Pioneer Woman Shares Recipes for Gift-Giving Success

Ree Drummond, who’s known as “The Pioneer Woman” to fans, has 4.3 million followers on Instagram, stars in her own Food Network show, and has authored more than 20 books. 

But nothing makes her happier than when someone tells her they love her meatloaf, and she still gets invited over for home cooking.

“I’m not Bobby Flay or Gordon Ramsay,” she told a sold-out crowd at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Dec. 2. “I’m not even Martha Stewart. I’m Mabel Stewart. In some way, I think that could be why my cooking and my recipes appealed in the early days, and maybe even still.”

During a conversation moderated by lifestyle expert Kimberly Schlegel Whitman, Drummond’s stories ranged from the fun (matching Christmas pajamas for her family), to the funny (what to do when confused tourists wander into your home while you’re taking a bubble bath.)

Drummond shared holiday traditions, family memories, and stories about the early days of her blog, which began in 2006 with three readers, including her mom. By 2011, it was receiving 23.3 million page views each month, according to a 2019 article in Forbes.

“I had only read one blog when I started blogging, so I didn’t have a lot of frame of reference,” Drummond said. “But what I just did was, I just wrote stories. A lot of them were a little self-deprecating, usually some funny angles.”

Some of that fun came from city-girl Drummond’s early experiences of ranch life. She grew up the daughter of an orthopedic surgeon, lived on a golf course, and attended college in Los Angeles before marrying her husband and relocating to a town with a population of 3,500. 

Her future brother-in-law, she said, tested her mettle by inviting her to drop by while they were working cattle, handing her a thermometer, and telling her to take the cows’ temperatures. 

“I won’t go into any detail,” Drummond said to laughter from the audience. 

Drummond went on to have four children, who she homeschooled and eventually featured in her Food Network show. Her oldest daughter, Alex, and son-in-law, Mauricio, were in the audience on Dec. 2, along with former First Lady Laura Bush.

In response to an audience question about what she would prepare for the Bushes if asked to cook them dinner, Drummond said the former President is in “my wheelhouse.”

The menu would include roasted beef tenderloin, really creamy mashed potatoes (think cream, butter, cream cheese, half and half, and whole milk), “some kind of lava situation with ice cream,” and a homemade dinner roll, along with possibly a crème brûlée for the First Lady.

Drummond said she’s excited about her affordable product line at Walmart, where she grew up shopping. She also shared ideas for holiday gifts. Top picks included cinnamon rolls, her favorite perfume, and whatever the giftee loves, in bulk. Drummond said she once gave her husband 125 gift-wrapped pots of his favorite Carmex lip balm.

“I cannot imagine my life having gone in a different direction,” she said. “I wouldn’t have a blog. I don’t think any of this would have happened. I don’t know what I would have written about.”