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

[Lura]

I'm not a fan of Ree's, and when I watch her, it's mostly for the entertainment value -- not for cooking knowledge or great  recipes.  According to an article in the New Yorker, Ree's fame didn't happen overnight and was in the works for quite some time.  The name Drummond carries a lot of weight in Osage, and both Ladd and Ree (thanks to her show) are multi-millionaires.  They supposedly have pull from judges and other notables in the county and out, and these people are frequently seen at Drummond parties.  The article hinted that the Drummonds get what they want or buy it.  The one thing I don't think Ree can do is fool her audience all the time.  She is not professional or polished, IMHO, and that's what gives her away.  I think of Ree as an ordinary home cook who enjoys what she does and wants to share it  with others while becoming rich and famous.  Period.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I think of Ree as an ordinary home cook

You are very polite. I would have used a different word. :)

[Automne]

A rerun a couple of days ago had Hyacinth utter "Just another day in Osage County" when Ree was dropping off mulligatawny soup in exchange for Hyacinth driving Alex back from Tulsa. I forgot how cringeworthy the pandering to August: Osage County was. What was the point of that? The movie was nothing more than an excuse for Meryl Streep to get her annual Oscar nomination and for people to remember that Julia Roberts is still around. What, did they think that The Pioneer Woman, Drummond Ranch, and Pawhuska would be a stop on their press tour?

[Qoass]

I wasn't impressed with that movie either but it gave me the impression that Osage County should be avoided at all costs!

[Lura]

I learned a lot when I googled Osage County last night.  It's the largest county in OK.  Be sure to take a look at some of the houses that are for sale, and you'll see why Ree loves the ranch and all that land so much.  Some of the Drummond ancestors are listed in some of the info.  There are pictures of some of the downtown buildings and City Hall.  Restoration of buildings is a topic mentioned, so Ree was right on https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Osage+County,+OK&*

Oh, fudge!  Well. I guess you can still read this, so I'll leave it and re-do the link.  Sorry I made a mess of it.  If you want to shake hands with a loser, the line forms on the right.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Osage+County,+OK&*

Let's hope this link finally works. BTW, if you think this post is a mess, have you read Ree's blog lately?  I don't think she even looks it over for typos, yet she calls herself a writer!

[peacheslatour]

^^^Speaking as a Western Washingtonian who is used to seeing lots of green hills, deep forests, tall mountains, lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean, that place looks like a whole lotta nothin'.

[Natalie68]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

^^^Speaking as a Western Washingtonian who is used to seeing lots of green hills, deep forests, tall mountains, lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean, that place looks like a whole lotta nothin'.

I took a gander at Zillow.  Man is it cheap there!  I am not used to seeing homes for sale under 100K (actually under 500K where I am!).

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, Natalie68 said:

I took a gander at Zillow.  Man is it cheap there!  I am not used to seeing homes for sale under 100K (actually under 500K where I am!).

Location, location, location. :)

[Natalie68]

Just now, peacheslatour said:

Location, location, location. :)

Right??!  I was thinking even I could afford a house there but then I remembered that last time I lived in the middle of the country it didn't turn out well.  I am one of those people that needs the ocean near me (even though I never go to the beach).  So I will be a renter close to the beach!

[smores]

Sometimes Ree makes something that resembles a dish that my grandmother would make. IE, a fairly plain, easy homecooking kind of dish that you would throw together by memory having made it 100s of times by the time you had a grandkid.  When I see stuff like that, I kind of think, aww, she can't be that bad.  

Then she bastardizes some food that shouldn't be messed with just to "customize" it, or she throws some random weird ingredient into a dish that is already looking pretty gross and I think she's the person who makes the food you avoid at the work potluck.  

On a super petty note, I cannot stand when she says "A fourth a cup of"  Everyone I've ever known has said "a quarter cup of" whatever ingredient, and for some reason "A fourth a cup of" just grates on me so much!

[grisgris]

Ahem, ... It's a "fourtha cuppa."  ;-)

[Lura]

If she isn't specifying a certain amount of an ingredient, it's most often referred to as "a big ol' buncha." There for a while (and maybe still),  big ol' was one of her most descriptive measurements, whether it referred to an ingredient, a man's build, or a cow. 

As for Ree rhapsodizing about the ranch, it could be because it's close to Bartlesville where she grew up and her family and friends still live there.  But then she turns around and wistfully recalls living in LA and going to her favorite coffee shop.  Who's to say what goes on under that big ol' massa/messa red/orange hair? 

