Ree Drummond is one of those talented and lucky people whose passions help her create a terrific life, and by her own admission, an accidental one.
She's married to a cowboy she calls the Marlboro Man, and they have four healthy, beautiful children she home-schools on their Oklahoma ranch. She's a photographer and home chef, which she features in her blog, thepioneerwoman.com. That blog and her best-selling cookbook led to Food Network's "The Pioneer Woman," premiering Saturday, Aug. 27.
"I learned to cook because I love to eat," she says. "Cooking was a means to an end. My mother was a very, very good cook. I was interested in cooking, not sewing and craft."
In the pilot, Drummond makes chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes with cream cheese and butter. She's feeding her husband of 15 years, their children ages 7 to 14 and a ranch hand.
Though Drummond, 42, works hard at all she does, her success and how this life came about were not what she had planned. She calls herself an accidental country girl.
"I grew up on a golf course and was the last person anyone could imagine living in the country," she says. "I went to school in California; I lived in L.A. When my friends got wind of the fact that I was planning to marry a rancher and move to the country, my friends cleaned out their ears."
Though Drummond wasn't exactly a farmhand, she did grow up in Oklahoma, so it isn't as if she were seeing cattle for the first time. She fell into writing yet doesn't characterize herself as a writer. She was a prolific letter writer, and blogging was a natural offshoot. Drummond enjoyed taking pictures, so she took a photography class, then taught herself more.
Her blog is pure fun. She has the breezy voice of a girlfriend and the confidence of someone who knows what she's doing. And she credits others whose work she references.
Though Drummond seems nervous in the pilot, it makes her more endearing. This isn't a Hollywood starlet scared because she took a Broadway role she wasn't ready for. This is a mom, a wife, a blogger and photographer who happens to make traditional American food and seems a little self-conscious of the camera, which is fine.
Her food is not for calorie counters. She loves half-and-half, butter and sugar.
"I am all about living," she says. "That's what I tell myself anyway. You don't want to come to my site if you are looking for low-fat recipes."
She keeps her weight down by helping out on the ranch and keeping portions correct.
"If I am not busy wrangling calves, which isn't my strong suit, I am busy wrangling children," Drummond says.
Drummond's authenticity, palpable on the show and in the blog, is obvious during a conversation.
"I am not sure a TV show was the next step," she says. "It was all about the blogging and photographing. I didn't want to be something I wasn't, and I'm not trying to be the next 'Food Network Star' or anything. They (fans) could sense that I was not trying to be anything I am not. It's about our life on the ranch and how food fits into it.
"It's not about fine dining," she says. "When you are working 500 cattle a day, it is about refueling and the comfort of food. My food is very simple, very accessible. The ingredients can be found almost anywhere because that is my plight."
She's married to a cowboy she calls the Marlboro Man, and they have four healthy, beautiful children she home-schools on their Oklahoma ranch. She's a photographer and home chef, which she features in her blog, thepioneerwoman.com. That blog and her best-selling cookbook led to Food Network's "The Pioneer Woman," premiering Saturday, Aug. 27.
"I learned to cook because I love to eat," she says. "Cooking was a means to an end. My mother was a very, very good cook. I was interested in cooking, not sewing and craft."
In the pilot, Drummond makes chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes with cream cheese and butter. She's feeding her husband of 15 years, their children ages 7 to 14 and a ranch hand.
Though Drummond, 42, works hard at all she does, her success and how this life came about were not what she had planned. She calls herself an accidental country girl.
"I grew up on a golf course and was the last person anyone could imagine living in the country," she says. "I went to school in California; I lived in L.A. When my friends got wind of the fact that I was planning to marry a rancher and move to the country, my friends cleaned out their ears."
Though Drummond wasn't exactly a farmhand, she did grow up in Oklahoma, so it isn't as if she were seeing cattle for the first time. She fell into writing yet doesn't characterize herself as a writer. She was a prolific letter writer, and blogging was a natural offshoot. Drummond enjoyed taking pictures, so she took a photography class, then taught herself more.
Her blog is pure fun. She has the breezy voice of a girlfriend and the confidence of someone who knows what she's doing. And she credits others whose work she references.
Though Drummond seems nervous in the pilot, it makes her more endearing. This isn't a Hollywood starlet scared because she took a Broadway role she wasn't ready for. This is a mom, a wife, a blogger and photographer who happens to make traditional American food and seems a little self-conscious of the camera, which is fine.
Her food is not for calorie counters. She loves half-and-half, butter and sugar.
"I am all about living," she says. "That's what I tell myself anyway. You don't want to come to my site if you are looking for low-fat recipes."
She keeps her weight down by helping out on the ranch and keeping portions correct.
"If I am not busy wrangling calves, which isn't my strong suit, I am busy wrangling children," Drummond says.
Drummond's authenticity, palpable on the show and in the blog, is obvious during a conversation.
"I am not sure a TV show was the next step," she says. "It was all about the blogging and photographing. I didn't want to be something I wasn't, and I'm not trying to be the next 'Food Network Star' or anything. They (fans) could sense that I was not trying to be anything I am not. It's about our life on the ranch and how food fits into it.
"It's not about fine dining," she says. "When you are working 500 cattle a day, it is about refueling and the comfort of food. My food is very simple, very accessible. The ingredients can be found almost anywhere because that is my plight."
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