Snark Talk: Home, Home on the (De) Ranged

[Mandolia]

A question (and this may further explain the difference twixt US and UK) (no inter-country offence is intended -it's asked out of genuine interest!).  Chuck's birthday (although it's decades since Dallas was first aired, I think of Chuck as being the Jock Ewing of ranching) brunch: does anyone really have Eggs Benedict plus "breakfast potatoes" at the same time?  I love Eggs Benedict and the ingredients of breakfast potatoes is appealing BUT there is no way I could tackle both on the same plate.

Years ago I spent 3 weeks in South Miami, staying with some friends - husband of the couple had been headhunted from the UK for a work contract...lovely house included, all the finest fandango you can imagine.  On 2 of the Sundays I was there my hosts took me out for brunch.  Once to a rather swanky yacht club on Biscayne Bay (where I opted for bacon, eggs and hash browns: and that was it!) and the second time to the Biltmore in Coral Gables.  The Biltmore, particularly, completely overfaced me.  There was SO MUCH to chose from!  And I didn't quite grasp the idea that you worked your way through each food station, with the possibility of going back time and time again.  I started with a small portion of prawns (whoops: I mean shrimp!) and some lobster salad.  And then tottered to the grill, missing out the roasted meat options/hot vegetables and asked for a small piece of steak - a vast fillet steak (which I think is the States is called tenderloin?) landed on my plate.  Staggering (I went from tottering to staggering in 3 minutes, such was the weight of the steak!) to another serving station I selected some salad and also a baked potato.  And I do remember swooping onto bearnaise sauce!  Returned to our table table and got stuck in.  It was all delicious.  I didn't need/want another mouthful when I finished.  My hosts did go back and return with plates of goodness knows what - fresh pasta cooked by a chef imported from the Cipriani in Venice came into it.  I never even looked at the puddings.

The waiter assigned to our table kept asking me if I wasn't finding the brunch "experience" to my liking.  What I had was all fabulous but another mouthful...no way, Jose!

This is in no way intended to be derogatory about the the quantities on offer, etc.  Just a trip down Memory Lane, really.  (have to say that the Biltmore was pretty amazing and not horribly expensive then...I see it's now US$90 per head for Sunday brunch)

[Kohola3]

2 hours ago, Mandolia said:

...does anyone really have Eggs Benedict plus "breakfast potatoes" at the same time?

I certainly wouldn't and none of the better restaurants I have be to have it together.  That's like ordering a heart attack to go.

[Lura]

Due to having to fast for blood tests today, I haven't eaten since last night, and it is currently 3 p.m. my time.  Although I'm generally a light eater, I could easily go for Eggs Benedict with breakfast potatoes right now!

The difference to me is whether the meal is breakfast or brunch.  For breakfast, soon after waking, I would never serve Eggs Benedict AND potatoes.  However, for brunch (a combination of breakfast and lunch), I can see serving both along with other dishes such as fruit or juice.

Even though Ree is a master of overkill, she may know that Chuck loves potatoes with breakfast, or maybe that's the custom in Oklahoma when feeding cowboys.  In any case, it was definitely a heavy, unbalanced meal without fruit or sliced tomatoes or something acidic and vitamin rich, IMHO.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Lura

[CharlizeCat]

Mandolia, I had to laugh at your comparison (in a good way, of course) of Chuck Drummond to Jock Ewing.  There is an episode where Ladd and Chuck go swaggering down to the work crew and from the uncharacteristic way they behaved, I swore that they had sat around the night before and watched old episodes of Dallas and were trying their best to be Jock and J.R.  Uh. No. Don't defile the memories of Jim Davis and Larry Hagman like that, please. (Normally, Ladd is very nice and respectful to the work crew; Chuck is variable, so that made it all the more unintentionally hilarious.)

Ree kisses Chuck's ass like there's no tomorrow and none of us are quite sure why. If Chuck asked for bull testicles bathed in Sriarcha with a side of grits topped with fried cheese curds for breakfast, Ree would happily comply. She is always loading him up with the most fattening and artery-clogging foods, including feeding him a huge steak for breakfast and they always have to cook a special steak for him because prefers it to be barely warm.

