Dear Pioneer Woman

Dear Ree,

So I have your cookbook. It is adorable - beautiful photos and colors. I love a cookbook I can read while eating lunch. Every cookbook should have bright photos - perhaps not of cow manure, but whatever.

I've tried two of your recipes. The Chocolate Sheet Cake was so good. I had never made a sheet cake, but the warm icing alone was enough to make me a happy convert. The downside? This cake is way to easy to nibble on all day long because it makes a lot of cake. I started handing it out to the daycare parents as they arrived to pick up their kids. The second time I made this recipe, it flopped. Perhaps because I did not use buttermilk? I told the kids they were brownies and ended up throwing away half the pan.


This week I made the meatloaf. I made one for us and another to give away.

I'm not sold on the meatloaf. Maybe I don't like meatloaf? Calvin and Sophie ate it the first night and Max gagged but Calvin has refused to eat it for lunch. Two out of three daycare kids turned their noses up when I served it to them for lunch today. Is it the green flecks of fresh parsley or just that is has a weird flavor?

I think I like my Mom's meatloaf. Maybe I'll ask her to make some when she is here so I can compare.

So Pioneer Woman, my review of your cookbook is up in the air. I give you high marks for a pretty book but including a recipe for birds in a nest (eggs in a hole) is a bit silly really. Sorry. I'll try a few more recipes and get back to you.