Ree Drummond's Pioneer Potluck
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Ree Drummond joins Sid Evans on the latest episode of Biscuits & Jam to discuss growing up in Oklahoma, her biscuit recipe, and holidays with her family.
Get to Know Ree Drummond
Ree Drummond began her blog, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, in 2006, and within no time, she was winning awards for documenting life on her Oklahoma cattle ranch and her adventures in the kitchen. She's since written 20 best-selling books, and for the last ten years, Food Network has aired her incredibly-popular Pioneer Woman TV show, making Ree one of America's most-watched and beloved culinary icons. Her menu leans heavily on meats and comfort foods to keep her husband and five kids happy.
What Ree Drummond Talks About in This Episode
*Biscuit Recipes
*Her Simple Take on Cooking
*Holidays with Her Family
*Her Husband's Taste of Food
*Her Mix of Midwest and Southern Cooking
*Life in Pawhuska
Quotes from Ree Drummond
"Well, I have one that I used to make—that my mom made growing up, and it's just a traditional, roll out the dough, cut it with a glass or a biscuit cutter, and it's good. But now I make a little bit more of a drop biscuit that, (A.) is easier because it skips the step of having to roll; and (B.) it's a little bit better. No disrespect to my mom, but I love the craggy surface of a drop biscuit. And so, to me, it just works with my life. You just kind of stir it together and plop it onto a sheet pan and bake without having to go through the step of rolling and cutting. And in terms of the recipe, I just kept adding more butter until it was right."
"I had three siblings and we had a pretty busy house. My mom cooked dinner, basically every weeknight. And I still remember all of those dinners. Just sitting down. The kitchen had an electric stove with six burners and a microwave that was about the size of my closet. You know, microwaves used to be very large… Our countertops were black formica, which was kind of edgy. And then an entire wall of the island of the hood was cork and so my mom stuck things on there, pictures of us and newspaper clippings, and recipes from her friends."
"We were pretty similar to how we are now around the holidays, it's very much just our immediate family, my father-in-law, my husband's brother and his family. We don't have huge crowds or huge gatherings. And I think that's part of why I love the holidays so much. It's time to unwind a little bit. It's not a time where we want to work extra hard. My husband and his brother are ranchers and it's pretty much a 365 day a year enterprise, where they can never really take their eye off the ball. With the exception of Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, where they really do feel like they can kick their boots off, literally and figuratively, and just enjoy not having to go feed the cattle – unless there's a blizzard. And that has happened before. So I kind of take my cues from that. And I don't want to get the household up in an uproar over a big, elegant, huge gathering. We wear jeans and go to midnight mass, which is actually at 6 p.m. in our small town, but holidays to me are about relaxing and eating."
"I love a church potluck. I just think church ladies are the best cooks, whether they're Midwestern or Southern. And so I think the types of recipes that I know resonate with people in the South, who have followed my show, are the ones that you would put on the dessert table at a church potluck that aren't afraid to use a graham cracker crust or sometimes Cool Whip. I mean, I'm not a food snob. Especially, if you mix Cool Whip with vanilla pudding, and if it's instant pudding, even better. Like, some of those concoctions are, you know, just so bad they're good."
—-Ree Drummond
About Biscuits & Jam
In the South, talking about food is personal. It's a way of sharing your history, your family, your culture, and yourself. Each week Sid Evans, editor in chief of Southern Living, sits down with celebrity musicians to hear stories of how they grew up, what inspired them, and how they've been shaped by Southern culture. Sid takes us back to some of their most cherished memories and traditions, the family meals they still think about, and their favorite places to eat on the road.
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Stitcher.
Get a transcript of the full interview with Ree Drummond.