What you described is typical American brunch fare, although the Biltmore seemed a lot more over the top, but given the location and price, that didn't sound off the mark. There is always breakfast food, including scrambled eggs and omelets to order, bacon, ham and sausage, some type of pancakes, waffles, French toast, bread pudding, as well as pastries. Then there are potatoes and different types of pasta and pizza. There are salads (garden and Caesar), breads and muffins. Then, there might be carving stations with roast beef and ham and maybe one veggie side dish like green beans. There also might be boiled shrimp or some type of fish. Then there will be a lavish dessert spread. That's just the typical run-of-the-mill breakfast that you can find at any restaurant or hotel. It's moderately priced, from about $18-$27, but that pricing is for my region, which is the Midwest. I'm sure the types of food served and prices will fluctuate wildly, depending on the part of the country and level of poshness (I used a Brit term!) of the facility. 

[cathy]

"Red nose, trembling chin, tight throat, aching heart. Leaving your child at college is no picnic."  BOOO HOOOO!! BOO HOOO!! I'm a CRYBABY. I am the worst stereotype of females. I am hormonal and too emotional, while my studmuffin Ladd is the macho cowboy. Ree should be grateful that they are multi-multi millionaires who can afford to send their kids to any college on the planet. In the picture (on facebook) her nose is noticeably red, I wonder if she smeared red lipstick on it to make it look red. I would not put it past her, she manipulates her base with emotional stereotypes. And they lap it up like thirsty dogs. I would love to see Ree do an "ugly cry." Those are horrible.

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, cathy said:

I would love to see Ree do an "ugly cry."

I doubt she cries at all, ever.  She's a calculating money-grubber who pursued a man with loads of money and political connections.  Everything she does is to further her public persona.  She's like every other Wall Street shark with a good publicist.  It's all smoke and mirrors.

[Mandolia]

16 hours ago, Lura said:

Due to having to fast for blood tests today, I haven't eaten since last night, and it is currently 3 p.m. my time.  Although I'm generally a light eater, I could easily go for Eggs Benedict with breakfast potatoes right now!

The difference to me is whether the meal is breakfast or brunch.  For breakfast, soon after waking, I would never serve Eggs Benedict AND potatoes.  However, for brunch (a combination of breakfast and lunch), I can see serving both along with other dishes such as fruit or juice.

Even though Ree is a master of overkill, she may know that Chuck loves potatoes with breakfast, or maybe that's the custom in Oklahoma when feeding cowboys.  In any case, it was definitely a heavy, unbalanced meal without fruit or sliced tomatoes or something acidic and vitamin rich, IMHO.

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

[Mandolia]

14 hours ago, CharlizeCat said:

Mandolia, I had to laugh at your comparison (in a good way, of course) of Chuck Drummond to Jock Ewing.  There is an episode where Ladd and Chuck go swaggering down to the work crew and from the uncharacteristic way they behaved, I swore that they had sat around the night before and watched old episodes of Dallas and were trying their best to be Jock and J.R.  Uh. No. Don't defile the memories of Jim Davis and Larry Hagman like that, please. (Normally, Ladd is very nice and respectful to the work crew; Chuck is variable, so that made it all the more unintentionally hilarious.)

Ree kisses Chuck's ass like there's no tomorrow and none of us are quite sure why. If Chuck asked for bull testicles bathed in Sriarcha with a side of grits topped with fried cheese curds for breakfast, Ree would happily comply. She is always loading him up with the most fattening and artery-clogging foods, including feeding him a huge steak for breakfast and they always have to cook a special steak for him because prefers it to be barely warm.

What you described is typical American brunch fare, although the Biltmore seemed a lot more over the top, but given the location and price, that didn't sound off the mark. There is always breakfast food, including scrambled eggs and omelets to order, bacon, ham and sausage, some type of pancakes, waffles, French toast, bread pudding, as well as pastries. Then there are potatoes and different types of pasta and pizza. There are salads (garden and Caesar), breads and muffins. Then, there might be carving stations with roast beef and ham and maybe one veggie side dish like green beans. There also might be boiled shrimp or some type of fish. Then there will be a lavish dessert spread. That's just the typical run-of-the-mill breakfast that you can find at any restaurant or hotel. It's moderately priced, from about $18-$27, but that pricing is for my region, which is the Midwest. I'm sure the types of food served and prices will fluctuate wildly, depending on the part of the country and level of poshness (I used a Brit term!) of the facility. 

