

Edited October 9, 2017 by anneofcleves

[rocketinu]

I would have expected the two fixer upper irritants to be on People before her especially since they are leaving hgtv. 

[Qoass]

Quote

  ON 9/25/2017 AT 9:28 AM, QOASS SAID:

Did she happen to explain what the difference was between a "street" taco and a... taco?

She did not.  A street taco is made with the smaller corn tortillas (not fried) with meat (pollo or carne asada or carnitas/al pastor), onions and cilantro with maybe salsa or guac, in other words really simple.  A regular taco is the type you get at mexican restaurant that typically has lettuce, cheese, salsa and maybe sour cream in a fried shell.

Thanks, @Natalie68. After last week, I just figured it would be what you ate with "street" corn...

As for the red dye #2-ade, I was just adding up the costs of those ingredients in my head until the price got too high to calculate. If you don't live on a farm (sorry, ranch), the strawberries alone would cost over $10.

[grisgris]

16 minutes ago, rocketinu said:

I would have expected the two fixer upper irritants to be on People before her especially since they are leaving hgtv. 

Actually, Chip and Joanna were on the cover of People not that long ago. At least those two are bowing out of TV now. I think that they (wisely) realized that the HGTV show served it's purpose to launch (more like skyrocket) their other businesses. They were kinda interesting to watch early on but I got tired of their antics as well as stick-up-the-butt Joanna's limited design vision.

This one here, well, she'll leave FN in her coffin. However, I sense that once the youngest one leaves the nest, Ree will realize that she doesn't have much left to build a show around

I get the sense that People magazine is very PR driven so it's really down to whatever *celebrity* has the most aggressive publicist to get said celeb featured in the cover story.

People used to be a pretty decent magazine when it was first launched. For many years, I gave my mother a gift subscription for Mother's Day (she passed six years ago) and she'd give me the issues after she'd read them. What I've noticed over the years is that the content used to be a fair balance of celebrity news:human interest stories about REAL PEOPLE. Nowadays, there are maybe 1-2 articles about actual folks-folks and they are usually sensational in nature (e.g. brutal crimes, overcoming horrible illness/accident) and the rest of the entire magazine is devoted to gossip.

[Lura]

1 hour ago, grisgris said:

People used to be a pretty decent magazine when it was first launched.

I agree, grisgris.  I used to read Ted Casablanca's column every day.  For people who don't know who he is, he's a Hollywood reporter from way back who tells it like it is.  A couple of years ago, Ted, who happens to be gay, wrote that PEOPLE, which had previously been good, is now filled with gay writers and staff who are easily swayed by stars and their agents.  This is why I asked earlier whether anyone knew who Ree's agent is.  It has to be someone with creds that the people at PEOPLE respect -- or talk them into following their line of thinking.  I can't imagine Ree going after them on her own and getting anywhere.

[Motor City]

grisgris:

I get the sense that People magazine is very PR driven so it's really down to whatever *celebrity* has the most aggressive publicist to get said celeb featured in the cover story.

People used to be a pretty decent magazine when it was first launched. For many years, I gave my mother a gift subscription for Mother's Day (she passed six years ago) and she'd give me the issues after she'd read them. What I've noticed over the years is that the content used to be a fair balance of celebrity news: human interest stories about REAL PEOPLE. Nowadays, there are maybe 1-2 articles about actual folks-folks and they are usually sensational in nature (e.g. brutal crimes, overcoming horrible illness/accident) and the rest of the entire magazine is devoted to gossip.

 

I totally agree - some issues are filled with photographs of celebrities and no actual articles to read.

[ariel]

1 hour ago, Motor City said:

 

 

I totally agree - some issues are filled with photographs of celebrities and no actual articles to read.

Glamour is like that too.

[peacheslatour]

7 minutes ago, ariel said:

Glamour is like that too.

Do they still have the "do" and "don't" back page?

[ariel]

6 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Do they still have the "do" and "don't" back page?

I don't know ( I read Glam at my hairdressers) but they still have that annoying guy called "Jake" that mansplains stuff to us stupid women.

[grisgris]

Seriously? How old is that dude by now?  I haven't picked up a Glamour (yes, also at a salon) for a good 10 years!

[jumper sage]

On 10/6/2017 at 6:13 PM, film noire said:

Seventeen since 2011 -- just like her cooking, it's a whole buncha imprecisely measured seasons.