Edited March 29, 2017 by Lura

[Lura]

 I feel that I should apologize for being a board hog.  Is anyone in the mood to join me?  :)  I love reading what others have to say.

GOOD GRIEF, REE!  Lay off the heat you add!  On a recent rerun, Ree made chili for her cowboyfriends on the crew, and she was so heavy on the spices and peppers that even one of the cowboys choked and made a remark.  I like heat in some dishes, but that was ridiculous.  Ree promised that the men would "love" this recipe (as she promises about everything she makes, sometimes twice), but I think she shook those spice jars and bottles way too long.

[peacheslatour]

I think she's deeply insecure. She keeps trying to convince herself (and us) that she's a Lady Bountiful type who spreads nourishment of the soul and that everyone loves her. But deep down I don't think even she believes it.

[Lura]

Ree SO wants to be Mother Earth.

[tenativelyyours]

I think she is as shallow and has as much substance as a piece of baking parchment.  She goes wherever she thinks is "interesting" and in doing so reveals the woman doesn't have a nuance if she could package it and sell it.  She follows whatever she thinks is "current" or on trend and never realizes for a moment that the reason she thinks something is such, is because it has been for a long damn time (by pop culture standards).  She is self-absorbed enough to assume she is a leader and cutting edge.  Having followers doesn't make you a leader if all you can see in front of you is the back of another person.  If she is still on the air in ten years time, she'll play catch up and be all isolationist, anti-furrin' and have a "build the wall" themed show.

I do think she knows she is running a scam.  The funny thing is I think most of these hosts do.  I think Giada was selling her glamorous yet down to earth nuclear family even as she was swinging from the hotel room light fixtures with men who weren't her husband.  I think Rachel Ray knew damn well how limited she was in the cooking area and white knuckled her way through endless burgers and over used cutisms like EVOO and the refusal to measure to greater exposure and success.  So how else can ReDrum (is it a coincidence that it spells murder and she constantly kills good tasting food before it can hit the table?  I think not!) not do the same.  She takes what others do and regurgitates it and sells it off as new goods.  Sadly that is kind of the American way.  Too many people are simply happy being told they are getting a good thing without every actually bothering to check if it is good and what should make it good.

I'm guessing most of her time these days still involves sitting down and watching Ina, Deen, Ray and others and doing that card idea thing she once claimed was her sole reason for living and that is why most of her recipes seem like a jumbled "make your own adventure" mess.  She finds a dish that is done by a couple of other cooking show successes and then mixes and matches with no sense of flavors or dish combinations that actually make a cohesive and enjoyable meal.

[grisgris]

2 hours ago, tenativelyyours said:

ReDrum

BRIILLIANT!

[grisgris]

Speaking of scams and this circles back to previous discussions ... I went to a memorial service Friday night. The deceased was the mother of the friend of my sister's. I didn't know the mother but knew her daughter/my sister's friend, quite well.

Now this woman's life was PIONEER WOMAN. She and her family lived literally in the middle of nowhere in SW Kansas. Her brother gave a lengthy eulogy and stated how it was an anomaly to see a car and how eventually, as the area grew a little more populated, taking the school bus over gravel roads 25 miles each way every day to school.  (No home schoolin' for that bunch!) Not to mention the absence of running water and electricity. He spoke of having to grow all of their produce and butchering cows and hogs for meat. They all had to do farm work which included tending to the gardens and livestock as well as cook three hearty meals a day from scratch to feed all of the farmhands. All of that didn't take place that long ago either -- early 1940s.

I've also mentioned reading "A Wilder Rose," which is a novel/biography of Rose Wilder Lane,  Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. While that didn't get much into the nitty gritty of daily pioneer living like LIW's books did, it still conveyed descriptions of how life was like a few decades past the turn of the century.  Not easy. Rose went on a tour of Kansas and Oklahoma during the dust storms in quest of material for a newspaper article series on the devastation to farmers. It was pretty graphic. Anyway, I've finished the book and it's an excellent read.  SPOILER ALERT: If you have rainbow and unicorn visions of Laura Ingalls Wilder, you might not enjoy this book as it will crush a reader's illusions in a snap.

[peacheslatour]

"Jus' kiddin' about the kings and presidents. They couldn't find our ranch" Well.....