Charlize - thank you for the  reply (I'm pleased you found the Jock Ewing of ranching amusing!!) (Dallas remains one of my all-time favourite tv series - it had a massive following in the UK..."who shot JR" almost brought the country to a standstill!!)  (I see Ladd as more or a Bobby Ewing figure, which could mean he wakes up and all the PW stuff has been a dream...)

I strayed way off topic with my brunch remarks and felt rather embarrassed afterwards to be so self-indulgent.  Then thought I'd delete the post but my elderly laptop had one of its moments and went on strike.   I'm grateful for you taking the time to reply.  I suppose the sheer quantity of choice is what made me a bit startled...the Biltmore was an experience, certainly.  A  new restaurant local to where I live in England tried out the idea of Sunday brunch on a small scale and it just didn't take off. 

Trying VERY hard to keep on the PW train of thought, I had a major attack of giggles the other day - episodes of PW and Ina were being shown on a loop.  Ina did her lobster mac 'n' cheese...next thing was Mrs Drummond recreating a meal she and her daughters had had on one their trips away together: lobster mac 'n' cheese (plus there was steak, I think - can't quite remember).  Ree did at least say it was a rather expensive treat as she flung in copious loads of cheese to embrace the lobster.  About 2 hours later there was a repeat of a Jamie Oliver show which featured lobster macaroni cheese.  Three versions in the space of 4 hours.  Have to say that PW's version was the least inspiring. 

[CharlizeCat]

8 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

I doubt she cries at all, ever.  She's a calculating money-grubber who pursued a man with loads of money and political connections.  Everything she does is to further her public persona.  She's like every other Wall Street shark with a good publicist.  It's all smoke and mirrors.

Now, this is a woman who barred her husband from the delivery room for fear she would pass gas in front of him ...  Did another kid go off to school? I guess it's Paigey's turn. I hope she went far far away. 

Mandolia, we are kindred spirits. I am showing my age, but Dallas aired on Friday nights when I was in my early 20s and it was appointment TV with either my family or friends. (When I was with my friends, we would take a drink every time J.R. or Sue Ellen did.) I dug out an old boxed set of CD of episodes 1-3 last month and have been catching up. I thought the show was really good up until the time that Pam disappeared after her firey car crash. 

Did the lame reboot of Dallas that was on over here from about 2015-2016 ever show in the U.K.? It was really really bad. The only saving grace was that  Patrick Duffy still looked mighty fine and Linda Gray looks amazing for being in her 70s. Larry Hagman was on for brief times, but he died in real life, so they had to have J.R. die on the show. The show went to hell in a hand basket shortly after that with a bizarre swerve into the live of this Hispanic family that had questionable ties to a Mexican drug cartel. Ugh. Judith Light was even given an ongoing role and you know that you have crap programming when even freakin' awesome JL can't save it. 

Sorry. Didn't mean to deviate so far from her Ree-ness. 

[Sweedish Fish]

On 7/21/2018 at 2:50 AM, film noire said:

"Why did I catch Ladd watching "The Hunger" last night, sobbing like a baby?"

"Why did Hye spit twice at me and throw her hand up in a Devil's Horn?"

"Can I make an ice cream sandwich out of jalapeno blood orange chocolate chip ice cream and two candied human hearts?"

"Why do my dogs howl whenever I walk by?"

"Why do I not cast a shadow in the moonlight?"

"Do I have time for one last selfie before the organ meats are done?"

 

Need to say thank you for this post.    I would give you an ice cream sandwich but outta jimmies and gummy  worms.   I will just use a pancake, the frozen ones.   Cause I'm busy.  The cows.  They moo

Who knows?  She's just outta the middle of nowhere and there are horses and stuff.  And cows.

Tragic.  Glad she can still keep up with the hair, with all this mooing going on, and cookies to bake for a random relative, on the journey, who seems to say 'thanks'  now go away.

 

   I could dip it some tequila and jalapenos.   And add a taco seasoning pouch on the side.      

