It is amazing to see what Ree Drummond has created since beginning her blog Confesssions of a Pioneer Woman, http://thepioneerwoman.com. This blog is a treat for the eyes, a wonderful, professionally arranged resource and has grown into a jumping off point for more and more topics for Ree to write about. These include her now regular columns on photography, giving advice, and homeschooling besides her cooking and recipes which I think is what started it all. The family dog has even gotten in on the act and now is featured in a series of children's books. As a result, Ree has been a guest on many t.v. shows and these days is hosting her own cooking show, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, on The Food Network which is a favourite of my mother's. I've watched her become more comfortable in those on-air roles and you can check her out yourself on Youtube.
Ree also has a number of cookbooks in print and I have enjoyed looking at all of them. This one, A Year of Holidays, is arranged according to the major celebrations in a calendar year. Typical of her blog and books is the very beautiful, vivid photographs which you find in this book also. As well, she writes little vignettes about her family and life on the ranch and background about the 140 recipes she has included.
One thing I really love is the way she photographs each step of a recipe. You really can't go wrong.
I think this would be a wonderful cookbook for anyone beginning to learn to cook. It is available from Amazon.com for about $20. I borrowed this copy from the library and I could see it was a well used edition; I'm thinking a very popular check-out. I copied out several of the recipes including her versions of Caesar Salad and potato salad. I know the recipes would be mostly considered home-style, nothing particularly gourmet or dietetic, and perhaps a little simplistic by some folks standards. Not mine! And perhaps that is its charm and why it is one of the best sellers in the cookbook world.
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