[Westiepeach]

5 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

"Jus' kiddin' about the kings and presidents. They couldn't find our ranch" Well.....

Well, she DOES live in the middle of nowhere ...

[Lura]

The question which continues to prey on me is "How did this happen?"  How did an anonymous, average woman on an isolated farmland recreate herself into a pop American icon?  Where did she start?  Did she have a vision, or a dream, to begin with, or did the world just suddenly fall at her feet?  Did she find the VIPs, or did they find her and make it happen?  Whether you care or don't care about her, with what step did it all start?  There are millions of blogs.  Why hers?  If anonymous was Day A, and today is Day B, what did she do to transform herself in the first place from A to B?  Call an agent?  Where do you find an agent out on the prairie?  How in tarnation did all of this get started?

Edited April 4, 2017 by Lura
form

[film noire]

2 hours ago, Lura said:

How in tarnation did all of this get started?

It started with $$$ --  she threw it at the problem (her ambition to be noticed) and it all rolled on from there.

Edited April 4, 2017 by film noire

[grisgris]

A good PR firm?

[chessiegal]

I read somewhere that she did hire a PR firm.

[ariel]

10 hours ago, film noire said:

It started with $$$ --  she threw it at the problem (her ambition to be noticed) and it all rolled on from there.

I agree.  She was from money & married into a very wealthy family.  Her husband may look like a rube, but he's a wealthy one via his family.

Edited April 4, 2017 by ariel

[film noire]

37 minutes ago, ariel said:

I agree.  She was from money & married into a very wealthy family.  Her husband may look like a rube, but he's a wealthy one via his family.

She pretends it all just happened to her ("Who me? I was jes' home-schoolin' and blogging is all") but she had pros design the site, hired interns, gave away expensive (counter) appliances and clothing to drive traffic to her blog, built and blogged about a "guest house" on the ranch (one that just happened to be perfect for filming television. Haven't we all done that? "I need ten feet of clearance to allow the camera crew easy access around the film set -- I mean, around the kitchen island!") and snookered Bobby Flay into a throw down to get media attention.  All while pretending to be a rancher's wife helping her husband (takin' photos!)  and homeschoolin' (hirin' teachers!) and keeping up on the housewifery (professional cleaners twice a week, as well as a regular cleaning lady!) as she built her down-home, homespun, spin it to the max bullshit persona.

If she were just honest about her ambition to be famous, a lot of this would stop dogging her. More than one person has said she told them she was thinking of doing a reality show before she hit on the blogging, so just own that.  Admit you had deep pockets funding every step of your way, allowing you to skip all the steps needed to be taken by other bloggers (Smitten Kitchen) or tv personalities like Rachel Ray (don't much like her, but nobody can accuse her of buying her career).  She could've made it all folksy by talkin' bout how Ladd just wanted to help make her lifelong dreams come true, he had to help his little lady up on the horse (Mustangs funded by your tax dollars!) that done carried her to fame and fortune, blah blah blah.  

She's dull on camera, a lousy, thieving cook and without the Drummond money, she'd be sitting on that ranch slamming back wine coolers as the world passed her by.

Bless her heart.

Edited April 4, 2017 by film noire

[peacheslatour]

Quote

If she were just honest about her ambition to be famous, a lot of this would stop dogging her.

This right here. I think the people who post on this forum are intelligent enough to respect honest ambition and hard work. But we're not going to lose sight of the fact that she's dishonest and frankly a grifter. People who have shows on FN like Ina, Giada and I would imagine even Aunt Sandy all obviously have money. They also have talent, creativity and at least speaking for myself, are very informative. They don't act all "all shucks, I'm jus' like you, tee hee." 

[ariel]

46 minutes ago, film noire said:

and snookered Bobby Flay into a throw down to get media attention.  

Didn't one of her BFF's Trisha  "judge" that?

Edited April 4, 2017 by ariel

[film noire]

1 hour ago, ariel said:

Didn't one of her BFF's Trisha  "judge" that?

She did -- and Yearwood lives in Owasso OK -- what a surprise the city slicker lost ; )

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

This right here. I think the people who post on this forum are intelligent enough to respect honest ambition and hard work. But we're not going to lose sight of the fact that she's dishonest and frankly a grifter. People who have shows on FN like Ina, Giada and I would imagine even Aunt Sandy all obviously have money. They also have talent, creativity and at least speaking for myself, are very informative. They don't act all "all shucks, I'm jus' like you, tee hee." 