[Lura]

Well, ladies, I do see the Jock-Chuck connection and have even thought about "Dallas" myself.  However, good though it is, I'm a Chuck lover and think he's far more interesting than Jock ever was.  It could be my prejudice due to my love of Chuck, but compared to him, Jock seemed one-dimensional.  He seemed to me to always be the same -- gruff and grouchy and barking at JR.  Chuck, on the other hand, seems to enjoy being the boss, but he has his soft side and a warm sense of humor.  I'll take Chuck any day over stuffy, demanding Jock.  (Of course, my memory of Jock has probably faded over time and left me dim about his teddy bear moments).  The, too, Jock was fictionalized, and Chuck is the real deal, which makes a big difference.

I loved the PW episode in which Chuck and Ladd drove around the ranch in a truck, and Chuck reminisced about the old days.  Much of the conversation was "educational," but some of it was filled with laughter between the two.  I can't imagine Jock and JR "connecting" like that over the old oil fields.

I think that Ree, with her sky high ego, sees herself as the only person alive who can please Chuck, which always makes me wish I could pound her down a peg or two!  Her unabashed flirting with Chuck is nauseating.  I always thought that Nan was such a good sport about smiling her way through it.  (I miss Nan more than I thought I would.)

Edited August 17, 2018 by Lura

[Mandolia]

11 hours ago, CharlizeCat said:

Now, this is a woman who barred her husband from the delivery room for fear she would pass gas in front of him ...  Did another kid go off to school? I guess it's Paigey's turn. I hope she went far far away. 

Mandolia, we are kindred spirits. I am showing my age, but Dallas aired on Friday nights when I was in my early 20s and it was appointment TV with either my family or friends. (When I was with my friends, we would take a drink every time J.R. or Sue Ellen did.) I dug out an old boxed set of CD of episodes 1-3 last month and have been catching up. I thought the show was really good up until the time that Pam disappeared after her firey car crash. 

Did the lame reboot of Dallas that was on over here from about 2015-2016 ever show in the U.K.? It was really really bad. The only saving grace was that  Patrick Duffy still looked mighty fine and Linda Gray looks amazing for being in her 70s. Larry Hagman was on for brief times, but he died in real life, so they had to have J.R. die on the show. The show went to hell in a hand basket shortly after that with a bizarre swerve into the live of this Hispanic family that had questionable ties to a Mexican drug cartel. Ugh. Judith Light was even given an ongoing role and you know that you have crap programming when even freakin' awesome JL can't save it. 

Sorry. Didn't mean to deviate so far from her Ree-ness. 

I think the attempt to resurrect Dallas was only shown on subscription tv (which I don't have) in the UK.  I read about it, and it got pretty dire reviews.  (at the height of Dallas fever over here, people turned down invitations to parties if the timing conflicted with the next episode!)

Back to topic...  The Food Network channel I get on my "free view" tv is about a million miles behind the Food Network channel in the States and has the most bizarre scheduling: as well as not showing shows in chronological order, it will suddenly go into repeat mode with shows such as The PW.  What we get here is way behind anything recent.  But I don't suppose it actually matters, particularly with Mrs Drummond as her repertoire could be described as same-old-same-old on a loop.

Edited August 17, 2018 by Mandolia

[Mandolia]

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

Perhaps it was a dish that was born out of an annual glut of green beans and what to do with them with not many other ingredients?  I'd be interested to know the history as I find the background to unfamiliar dishes really interesting.

[IOU Payne]

Good question.  It's a uniquely American dish.  I'm Canadian, and we don't have green bean casserole at Thanksgiving.  I tasted it once (oddly enough at a Chinese buffet in Plattsburgh, NY) and it was kinda gross.  I'm sure Ree's recipe was straight off the side of the package of one of the items.  Ain't nothing wrong with that.  Some recipes are awesome, like the cookie recipe on the bag of chocolate chips.  But you don't see chefs pasing this off as an original, or if, like Ina Garten, they use the chocolate cake recipe from the bottle of Hershey's Syrup, they give credit. Integrity is a good quality to have! 

Mandolia, I watch a lot of imported British cooking shows and I have the same translation problems in reverse.  Even when a chef like Jamie translates gas marks or Celsius into Farenheit, they use weird numbers like 360 degrees.  We'd use 350 or 375.  We're all about the round numbers!  

It's great to see how many different cultures can all hate-watch Ree and bring different things to the party. 

