This book had a pretty mixed reaction from the group. Some found it a bit on the fluffy side, others where enchanted by her blissful naivete. There was a bit of speculation from those who had watched her show about where all the money came from that afforded her such a fancy ranch...as the book made it sound like the ranch barely broke even each year. But her father was a doctor, and she has certainly made an industry out of being the Pioneer Woman! One part of the book that really seemed to annoy the ladies was her obsession with what other people thought of her, and her insistence that there was no sex before the wedding. We felt this was doubtful for a variety of reason. She had already lived with a man for 4 years, so it was highly unlikely she was a virgin. With all the hot "make-out sessions" they had, it is hard to imagine a couple of mature(ish) adults holding back. The best bets we had was that she was just trying to look good for her Christian readers and relatives, or maybe he wanted to wait. But you can tell our book group has been together quite a while now...this conversation got pretty rowdy!
A few of us had gotten her cookbook from the library The pioneer woman cooks : food from my frontier, and found it quite enjoyable.
It has terrific step by step photos for each recipe and lots of delicious things we all wanted to try cooking. Our only complaint was that they were all designed to feed people who have been working their butts off on a ranch all day, and were soaked in butter, cheese, and all kinds of other high-calorie goodness.
Here is what everyone made:
Emily - Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce 
Katie S - Drip Beef
Laura H. - homemade pizza
Dawn R. - Brie Stuffed Mushrooms
Debby S. cilantro slaw
Julie - Perfect Potatoes au Gratin
Next month we are discussing We will also be planning an outing to go to Shiro's restaurant in downtown Seattle sometime in July. Details to follow!