Exactly.  (When Aunt Sandy can put a cooking host to shame -- Houston, we have a problem.) 

Edited April 4, 2017 by film noire

[cathy]

Ree is such a phony.  There is so much they don't tell us about, like that she smoked pot in college, she belonged to a sorority, and her family owns a bank, a museum, a pharmaceutical company (Golden pharmacueticals in Colorado) that made the diet drug "Phen-fen" which killed 46 people and got them 46 lawsuits.  I wonder what her zombie followers would say of her pot-head ways

[ariel]

I remember Phen-Fen back in the day.  Ree's family was part of that?

[cathy]

Yes, that is what I read.  Also, in reply to Lura, I think I know how Ree became famous.  Look up the website "thecadillaccowgirlchili.blogspot.com.  The article title is " Pioneer woman, you can kiss my barefoot contessa lovin ass!"  Look at the comments.  Lots of info there.  Also, look at this website illuminatiwatcher.com.  If you go to the google search engine and put "Ree Drummond mk ultra" in quotes you will see an article come up, look at the comments.  Look at this website 9 11themotherofallblackoperations.blogspot.com.  You can put that address into the google search engine, along with the words mk ultra and Ree Drummond.  Once you get to this site, you must scroll down a ways to get to 9/29/15 when it was published.  This man says that there are psychological triggers in her show. I have suspicions that the Drummonds are in the illuminati, and that Ree is an mk ultra victim.  If you do not know about this stuff, the best website is http://intheknow7.wordpress.com.  Very good info that explains what is going on behind the backs of the public.  Ree has some mk ultra symbols on her site, especially a lot of butterflies.  I know this sounds crazy, but there is enough about her, and her family to make me suspicious.  I also don't think she gives away the giveaway prizes to strangers.  One one show, when she visited Edna Mae at her home, I saw one of those flowery cake stands on Edna's table that she was giving away on her website.  Do your own research and you will see what I mean.  Also, I read that Ree's teenage nephew killed himself.  That is a shame.  What happened to the Marlboro woman?  Why did she take down her website, it was so good.  I don't believe Ree is just a fake, phony, bad cook.  There is more going on that we don't know about.

[film noire]

Well.

That certainly explains The Bread.

[Qoass]

Or the pot smoking.

[ariel]

14 hours ago, cathy said:

What happened to the Marlboro woman?  Why did she take down her website, it was so good. 

That site just seemed to disappear over night.  I wonder if Ree's had anything to do with that?

[SoCal Mema]

1 hour ago, ariel said:

That site just seemed to disappear over night.  I wonder if Ree's had anything to do with that?

I found it here - http://cadillaccowgirlchili.blogspot.com/2012/07/pioneer-woman-you-can-kiss-my-barefoot.html

And this is outdated, but still humorous - http://www.thepioneerwomansux.com/2011/05/ladd-and-ree-are-idiots/

Edited April 5, 2017 by SoCal Mema
addition

[ariel]

The MW forum (where you can comment) is gone.

[smiley13]

On 4/4/2017 at 6:41 PM, cathy said:

Ree is such a phony.  There is so much they don't tell us about, like that she smoked pot in college, she belonged to a sorority, 

A sorority??  The Horror!! (Not!)  What is wrong with being in a sorority?

And smoking pot in their younger days didn't stop a couple of men from being elected President.  

[cathy]

Hi Smiley 13:  I did not mean to say that being in a sorority was bad (I think the opposite)  just that she did not tell her fans.  As far as the pot smoking goes, it goes against her goody two shoes image.  I guess most of her fans are probably in favor of tough tough laws against drugs, so I wonder how they would reconcile that. 

[Fostersmom]

Why would she need to mention she was in a sorority? What does that even have to do with anything?

[cathy]

Ok, she doesn't need to.  Touche.  On her twitter page it says "S-Town. That is all."  What is she talking about?  I don't get it.

[Gam2]

I'm no fan of Ree's for a variety of reasons. However. After reading posts on this site and reading a lot of other sites about her, Ladd, their wealth, nannies, help with home schooling, housekeepers, etc, I think most of us know everything we need to know about her/her real life. If people continue to watch her show, they should know what they're getting and stop complaining that she's "not real". We all know that. So just watch her shows for the "recipes" or if you like her. Or don't. I quit watching her show a long time ago because she never makes anything I'd make for my family. That's actually why I watch cooking shows. I'd much rather snark about Dr. Shill, the soaps, RH (although I stopped watching those fake shows too). JMHO.