[Mandolia]

10 minutes ago, IOU Payne said:

Good question.  It's a uniquely American dish.  I'm Canadian, and we don't have green bean casserole at Thanksgiving.  I tasted it once (oddly enough at a Chinese buffet in Plattsburgh, NY) and it was kinda gross.  I'm sure Ree's recipe was straight off the side of the package of one of the items.  Ain't nothing wrong with that.  Some recipes are awesome, like the cookie recipe on the bag of chocolate chips.  But you don't see chefs pasing this off as an original, or if, like Ina Garten, they use the chocolate cake recipe from the bottle of Hershey's Syrup, they give credit. Integrity is a good quality to have! 

Mandolia, I watch a lot of imported British cooking shows and I have the same translation problems in reverse.  Even when a chef like Jamie translates gas marks or Celsius into Farenheit, they use weird numbers like 360 degrees.  We'd use 350 or 375.  We're all about the round numbers!  

It's great to see how many different cultures can all hate-watch Ree and bring different things to the party. 

Thanks so much for that explanation.

Occasionally Ree  "credits" one of her weird concoctions to a friend/her mother/her great aunt's husband's cousin 5 times removed (I made that one up but you'll get my drift!) but I think the thrall in which she holds her fans means they fail to see that is a rehash of something familiar with the help of the back of a packet and chucking in some extra ingredients!...jalapeno alert!!  Which I find really irritating.  Just come straight out and tell it like it is.  But I suppose the pretence perpetuates the myth she has rather successfully created. 

We all have hand-me-down recipes and ones which have appeared in, say, a fundraising cookery book for a local charity (there have been loads of those in the UK).  But Ree blithely chucks more sticks of butter into the Kitchenaid or a skillet to create another of her home-on-the range delights and her fans swoon as if the result is a miracle.  Madness, really.

As to cooking temps F v CL it's a minefield - almost literally.

[tvchick]

I was intrigued about the origin of the green bean casserole so I Googled and found out that it was developed by the Campbell Soup Company as a marketing tool for cream of mushroom soup.

https://www.history.com/news/the-origins-of-the-mysterious-gren-bean-casserole

As a grocery retail employee, I can tell you that people don't only make it at Thanksgiving, at least here in Texas.

[Kohola3]

24 minutes ago, tvchick said:

As a grocery retail employee, I can tell you that people don't only make it at Thanksgiving, at least here in Texas.

It's one of the standard things that shows up a lot, especially at potlucks, funeral lunches, etc.  Cheap and quick.  I bet it's in every Church Ladies cookbook ever written.

[maggiemae]

I'm not usually a fan of g/b casserole but was asked to bring it for T-day a few years ago. I found Alton Brown's recipe which is totally from scratch and it was wonderful! Actually, I did break down and used Trader Joe's French Fried Onion Rings which I think are better than the normal brand used. 

It included real mushrooms, fresh green beans, his own white sauce, nutmeg, etc. It was a real hit!

[Mandolia]

1 hour ago, tvchick said:

I was intrigued about the origin of the green bean casserole so I Googled and found out that it was developed by the Campbell Soup Company as a marketing tool for cream of mushroom soup.

https://www.history.com/news/the-origins-of-the-mysterious-gren-bean-casserole

As a grocery retail employee, I can tell you that people don't only make it at Thanksgiving, at least here in Texas.

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

[chessiegal]

I guess because I'm old as dirt, I knew the green bean casserole was a Campbell's promotion to sell their sodium laden canned Cream of Mushroom soup. It's so easy to make your own cream of mushroom sauce - I don't even need a recipe. It's a matter of proportions.

[Mandolia]

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

It's one of the standard things that shows up a lot, especially at potlucks, funeral lunches, etc.  Cheap and quick.  I bet it's in every Church Ladies cookbook ever written.

I may have to try it out...perhaps not Mrs Drummond's version, tho! 

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

[Lura]

Mandolia, I'm intrigued by the idea of a village lunch.  As far as I know, we have nothing like that in the U.S.  Would you tell us a little bit more about it?  Does the entire village attend?  If you don't want to stray off topic, you could put your reply in the "Small Talk" thread.  Also, if this is a bother, I won't be offended.