I found Ree before she was on TV and before her first book.  Assisting homeschoolers with educational ideas research led me to her original website/blog.  It was beautifully done and was more homeschool with sections on food and she did her own photography.  It was really well done.  Back then the kids were all homeschooled.  I think once they got to high school age the entered school.  Branching out in the community wasn't as important then since only the girls were old enough and the boys were very small.  I noticed that pee wee football had them driving all over the county.

I remember when she was very excited to have a homeschool room that Lad built and it was beautiful.  She would post their curriculum on the website with her approach to education.  Both she and Lad are well educated and it showed in the way their kids were educated.  I loved their approach and would print out and post assignments for other families to replicate.  Her meals link was pretty nice too and I have made many dishes from her original site.  Good wholesome, fresh, family meals.

I was coming on here to say that her show  is now all tex-mex and variations of the same thing.  I found her original recipes to be less complicated and that fits in well with my old Sicilian style cooking.  Less ingredients and fresh ingredients and not smothered in sauces.

As a city girl - I would have left the city for Lad too.  Just saying.

[Lura]

Jumper sage, I really enjoyed your well-written post and learning more about Ree in the old days.  It sounds like her blog was well worth reading by homeschoolers.  It's hard to imagine her recipes being so appealing, compared to nowadays.  The big question for me is: What happened?

[anneofcleves]

Her blog used to be very good.  She was very good at that and definitely blazed a trail.  I used to read it in the early days, long before the Lodge, or anything about a tv show came about.  I wouldn't say her recipes were any better or worse than they are now, but they were simple and down home style.  I always think back to her original recipe for lasagna, which is practically identical to the kind I grew up eating, right down to the cottage cheese and cheese in the green can.  It's a very midwestern style of cooking, from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.  It was kind of charming on her blog, and was a fun foray down memory lane in terms of cooking.  But dang, I never would have ever made the leap into thinking this woman should have her own cooking show and retail empire.  Clearly I don't know how to pick 'em, eh?

p.s. I can't comment on any of the home schooling stuff because I never paid attention to it on her blog.

[jumper sage]

5 hours ago, Lura said:

Jumper sage, I really enjoyed your well-written post and learning more about Ree in the old days.  It sounds like her blog was well worth reading by homeschoolers.  It's hard to imagine her recipes being so appealing, compared to nowadays.  The big question for me is: What happened?

I agree with @anneofcleves that her blog was a trail blazer and when she was picked up by Food Network she probably didn't have time to continue her blog as she was doing.  I get that the kids have grown up and her need to keep on homeschooling ended but she should have archived her original blog.  The photography alone was worth the click.

[Lura]

This is all very interesting to me.  I had no idea that Ree had a blog that was actually respected and helpful.  I never heard of Ree until some time after she started her show.  Even now, I seldom visit it.  When I've been there, I've never seen a place to sign up for a contest to win something, or do you have to be a member?  All I ever see is a list of winners.

[ariel]

Much of Ree's blog success was that she was constantly giving out prizes.  It started with her finding a gift card in her desk that she had forgotten she had & offered to her blog readers.  With her husband's family wealth she was able to keep doing that, while at the same time having her readers believe that she was a middle class hard working "pioneer woman".  

Edited October 12, 2017 by ariel

[grisgris]

I thought she gave away her used stuff, like KA mixers and her worn/sweated in "flowy-tops" and crap like that.

Sure. You'll get tons of blog followers if you bribe them!

[Mnemosyne]

Boring ep. I was only left wondering how much shipping was going to cost for that huge ass package.

[tabloidlover]

Too funny!  Because I was wondering the same thing.  Had to be at least $100 with all of the glass ware. 

[patty1h]

I was thinking what a waste of gas to make that fruit leather - 5 hours in the oven.  Unless she was also slow cooking a giant roast at the same time, why bother for such a boring treat.  Or get a dehydrator and save on your gas bill. 

We all know that those boys didn't come up with the "notes in balloons" thing.  I guess Bryce and Todd just smile on the outside and count the days until they can flee to college.  Poor Todd will have to deal with Ree the longest... alone.  Pray for him.

[sabretooth]

I was thinking how icky it was to put a roll of quarters inside a jar of unwrapped M&Ms. 

[grisgris]

After going through the post office then bounced around in trucks and the campus mail, I picture Alex opening up a box of broken glass, packing shreds coated in nail polish, limp deflated balloons and crumbled cake.