[anneofcleves]

2 minutes ago, Gam2 said:

I'm no fan of Ree's for a variety of reasons. However. After reading posts on this site and reading a lot of other sites about her, Ladd, their wealth, nannies, help with home schooling, housekeepers, etc, I think most of us know everything we need to know about her/her real life. If people continue to watch her show, they should know what they're getting and stop complaining that she's "not real". We all know that. So just watch her shows for the "recipes" or if you like her. Or don't. I quit watching her show a long time ago because she never makes anything I'd make for my family. That's actually why I watch cooking shows. I'd much rather snark about Dr. Shill, the soaps, RH (although I stopped watching those fake shows too). JMHO.

You like to snark on Phil, some like to comment on Ree.  That's the beauty of sites like this.

[Gam2]

True. That is the beauty of sites like this. I'll just stop checking in on this one.

[Lura]

Anyone can be in a sorority.  Some are good, productive ones with popular girls who actually achieve something, and some are losers that take in all the girls who couldn't make it into the good sisterhoods.  That Ree was in a sorority means nothing, no matter how she tries to impress us.

Has it ever occurred to Ree that Ladd Drummond chose her because she's tall and strongly built and could handle ranch chores fairly easily, that she could cook Mexican for the ranch hands, that she probably could procreate any number of little Drummonds for working the ranch, that she could swallow an entire basket of rolls by herself (or whatever she devoured on their first date), and that she had some money?  Does she really believe that it was all sex appeal?  She doesn't lay out Mexican feasts for the ranch hands to impress them; she does it because she craves being surrounded by South of the Border male progesterone.  The real Ree is hidden behind the TV Ree for good reason:  She wants us to see her the way SHE manipulates us to buy her phoney image.  (Emphasis on the word "buy."}

[Aquarius]

2 hours ago, anneofcleves said:

You like to snark on Phil, some like to comment on Ree.  That's the beauty of sites like this.

Some of us like to snark on both.  Vive la différence!

19 minutes ago, Lura said:

Anyone can be in a sorority.  Some are good, productive ones with popular girls who actually achieve something, and some are losers that take in all the girls who couldn't make it into the good sisterhoods.

And some are good productive ones with unpopular girls who actually achieve something.

[ariel]

3 hours ago, Gam2 said:

I'm no fan of Ree's for a variety of reasons. However. After reading posts on this site and reading a lot of other sites about her, Ladd, their wealth, nannies, help with home schooling, housekeepers, etc, I think most of us know everything we need to know about her/her real life. If people continue to watch her show, they should know what they're getting and stop complaining that she's "not real". We all know that.

Sadly Ree has lots of fans that think she is the " real deal".

[anneofcleves]

7 hours ago, ariel said:

Sadly Ree has lots of fans that think she is the " real deal".

Definitely, which is part of my fascination with her.  She can barf out the most mediocre of ideas, as evidenced by the vast majority of her shows this past season, and people just lap it up and tell her how great she is on her website.  She's entered the coveted "Emperor's New Clothes" level of fan support.  Probably the only thing she could do to piss people off would be to make a Pepsi commercial with a Kardashian.  Nah, even that wouldn't do it...

[Lisin]

19 hours ago, cathy said:

Ok, she doesn't need to.  Touche.  On her twitter page it says "S-Town. That is all."  What is she talking about?  I don't get it.

S-Town is a podcast that's kinda the sequel to Serial (another podcast) that's really popular. It's a true crime story/investigation. I imagine Ree started listening and got hooked and that's what she's talking about.  

[Lura]

I like to think that we caught a glimpse of the real Ree when Ladd told her that Alex was hoping for a car for her 18th birthday.  Ree dropped her party face just long enough to look disgusted and somewhat angry as she hissed back, (Paraphrased)  "She's not getting any car for her birthday!!!"  Yes, ma'am!  It was worlds different from her usual nauseating, sing-song "Hi, girls!  How are you?" when they enter the room.

 

Look, Ree, there's nothing wrong with being a cheerful sort of person who creases her dimple with constant smiles, but I've sat through more than enough episodes about every aspect (including the rest rooms) of the Merc and all of its wares while you grin like a Cheshire cat, and I know a fake when I see one.  PAY FOR YOUR OWN COMMERCIALS, and get back to cooking a good recipe!