I thought that yesterday's show with Ree making yet more kiddie delights, was ridiculous.  Her version of a "binto" box (her pronunciation) for Paigie was OK, but the towers of sliced apples smeared with peanut butter for Todd was another head scratcher.  I wonder how many of us will make that one for breakfast, especially when we have guests!  There was nothing wrong with the ingredients, but I think the tower would have been a mess to eat.  Ree sure enjoys playing in her kitchen and proudly showing off her clever (?) creations.  I think that other show hosts would be too embarrassed to put something like that on their shows.  We can count on Ree to provide the idiot "recipes."

[Mandolia]

3 hours ago, Lura said:

Mandolia, I'm intrigued by the idea of a village lunch.  As far as I know, we have nothing like that in the U.S.  Would you tell us a little bit more about it?  Does the entire village attend?  If you don't want to stray off topic, you could put your reply in the "Small Talk" thread.  Also, if this is a bother, I won't be offended.

I thought that yesterday's show with Ree making yet more kiddie delights, was ridiculous.  Her version of a "binto" box (her pronunciation) for Paigie was OK, but the towers of sliced apples smeared with peanut butter for Todd was another head scratcher.  I wonder how many of us will make that one for breakfast, especially when we have guests!  There was nothing wrong with the ingredients, but I think the tower would have been a mess to eat.  Ree sure enjoys playing in her kitchen and proudly showing off her clever (?) creations.  I think that other show hosts would be too embarrassed to put something like that on their shows.  We can count on Ree to provide the idiot "recipes."

Lura at your suggestion I've posted something about village lunches on the Small Talk thread...it will probably bore you rigid as I got carried away describing how it all works, i.e. mega word overload!  I didn't mention that the local farmer * here is an absolutely brilliant pastry cook: he makes restaurant standard things - the most unlikely person to make his own pastry. Not very Ladd!!!

*he does all the cooking at home as his wife doesn't "do" food.  I went to supper with them and he did beef Wellington: worthy of a Michelin star.

[cathy]

What kind of stupid "entertainment" is putting balloons inside pantyhose? Then the guy puts it on his head. The word quiz was a bit better. I did not know a polar bear's skin was black. I am embarrassed that one of Ree's fans knew that but I didn't. 

[cathy]

Her biggest food fear is bananas?  Oh brother. I bet her biggest fear period is Ladd waking up to what a fraud, and bad person she is, and leaving her. Or her fans seeing through her phoniness. The snake bit was totally scripted. Although most people are afraid of snakes. Eleven carton cake?  Lots of sugar, and calories, but that is par for the course.

[chessiegal]

4 minutes ago, cathy said:

Also, where is the small talk section? I can't find it.

It's here,

Small Talk: The Wagon

[Automne]

9 hours ago, Lura said:

Ree sure enjoys playing in her kitchen and proudly showing off her clever (?) creations.  I think that other show hosts would be too embarrassed to put something like that on their shows.  We can count on Ree to provide the idiot "recipes."

Bacon. Wrapped. Club. Crackers.

[Lura]

Mandolia, I neglected to thank you for your good wishes with the blood test.  Sorry!  It was just a routine test that our doctor requires of all of his patients.

Thank you for writing about your village get-together.  I'm off to read it right now!  :)

[Automne]

Two episodes back-to-back filmed years apart had baked ziti as recipes. The second episode called it a mini meatball bake, but it was baked ziti. Either my claim that her show is a rehash of like six episodes is only a slight exaggeration or FN is semi-aware she is repetitive and is trolling the audience.

[Mandolia]

11 hours ago, Automne said:

Two episodes back-to-back filmed years apart had baked ziti as recipes. The second episode called it a mini meatball bake, but it was baked ziti. Either my claim that her show is a rehash of like six episodes is only a slight exaggeration or FN is semi-aware she is repetitive and is trolling the audience.

I saw ziti on a PW episode this last weekend.  Shortly afterwards it popped up on another show (I was bored, had the Food Network on as there was nothing else to watch!) - can't remember the name of the cook.   I had not an iota of a clue what ziti is...another internet sleuthing session...all was revealed.  I must say, it looks and sounds delicious and I may well give it a go! (but probably considerably reduce the cheese element!!) (would have to use penne as ziti isn't a type of pasta I've ever seen in the UK)

On a side note, an irritation with Ree is her relentless but very forced (and very scripted) enthusiasm, almost squealing with high-pitched excitement over something really quite ordinary - it's not like she's split the culinary atom.  I do wonder how much her family and assorted cowboys, friends and other bit part players enjoy being fed in front of a camera crew in what are obviously choreographed "set pieces".  Nobody ever seems to finish anything (tho I'm not suggesting every mouthful should be captured on camera but the occasional empty plate would be good) as PW will suddenly shriek "who's ready for dessert?".  Most unnatural but one has to remember it is a tv show, it's not real life! 

