Every now and then I like to refer back to a decision I made while remodeling The Lodge a couple of years ago, and examine whether the decision was good, bad, or so-so.
This came to mind yesterday afternoon after I drove up to the Lodge to do some straightening up. We’d used the Lodge for a big meal/cooking extravaganza a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been gradually cleaning whenever I can grab a few moments. Nice approach, eh?
Not, but it’s how I roll.
One of the things I normally do when I straighten up is check the two fridges for leftover food; there’s usually at least a plate or two of leftovers, an almost-empty gallon of expired milk, a tomato losing its vim and vigor, and some kind of cheese that needs to be thrown away…which is why all the dogs on the ranch follow me up to the Lodge when they see that’s where I’m headed. They know a feast of cast-offs is coming their way.
Ranch dogs have stomachs of steel. I know this firsthand.
One thing I’m permanently incapable of adding to my rotation of things to tend to, however, is this small refrigerator drawer on the other, less-used side of the kitchen.
Back when I installed the small fridge (you can read about it here) I explained the high hopes I had for its handiness as a place for baking supplies like eggs, butter, and cream. Since the baking area is on the other side of the kitchen, having a refrigerator drawer in that area would keep people from having to travel around the island to the other refrigerators. Problem solved.
Well, not so fast.
Turns out, because the refrigerator unit was so expertly hidden by integrated cabinet fronts, nobody ever knows it’s there unless I remember to point it out to them. So any butter, eggs, and cream placed in there for use in baking often go unused.
Also, the fridge drawers are so hidden, I even forget they’re there.
Which is what I discovered yesterday afternoon when it occurred to me to check those refrigerator drawers on the other side of the kitchen—those drawers I didn’t remember using for awhile.
It wasn’t pretty. There was milk from May. Eggs from who knows when. A casserole I’d stuck in there one day quite awhile ago, when fridge space was running low. It was fuzzy.
I also discovered a huge bowl of sweet cream I’d made to pour over berries. Back in 1937.
The cream was no longer sweet, that much I can tell you.
I could go on and on. Suffice to say, a potpourri of disturbing scents wafted from the small fridge that once held such high hopes. It reminded me a friend of mine who once installed one of those food warming drawers in her kitchen, then wound up using it as a bread box. Sometimes in our quest to make things handy, we make things too complicated.
But I apologized to my fridge drawer, vowing to start giving it the attention it deserves. I vowed to increase its sense of purpose and never put a casserole in there again. It has forgiven me and today we’re starting anew.
(This is what happens when you live miles from the nearest town. You start talking to appliances.)
Ree Drummond is the founder of The Pioneer Woman and a lover of butter, basset hounds and life on the ranch! Ree started her blog in 2006, and now millions visit ThePioneerWoman.com every month for her trusted recipes and fun family stories. Here’s what she has been up to since it all began:
New York Times Bestselling Author
Ree has written two memoirs (Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, and Frontier Follies) plus nine bestselling cookbooks:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl (2009)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier (2012)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays (2013)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime (2015)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! (2017)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The New Frontier (2019)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Super Easy (2021)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinner’s Ready! (2023)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The Essential Recipes (2025)
Food Network Host
Since 2011, Ree has been sharing simple, family-friendly recipes—and the occasional kitchen prank!—on her award-winning show The Pioneer Woman, filmed right on Drummond Ranch. Ree is also a regular judge on Food Network competitions, including Christmas Cookie Challenge.
Founder, The Pioneer Woman Collection
Ree has been creating and selling kitchen and home products at Walmart since 2015 and she’s involved in designing every piece and pattern. The line now includes best-selling appliances (you have to see the floral blender!), plus hundreds of pieces of cookware, tableware, and more. Ree doesn’t like to play favorites but the Agatha print has a special place in her heart.
Restaurant and Hotel Owner
Together with her husband Ladd, Ree has opened several bustling businesses in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, including The Pioneer Woman Mercantile—a bakery, restaurant, and general store that draws visitors from across the country (many come for the biscuits alone!), P-Town Pizza, Charlie’s Ice Cream Shop, and The Boarding House, a charming hotel with eight different rooms decorated by Ree and Ladd.
Media Personality
Ree appears regularly on national TV shows like Today, Good Morning America and more—all while managing to keep flour off her shirt.
Wife, Mom and…Grandma!
Ree’s kids (daughters Alex and Paige and sons Bryce and Todd) are all grown up, and as of December 2024, Ree is the proud grandma of the cutest baby ever, Sofia Scott, born to Alex and her husband Mauricio. Ree still cooks for Ladd (and the kids when they’re home), and she also looks after a few mischievous ranch dogs.
