Tag Archive for: The Pioneer Woman

The Pioneer Woman’s French Toast

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It was about this time last year that we were getting ready to head out to see Corby’s friend’s Ladd and Ree- otherwise known as Marlboro Man and The Pioneer Woman.  We stayed on their ranch for a few days and helped wrangle some cattle- it was pretty awesome.  Since that time, I have to say that I have done no wrangling, ranching or cattling.  However, I have of course been reading Ree’s blog and keeping up with her cooking.  I really enjoy reading her recipes because they are so tasty, but I also just have to laugh at her extensive use of butter, sugar and all things good.  I was looking at her recipe for Baked French Toast, and while I couldn’t (well actually I could because it is so delicious, but I would be very unhealthy and fat which I am not a huge fan of) eat this for breakfast every morning, on the occasional Saturday or Sunday, it is a huge treat!  Sugar, butter, heavy cream, more sugar, more butter, and bread- awesome.  While we are probably not going to make it out to the ranch this year, that will not stop me for enjoying her decadent Baked French Toast and all of her other wonderful recipes!

The Pioneer Woman’s Baked French Toast

Ingredients:

1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
8 whole Eggs
2 cups Whole Milk
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
Topping:
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Freshly Grated Nutmeg, Optional
1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces

Directions:

For the French toast: Grease the baking pan with butter. Tear the bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly distribute in the pan. Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover the pan tightly and store in the fridge until needed (overnight preferably). Or you can make it and bake it right away—delicious no matter what!

For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and some nutmeg in a separate bowl. Stir together using a fork. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter, and mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.

When you’re ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture or for 1 hour-plus or more for a firmer, crisper texture.

Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with warm pancake syrup.

Skiing, Swimming, Sledding, and a Pinata

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We took 14 people up to North Carolina with us this past weekend, so including us, there were 12 adults and 5 children (and 2 dogs). It was a packed house, but we all had so much fun!  Corby, Walker and I drove up on Thursday night which also happened to be Corby’s birthday- we stopped in Blowing Rock at Bistro Roca (www.bistroroca.com) for dinner which was fabulous.  I had a pulled pork crepe that was out of this world.  Walker had mussels that he said were delicious, and Corby had meatloaf that was really good.  The only drawback was that we saved one slice of meatloaf to put in our eggs on Friday morning, and when we stopped to get gas after dinner, Nemo- my pesky 10-year-old Springer Spaniel- ate the meatloaf- it was disappointing.  Oh well.  Friday, we skied all day at Sugar Mountain which was so much fun- bluebird day and 50 degrees- what more could you ask for! The rest of the gang arrived on Friday night.  Saturday, we woke up to another beautiful warm day and an amazing egg, cheese, and vegetable casserole made by Marguerite.  So, the way we set up the weekend was every family was in charge of one meal- we didn’t count lunch, and I was in charge of appetizers and desserts.  After our marvelous and healthy breakfast (the casserole consisted of the only vegetables we had all weekend) we set off on a hike to Lost Cove, while the kids went snow tubing.  It is a beautiful hike down to these amazing swimming holes generally used in the summer unless you are crazy like the men on our hike who decided to swim- in February- in 45 degree water- what?  Anyway, appetizers after we got home included “cheesy goodness” which is Edam cheese wrapped in Pillsbury Crescent Rolls baked at 350 for about 35-40 minutes, and a cheese plate- yay cheese.  Dinner was the Haynie’s famous hot dog bar- every topping you could ever want on a hot dog, and then for dessert, I made the Cheesecake Strawberries which were amazingly good and easy and Blondie Bars- also easy and delicious!  In one batch I cut up Twix Bars- that was something special.  Sunday morning was a breakfast for the history books.  Kendall and Robert made Bailey’s french toast with some sort of homemade heaven (aka syrup), venison sausage, and they added a bowl of fruit for good measure.  While we were eating, it started snowing which of course made the kids go crazy!  We ended up getting about 5 inches of snow throughout Sunday- the sledding, the games, the snowmen, and the snowball fights exhausted everyone!  To revive the group, I made Bacon appetizers which I found on the Pioneer Woman website (www.thepioneerwoman.com).  It was the most simple and fantastic thing ever!  Take a package of bacon- cut it in half.  Lay out the half strips of bacon on a baking sheet.  Place a club cracker in the center of the strip of bacon, place a spoonful of Parmesan cheese on top to the club cracker and wrap the bacon snugly around the cracker and cheese.  Bake at 250 for 2 hours. Really really good, and they did not last long!  After another amazing dinner cooked by Robert and Olivia- beef stew with baked potatoes, we brought out the pinata for the kids which was so fun!  The whole weekend was amazing, and not surprisingly, Walker slept for 3 and a half hours on the car ride home!  Such good food and good friends- can’t wait to do it again!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts and Backgammon Night

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I work at the Charleston Library Society, which is a pretty special place.  It is the third-oldest library in the United States, and the collection of books, letters, maps, etc., is unbelievably impressive.  This is the main room of the Library- it is beautiful.  And what better use for this amazing room than a backgammon club!  I started the Charleston Library Society Backgammon Club in September, and it has been so much fun.  The best part of Backgammon night is that the Library supplies beer, wine, and light snacks, of which I am in charge.  So, of course, I test recipes on our little group.  I tried out the Prosciutto Cheese Straws, Blue Cheese and Toasted Walnut Crostinis, Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake, and on and on.  Last night at Backgammon, I brought the Pioneer Woman’s Mystery Roll recipe, which I put up in a post when we went out to visit her and Ladd.  Check out the post for the recipe- super easy, and they were a huge hit.

