It has been 2 years?

Happy Anniversary, Babe! Thanks for a great 2 8 years.

Love you. While this posts, we will be enjoying a lovely weekend in the mountains. Can't wait!

Home on the Range

Pioneer Woman - Free Downloads

So, I bet most of you guys have probably heard of the Pioneer Woman, also known as Ree. If not, then you are in for a treat when you click that link. Basically, she is a city gal, born and raised, who met a cowboy, fell in love, and moved to a ranch. Now she is a super-famous (and quite witty) blogger, fantastic photographer, and scrumptious cook.

She is incredibly inspiring, to say the least. Let me steer you toward her love story. It is hilarious in addition to being quite sweet.

She has yummy, self-tested recipes on her site. It is really great for the baking/cooking neophyte, because she painstakingly walks through each step of every recipe, with photos. If you are impatient like me, you can skip to the end and click through to the printable recipe (that prints recipe card size, I might add). My only tip is to make sure you at least read through the step-by-step, because she isn't as detailed on the recipe cards so you might have to make your own notes.

Here are the recipes I have tried so far. They are so amazing, they became part of my repertoire instantly:

The best frosting (I put it on Martha's one-bowl chocolate cupcakes)
Macaroni (best I've ever made - I used aged cheddar and gruyere cheeses)
Oven-Roasted Asparagus (kicks steaming's ass)
Petite Vanilla Bean Scones (better than Starbucks)

In addition to cooking and blogging, I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful her photos are. Plus, she has helpful, free tutorials and downloads. Score.

Enjoy. You're welcome.