Greetings from the ranch, where the cows think they own the place!
Things have been very exciting in deli/bakery testing land. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to achieve the perfect sugar cookie?
I’ve made lots of sugar cookies in my life. Some were grody. Some were absolutely delicious. But perfect? That’s a tough one!
But durnit if we’re not getting pretty close.
And sing it with me: CH-CH-CH-CHERRY PIE!
This was delicious! But we’re still tweaking the cherries.
When I look at this picture, I break into that song: “Ba-boo-meringue-rang-rang.”
Food makes me sing.
I was most definitely singing in New York last week when I had a couple of these mini doughnuts. They were freshly fried (alliteration alert) and were out-of-this-world tasty!
And dangerous. When you have a bunch of mini doughnuts in front of you, you start to think “I can eat several!”
Life is a journey.
In other news, I actually ran out of eggs last week. Ran out. Of. Eggs. It was highly upsetting to my soul and to the souls of those who had their hearts set on eggs-in-the-hole. So I pitched a fit and bought this box.
I pitch fits sometimes.
I’m trying to decide whether to add an awning to the deli entrance of the building (the entrance smack dab in the center of the photo), just to dress it up a bit (our vertical blade sign will be on the corner of The Merc, but I didn’t want this side to be too plain.) And if I add an awning, should it cover only the entrance/door, or should it also cover the runs of windows on either side of the door?
And should it be solid or striped?
And should it be retractable or not?
Let me know if you have thoughts. My brain has stopped working, and I’d probably better make a decision sometime in the next thirty years!
Or thirty days.
We had to decide on a stain color for the Merc cabinets last week. It was tough because the brick casts such a red tone on everything, and we didn’t want things to be too red. So we had a 9,001-hour discussion about that.
I’m excited about this! It’ll be at The Merc.
Picking out the to-go containers for the deli was a job I wasn’t emotionally prepared for. There are way too many choices, and you start to tell yourself that there is only one right choice, so you start searching for the impossible.
And then you realize you’ve spent hours thinking about to-go food containers and you laugh at what your sixteen-year-old self would say if they could see you.
And then you tell your sixteen-year-old self to take her size six jeans and scram.
In related news, I love anything scalloped. The end.
More updates tomorrow! I’m going to take pictures of the progress today.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
Love,
P-Widdle-Diddy-Dub-Diddle-Diddle-Do
(I think that one’s a first.)
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.