This morning, I started thinking about what I was going to try next time, and then I started thinking about bacon because it is so good and I really love it.  Amazingly, initially, the two thoughts did not have anything to do with each other.  Fortunately, I was awoken from my bacon daydream to Google bacon recipes, and I came across bacon-wrapped water chestnuts.  I haven’t had those in so long, and I love them, and that is what I will be making for the next Backgammon Night!  Here is the recipe from www.allrecipes.com that I will be using- I am pretty excited!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Ingredients

1 pound sliced bacon

2 (8-ounce) cans whole water chestnuts, drained

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chili sauce

Directions

Cut bacon strips in half. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until almost crisp; drain. Wrap each bacon piece around a water chestnut and secure with a toothpick. Place in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.

Combine the brown sugar, mayonnaise and chili sauce; pour over water chestnuts. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

 

 

Cattle, Football, and Petit Fours

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I am back from a trip to Oklahoma and Arkansas, and what a trip it was- I saw the sunrise three out of the four days we were gone! We spent two days in Oklahoma at the Drummond Ranch, where Corby’s oldest friend, Ladd and his wife, The Pioneer Woman (www.thepioneerwoman.com) Ree, and their four children live.  It is so beautiful!  The first day we spent with Ladd, the kids, and the cowboys shipping cattle.  Cowboy Tim, Cowboy Sam, Cowboy Josh and the kids rounded up all the cattle from nearby pastures and brought them to a pen where they were divided into sections and weighed.  Then the 18-wheelers backed up one at a time to the shoot, where the cattle were then herded and loaded into the trucks.  They shipped over 400 cattle in about three hours.  It was amazingly efficient, and I only had to be on a horse for about ten minutes.  It was terrifying.

That night, Ree and Ladd came over to the Lodge where we were staying and cooked us amazing steaks and Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes.  That is actually Ree’s name for the dish in her cookbook, and the recipe is below!

The next day, after watching the sunrise again- this time from my bed in the Lodge- which was much better, we drove to Fayetteville, Arkansas to visit Corby’s family and watch the Arkansas vs. Auburn game.  Two very good things came from this trip- first, Arkansas won- which while I don’t really have any passion for football what so ever, it makes Corby wildly happy.  Second, and more importantly, we went to Rick’s Bakery (www.ricksbakery.com) which was very much deserved after the extreme trail run Corby took me on Saturday morning.  Wow!  Of the many things I tried at Rick’s- donuts, petifores, cookies, and cake, I think the petifores with the Razorback decorative icing were my favorite, and who knew they were such a hit at tailgates.  Everything was so good!!  If you are in Fayetteville, AR for any reason, make a point to go there, and you will not regret it!

 

Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes

3/4 cups Butter

1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened

1/2 cup (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half

1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

Instructions:

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes.  Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove.  Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese, and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

Heading to visit the Pioneer Woman!

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I am about to head off for a long weekend in Oklahoma and Arkansas- two states I have never been to.  We are headed to Oklahoma this afternoon to spend two nights with the Pioneer Woman (www.thepioneerwoman.com)  and her husband.  Corby and the Pioneer Woman’s husband have been friends since they were 4, which is the reason for the visit.  If you haven’t read her blog, book, cookbook or seen her TV show- you should.  She is amazing.  Not only is she an amazing cook- can’t wait to eat there!!- she is also an amazing photographer, and she homeschools her four children.  I can’t even help my sweet Walker with his homework without losing my mind.  I try to emulate her photography occasionally.  Here is how it turns out.

Clearly, you can tell which one is my picture vs. her amazing picture.  Corby on the ranch with the rainbow- beautiful.  Corby on the creek with bad lighting- mine.  Oh well.

So apparently, tomorrow on the ranch, they are shipping cattle. Apparently, we are helping.  At least there will be good food at the end of it all.  Here is one of her recipes for Mystery Rolls that is so easy and good and of course has cheese.

Mystery Rolls

6 oz crumbled blue cheese

1 stick of salted butter

1 roll of Pilsbury Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350.  Place the stick of butter and the crumbled blue cheese on a baking sheet.

Take out the biscuits and cut them into quarters.  Place the baking sheet with the butter and cheese in the oven until it has all melted.  When all the butter and cheese has melted, take the baking sheet out of the oven and dump the biscuit pieces onto the baking sheet.

Stir around the biscuit pieces until they are fully coated with the butter and cheese, and then arrange in rows on the sheet.

Place back in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  They are sooo good!