I saw this sunset outside my kitchen window the other night, and as I’m wont to do whenever I see a dramatic sunset in progress, I dropped everything I was doing, grabbed my camera, and ran outside.
Unfortunately, I was making dinner at the time.
“Watch the tenderloin!” I yelled to Marlboro Man. It was in the oven on 475, sizzling and roasting away. There was no room for error.
“Watch the potatoes!” I yelled to my older daughter. They were diced and peeled and bubbling away in a huge pot of boiling water. I didn’t want them to get mealy.
“Watch your brothers!” I yelled to my younger daughter. They had on their UFC fighting gear Marlboro Man had gotten them for Christmas. There’s no telling what could have gone wrong.
As I swung open our back door and ran out of the house, I heard Marlboro Man ask the girls “Will she…will she be back?”
“We don’t know, Daddy,” they replied. “We don’t know.”
The sunset was beautiful at our house, but I couldn’t get a clear shot of the sky without barns and trees. So I hopped in my car and sped down the road a mile, across the second cattle guard, where the view is wide and wonderful.
When you live in the country, you can take photos while you’re driving.
It’s a farm law.
In my mind.
Here’s what the view looks like from down the road. No signs of civilization. No indication of the current decade or century. Just the sky and the dark ground below. It’s heaven. Sheer heaven. To stand there underneath such an enormous sky full of beauty and wonder and power and hugeness.
It makes one feel very, very small.
But in a good way.
Speaking of feeling very, very small, I’ve exercised every day since Christmas. For the first four days, it only made me hungrier. Ravenously so. To the point that I started formulating conspiracy theories in my head that involved food companies manufacturing the whole diet-and-exercise crazy for the sole purpose of increasing people’s appetites and selling more of their product.
But now my appetite is beginning to decrease, the benefits of daily exercise are starting to kick in, and my conspiracy theories (at least the ones related to food companies manufacturing crazes) are beginning to subside in favor of common sense and basic nutritional and physiological logic. I’m feeling better every day, and I’m seeing fewer and fewer of those big purple men running through the living room at night.
Oh…I’ve never mentioned the purple men before?
Sorry. Never mind. Forget I said anything.
Pioneer Woman
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.