Mrs Drummond is described as a "chef" on wiki-whatsit.  Yes, and I'm Napoleon Bonaparte.

11 hours ago, Automne said:

 

My laptop has gone mad - sorry about duplicated quote bit!

Edited August 20, 2018 by Mandolia

[HyeChaps]

“Hi, girlies!”

[CharlizeCat]

Waving back to HyeChaps! Where ya been?

[Lura]

Look who's here!  Hi, Hye!

[ShoePrincess]

Random thoughts ...

 

Puff pastry doesn't seem very Pawhuska-ish or cowboy-ish.

 

Do you think Ree watches Ina and thinks, Great idea. All it needs is some sprinkles, chopped up candy bars, jalapenos, chile powder, and caramel sauce, and it will be perfect! Oh, and maybe some mini marshmallows.

[Lura]

5 hours ago, ShoePrincess said:

Do you think Ree watches Ina and thinks

I don't think Ree thinks!  If she does, I'd say that's a pretty good description of the ticker tape that runs through her mind.  I might tack whipped cream onto your list because I think she's as obsessed with it as her boys are.  It wouldn't surprise me to learn that when the cameras aren't rolling, she sinks her entire face into whipped cream just like her boys do.  In fact, that's probably where they got the idea.

[cathy]

Wow, Hyacynth got her hair cut. No more 1970's era hair. Paige is bleaching/lightening her hair. Paige must be 6 feet tall, as I believe Ree is 5'9" tall, and she towers over her. 

[CharlizeCat]

I saw a glimpse of Paige today and her hair looks terrible. It is completely damaged and the color is totally wrong for her. She needs to cut it all off and let that mess grow out healthy.

I didn't like Hyacinth's haircut but it's an improvement. 

[Lura]

It wasn't too long ago that Giada was tapped for a hair ad.  Next, I suppose we'll see Ree, Alex and Paige in hair commercials.  The voiceover will probably rave about Ree's hair being the color of an Oklahoma sunset

[Lura]

It wasn't too long ago that Giada was tapped for a hair ad.  Next, I suppose we'll see Ree, Alex and Paige in hair commercials.  The voiceover will probably rave about Ree's hair being the color of an Oklahoma sunset, and Alex and Paige will be touted as having hair reminiscent of hay (and the consistency of hay).  As Ree stands on the porch of The Lodge, trying in vain to sweep her hair off her face, and the two girls clamber up the hillside with swaggers like cowboys, their tresses blowing in the gusts, a voice says, "Even in the middle of nowhere, cowgirls know how to treat their hair.  Nice 'N' Easy!"

Edited August 29, 2018 by Lura

[cathy]

Gross food today, and extremely unhealthy.  Ree has stock in both the sugar industry, and pharmaceutical companies. The fried stuffed poblano is disgusting. The Slaw and fried chicken on pizza?  Yes, Ree, you have lost your mind!!  How can anyone cut into that?  Maybe it's me? Maybe I'm the weird one? The French toast must have over 1,000 calories. Maybe if you eat it once a month. Next will come a funnel cake. Funnel cakes are sooooo greasy. I once ate half of one at a fair, my boyfriend ate the other.  We went on a ferris wheel ride, I thought I would throw up!! Katie bar the door, Ree your scrumptious "meals" are horrible.

[ShoePrincess]

Ree has gone off the deeper end ( because she's already gone off the deep end). Today she said she was going to take some of her favorite recipes and go over the top with them. She wasn't kidding.

First up ... Mac & cheese stuffed poblano peppers, battered and fried, served with a cream sauce. I'm surprised that she didn't toss a whole buncha pepprjack cheese on top of that atrocious looking mess.

