Writings On The Wall

Through my bloggy connections I was introduced to the Pioneer Woman this year and I am hooked!  It is hard to believe someone took to the Internet with their thoughts, recipes, and pictures and now has a successful cookbook, a new book on the way and who knows what else in the coming year.  I could only be so lucky to hit it big that way!
So I asked Santa and his elves to help me out.  Father in law got me the cookbook and my sister in law pre ordered the new book, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.  Two great gifts!
I also tend to purchase something special for myself for Christmas.  There was a pair of Stetson boots that I have WANTED since October.  Tried them on at the FFA Convention, tried them on at the livestock show in Louisville, and looked online numerous times, I just couldn't bring myself to paying that for boots.  So I asked my mom for the money for Christmas to buy the boots, I wouldn't feel bad about it that way.  So December 23rd I thought I better go online and see if they were still available.  Bazinga, there they were on sale at Zappos and free overnight shipping so I would have them on Christmas Eve! 

These are mean boots, the kind of boots that say, "Watch out, these things can put a dent in your toosh!"  So with the books and boots I feel a part of PW (Pioneer Woman) is right here in Indy.  Now I just need a cattle ranch, I'm secretly working on that though, still trying to convince the father in law that he needs to convert from grain to cattle!  I have also gotten the sister in law hooked on PW, after buying me the book and hearing about her, she is hooked on the blog too!

Being on vacation last week I put the cookbook to good use.  We still have a lot of beef in our freezer and I have been stumped with what to do with the "special" cuts.  PW saved the day and here is my best Hunk of Meat entry.  This was the biggest hunk of meat in the freezer!

I had to cut the roast in half so it would fit in the pot!  I have had pot roast before, but this was the best pot roast recipe!


Had to brown the carrots, you can see here, pan was too small!

What sets this cookbook apart from all others is the great step by step photos taken by PW herself.  This is where Betty Crocker falls short!

Here it is before going into the oven.  It looked great and smelled even better.  The house smelled wonderful all day long!  Over the weekend I used the country fried streak recipe, another great one and can't wait to use it again!  This is the Christmas gift that keeps on giving!