A Tale of Two Pioneer Women - Part 2
May 14, 2009 
To read 'A Tale of Two Pioneer Women - Part 1' click here.
Our day began with introductions and a tasty meal, prepared by Ree, of some of what happened to be my favorite things: beef tenderloin, spicy peanut pasta salad, roasted asparagus and the yummy punch pictured above.
I love beef tenderloin (who doesn't?). I love anything slathered in an asian peanut butter sauce. I love just about any vegetable that is roasted. And I love raspberries, in punch form or otherwise.
Unfortunately, I was so engrossed in eating and talking and feeding Miss Peaches that I forgot to take pictures of the food (except the punch, obviously). That's the bad news. But don't worry, there's good news. Ree has a cooking section on her website and she took pictures and chronicled how she prepared everything and it tells the whole story of lunch way better than I ever could, so all you have to do is go here to check it out!
Oh, that Ree. She's thorough like that.
I did manage to get a picture of all of the winners and friends that they invited while enjoying the good food and company at the dinner table. At this point I have to say that I just feel like a total snob (an unwilling snob, but a snob, nonetheless) in that I STILL haven't had a chance to check out their websites as much as I would like to. If I ever wrap up my own version of this story and get our moving situation under control, I'm going to make it a point to hop on over to their blogs and say a belated, "Hello."
In the meantime, to make up for my snobbery, I thought the very least I could do was leave my readers a link to their sites, so that you might make up for my neglect and give them a little blog love. As far as I know, these are the guests who left links to their own blogs...
Alisa (I love her name) - That's Life Enjoy It
Kristie (I love her hair) - Not Quite What I Had Planned
Shea (I also love her name) - A California Girl in Kansas
Tyler (he was a really nice guy, and also had a nice name and nice hair) - TylerStalder.com
Last, but not least, my niece Marigold (er, I mean Maesa) who brought me along on this adventure...
Maesa (I love her name too, but I'm still going to call her Marigold from now on) - Maesa Design
Oh, lunch was so good. Just writing about those spicy peanut noodles is giving me a hankering for them, something fierce.
Somewhere amid all the chatter and chewing, Hyacinth appeared. Hyacinth is not socially inept. She is socially... ept. Capable. Friendly. Engaging. She was sort of like the 'Oprah' of the day... Moderating, asking the questions that everybody wanted to know, keeping things flowing. Here's a picture of Hyacinth and Marigold talking...
I'm pretty sure they were discussing how their best friends like to call them by the names of flowers instead of their real names, or how much they both enjoyed birthing their babies at home. They had a lot of things in common.
Here is a picture of Ree's oldest daughter telling the story of how her uncle, Pesky Tim, just moments before threw her in the pond, and how in that pond there was a water snake. Then I heard something else about finding more water snakes.
As in water moccasins.
As in, not just a freaky snake, but a snake that slithers on both land and water, and is poisonous.
Shiver.
I have a bit of a snake phobia, so the thought of being in the vicinity of water moccasins gives me the willies.
Fortunately, it appears that Ree's oldest is much braver than I on that front. She's one tough ranch girl.
As you can see, the food and the company alike were wonderful. Once we finished up, it was time for Deb to begin her cooking demonstrations...
It was a carb-intensive day. She made big crumb coffee cake with rhubarb filling...
Black bread...
And homemade (duh) soft pretzels...
I honestly can't tell you which one I liked the best, as they ALL were so good. What I especially enjoyed about the demonstrations was that Deb shared not only the recipes, but various techniques for different things, such as how to form the bread into a loaf and how to roll out the pretzels. It was very informative.
I also enjoyed watching her navigate Ree's massive kitchen, which was just a tad larger than the New York City apartment kitchen that she has become so accustomed to working in. Here's Deb traversing the meadow that lies between the main island and the baking area...
And here she is ten minutes later, still making the journey...
O.k., maybe I exaggerate a bit. In actuality, she did amazing well, especially for a pregnant woman who spent a large portion of the afternoon on her feet. I wanted to tell her to drink some water, sit down and put her feet up, but I knew better. If you've ever been pregnant, you know that sometimes pregnant women don't take kindly to being told what to do. At least I didn't.
She was a trooper, especially considering that not only did she have an audience to deal with and had traveled the day before, but also had the blogger paparazzi photographing her every move...
Let me tell ya', she can cook and talk and demonstrate with the best of 'em.
Coming soon: Miss Peaches take on things and how the drive home got just a little bit too 'wizard-of-oz-ish' in Kansas. (Let's just say that I'm glad no one dropped a house on me.)
Reader Comments (6)
Wow. I complain all the time that my kitchen is too small. PW's is an expanse! So rustic and beautiful and functional and perfect. You are such a lucky girl. : )
Can't wait to hear more.
Laura, I just loved reading all about your adventure and wonderful day with PW! I was cracking up at all the photographers snapping shots of the cooking events! hehe! Talk about paparazzi! I feel bad that I have been such an absent commenter. I promise, I have been visiting and reading (and missing your blog when your computer was down!) Scouts honor! Can't wait to read about Miss Peaches' adventures too. Hope you and your little family are all getting settled!
Love the pictures and the commentary. You are awesome and I hope you are having fun remembering the fun you had there!
I havte gone to Ree's cooking site and checked out the photage and went to Smitten Kitchen's too.
Sounds like your little Miss Peaches was a little doll
Oh my! That Crumb cake looks so good! I can just imagine all the chatting and laughing and talking going on! And lets not forget the smells! I bet all those bread items smelled so yummy. Looking forward to the next installment....
I bet everyone did feel a little like they were getting hounded by the paparazzi! :) I will check out the other sites too, thanks for the links!
love it!
ps. PW linked me again - I knew the Odell's beer would get some blog face time! oh, and she called me her friend/visitor.... sigh....