What a bunch of idiotic ideas. Yes.  A roll of quarters inside a jar of candy was nasty. Even dumber was the "box of dollars and quarters." Is she trying to one-up Forrest Gump or something? Alex and her sorority sisters don't want to eat all of that crap and where is she going to store it all, especially the containers that Ree went to such trouble to wrap?  By the time you're a junior, you're desperately trying to dump the "freshman 10" and "sophomore 15" and start getting serious about job prospects after graduation. (Or ... seeking the M.R.S. degree ... does that still even happen?)

The messages in the balloons nearly sent me over the edge. Is Alex supposed to pop the balloons in order to retrieve the messages? I can only imagine when was written. "Mom's at it again. /eyeroll" "PLEASE smuggle me into your dorm room." "H-E-L-P!"

Why repackage the laundry pods and make sure to leave air in the bag? They are already packaged in the factory to prevent breakage. What a numbskull ...

That was the most unhealthy-looking granola I've seen. Again, Ree kept adding and adding and adding ingredients. Molasses and brown sugar would have completely overtaken any flavor your could eke out of the browned butter. To me, that was just adding another component of fat and grease.

However, the pound cake didn't look terrible and I liked the nod to Aunt Sandy by using lemonade (or in Sandy's case it would have been lemon vodka or limoncello) as the liquid component to the cake batter.

Hey, Ree! Look over here at ME! I. Do. Not. Like. Snickerdoodles. Never had. I guess I have taste buds that react to the cream of tartar flavor. I can't stand 'em. So. there!

[anneofcleves]

10 hours ago, Mnemosyne said:

Boring ep. I was only left wondering how much shipping was going to cost for that huge ass package.

No kidding.  Half the package was taken up with mason jars.  I guess in Ree World ziploc bags are only useful for boil-in-bag omelettes?

I would like to offer bonus points for wearing a solid color shirt in this episode.  She looks so much better when she does that.

Oh, and my husband was having the same thoughts as grisgris when the kids were filling out the messages to send.  "Mom's batshit crazy.  Send help."  Or, "I've taken over your room.  Please don't come home."

Edited October 15, 2017 by anneofcleves

[Lura]

I think Ree is smack dab in the middle of menopause, and her hormone deficit is sending her mind in questionable directions.  She can't seem to grasp the fact that Alex is legally an adult now, and Ree worships Todd because he makes her feel like a young mother.  She isn't young; she's middle-aged, and sometimes -- like with this package -- I wonder whether she embarrasses Alex and maybe the others.  (I love analyzing Ree like this! LOL)  But, seriously, if I could give Ree two pieces of advice, they  would be "Cut your hair, and act your age."

[grisgris]

I have a niece who is Alex's age and a junior in college in California. I know that if she received a package like that, she would be absolutely mortified. (To clarify, there is no way my dear SIL would ever send something like that ... ) Anyway, you couldn't even open it in private.  Whether you share a house (like my niece does with her cross-country teammates), dorm room or sorority suite, a huge parcel like that would not slip by unnoticed. Everybody is going to be dying to see what's in it!

I guess the only way to handle it is to gamely open it, make a few neutral comments about the contents, then hurriedly cut the cake or break open the baggie of Russell Stover chocolates to share and try to gloss over it as quickly as possible. 

Alex is a junior now. I think that Ree would finally have gotten over it and ceased with the care packages. I could see where one or two would be kind of fun and nostalgic to get a homesick freshman settled or something. Alex isn't that far away and it sounds like Ree is a frequent visitor, so what's the point?

[anneofcleves]

Yea, I've put a few kids through college.  Save the cookies or favorite foods for when they come home to visit, and are tired and want to eat everything in sight.  At school, mine wanted grocery (OK, beer?) money, Starbucks gift cards, restaurant gift cards, etc.  Basically money.  If I'd sent No. 2 lead pencils and photos of gramps in an antiqued picture frame they would have been like "WTF.  Are you OK, mom?"

[Lura]

I'd forgotten all about this until now.  I had a sorority sister who roomed with three others of us, who received enormous packing boxes from her mother in CO.  Karen would receive these boxes with great glee and fanfare.  They honestly contained more goodies than Ree ever fit in.  There were homemade cookies of every description known to man, each box done up in fancy wrappings.  There were crackers and candy corn of many varieties and so many things I can't remember.  The funniest thing was that after Karen had proudly displayed it, she hawled the box into her closet and never shared a crumb of it!!!  She'd go in, get the goodie she wanted, bring it out and eat it without a word to anyone.  This happened once every quarter of the school year!