Next ... French toast a la Ree which is a big hunka bread stuffed with a mixture of marshmallow cream, Nutella, and chocolate chips, soaked in an egg mixture, grilled, topped with a ginormous toasted marshmallow, doused in both pancake syrup and caramell sauce, and garnished with graham cracker cereal. Whoops, almost forgot the strawberries!

Next up ... pizza. But not any old ordinary pizza. She started with frozen bread dough. Topped it with olive oil, bbq sauce, and a buncha shredded mozzarella. While the pizza and some frozen chicken strips were baking, she made a soicy mayo dressing. She tossed 2/3 of the dressing with a bag of slaw mix and reserved the remaining dressing. Once the pizza base and chicken strips were baked, she assembled the whole thing by topping the pizza base with the slaw and chicken. Do you think she stopped there? Not our Ree. She added pickles and jalapenos, then drizzled the remaining slaw dressing over the top.

And the grand finale ... a funnel cake sundae. Funnel cake topped with three different ice crema -- cherry, rocky road, and salted caramel -- covered in hot fudge sauce and lots of canned whipped cream, and garnished with rainbow sprinkles. 

I think this was FU episode #2.

11 hours ago, cathy said:

Gross food today, and extremely unhealthy.  Ree has stock in both the sugar industry, and pharmaceutical companies. The fried stuffed poblano is disgusting. The Slaw and fried chicken on pizza?  Yes, Ree, you have lost your mind!!  How can anyone cut into that?  Maybe it's me? Maybe I'm the weird one? The French toast must have over 1,000 calories. Maybe if you eat it once a month. Next will come a funnel cake. Funnel cakes are sooooo greasy. I once ate half of one at a fair, my boyfriend ate the other.  We went on a ferris wheel ride, I thought I would throw up!! Katie bar the door, Ree your scrumptious "meals" are horrible.

We must have been writing our synopses of today's show at the same time.

I eagerly await her crossover show with TLC called "My 600 Pound Life on the Prairie."

Edited September 2, 2018 by ShoePrincess
spelling

[peacheslatour]

Quote

 "My 600 Pound Life on the Prairie."

*dead*

[CharlizeCat]

After reading the warnings, I had to watch today's show. Yowza! Cathy and ShoePrincess weren't kidding!

"Katie. bar the door ... it's more like Blanche grab the straitjacket ... "

Since the dishes have been so gloriously described, I can't add anything, but I did notice one thing:

Pioneer Princess didn't take a single bite of anything.

[peacheslatour]

Hey Charlize, I don't remember if I asked you this already but is that your cat in your avatar?

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, CharlizeCat said:

Since the dishes have been so gloriously described, I can't add anything...

Just reading about it made me want to retch.  Is she deliberately pushing every single limit to see how far she can go before we come to the ranch with pitchforks and torches?  Cause we're getting close to revolting from this, well, revolting disgutsing show.

[CharlizeCat]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Hey Charlize, I don't remember if I asked you this already but is that your cat in your avatar?

Yes. It is and as a matter of fact, today is her birthday (according to the vet) and she turned 10!

[cathy]

Best Baker in America. Finally, our version of the British Baking Show. I was wondering when they would have this.  Maybe they can have Ree on to make her "Dump cake."  Or her boxed pistachio cake (if I recall correctly).  Right now they are making petite fours, doing a very good job, looking even, neat, pretty. 

[Kohola3]

3 hours ago, cathy said:

Best Baker in America. Finally, our version of the British Baking Show.

Without the charm.  Actually these are repeats. 

Ree couldn't do any of those things if her life depended on it.

[fairffaxx]

On ‎9‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 7:25 PM, CharlizeCat said:

Yes. It is and as a matter of fact, today is her birthday (according to the vet) and she turned 10!

She really is a beauty.  I love the symmetrical division -- people say that the torti personality is as dramatic as the appearance, which isn't hard to believe.  Seems like "Diva" would be an apt name.

[CharlizeCat]

Thank you, fairfaxx. Yes, Charlize has "tortitude" definitely. She is extremely spoiled and love to be groomed. When she wants grooming or treats she wants it NOW and is very vocal. LOL! She also makes a fuss if I do not get up early enough to suit her to open the blinds so she can watch the birds and squirrels. OTOH, she is a very, very sweet and affectionate lap kitty and smart as can be. I got very luck with this one.  She's a real treasure!