I hope you all had a beautiful Easter week! I can’t believe I didn’t check in on Confessions last week; every morning, I would sit down to craft some kind of crazy update, and every morning I would get pulled away by a phone call or a kid or a Merc or a Boarding House or a book signing or a puppy named Henry…and before I knew it, it was Good Friday and I just decided to wait until today.
Thank you loving me through this crazy-busy time in my life.
Burning has been happening on and around the ranch. It’s that time of year! I remarked on Instagram how much I love burning, because it’s such a symbol of what we have to do with ourselves sometimes: Burn away the undesirable things to make room for new growth.
Ahhh…the life lessons on a cattle ranch…
We had a big family dinner at The Merc Saturday night, with steak bites and brisket and platters of all these sides! Alex was home for the weekend, and she walked around and “borrowed” her brothers’ and cousins’ mac and cheese because this single communal cast iron pan wasn’t big enough.
She takes after her mother. Mac and cheese was the only thing I would eat for the first seven years of my life.
This is my favorite cupcake at The Merc. There’s cream underneath the chocolate coating (instead of inside the cupcake, as Hostess does) and I can not control myself when I have one (or nine) in my hand. Should I take it off the cupcake menu, because it is very hazardous to my already-robust love handles.
Never mind. Don’t answer that.
We are going to launch The Boarding House website and open up reservations this week. It has been so much fun getting the final details sewn up and ready! We’ve been photographing the rooms, having some “test guests” to help us identify anything we’re forgetting, and Ladd and I actually watched a movie in one of the rooms the other day. Ha.
I will be showing you final room photos soon, but in the meantime, if you’d like to sign up for our newsletter on our website, you’ll get a sneak peek/head start on reservations; we’ll send out a “We’re Open!” email to our subscribers first.
I can’t wait to show you all the photos. I didn’t take them, so I can tell you that they are gorgeous.
We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Alex was home and her friend Mauricio came with her. Treyvonne was with us, and his brother Kevin joined last night. And yesterday late afternoon, Paige and her cousin Halle took all the boys to see a movie, which left Ladd, Henry, and me. I had a deliciously quiet few hours on the couch watching a documentary about Garry Shandling with Ladd (it’s on HBO; WATCH IT, it’s so amazing) and having a Basset snuggle fest with Henry, aka Uncle Festus. I came down with a cold the middle of March, and it has sort of gone away and come back four thousand times over the past two weeks…so this time of rest was, well…it was delicious.
I wound up having the most restful night of sleep I’ve had in awhile, and this morning I feel like I could climb Mount Everest!
(Or maybe that’s just the coffee…)
Happy Monday, friends!
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.
