The Pioneer Woman

For those of you that don't know me personally, you'd never guess that I was a country girl at heart.

I grew up on a farm north of Spokane, WA and LOVED it. (Shh, don't tell my dad)

Sometimes, I even wish I could throw on some work clothes and go muck horse stalls or cut fire wood, or (gulp) clean chicken pens. (My mom would have a coronary if she knew I said that about the chickens.)
But I do; I miss it.

It's funny, when I was growing up I HATED living on the farm. I hated the chores, and the getting up at the butt crack of dawn to do those chores, and poo... good lord the poo ... (Animals poo a lot... and it seems like even more when you have to clean it up)

Now that I am an adult, I have to admit that I miss all that work. I miss the chorse and the responsibility, I miss getting up and having something to do at the crack of dawn, (but I don't miss all the poo). I miss being in awesome physical shape and not having to really try at it (thanks to all the chores).

Most of all, I miss the food. I miss cooking dinner with my mom and monthly trips to Costco for supplies. I miss baking and even cleaning the kitchen. I miss the slow lifestyle we lived. It seemed we were never in a hurry to go anywhere or do anything.

 We just lived.

Recently, I got a taste of that lifestyle that I miss so much. My friend Emily of Tiny Belles Boutique found and introduced me (via blog) to Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. She is a girl after my own (Farm Missing) heart. Reading The Pioneer Woman Blog has taken me back to all those things that I miss about my childhood, and all the things I didn't even remember I was missing. Thank you both for that.

The Pioneer Woman released a cookbook last year and I can't believe I didn't know about this before. It is perfect! After trying out some of the recipes from her website, I had to go out and buy a copy. I can't wait to get back to the kitchen and start cooking from this book.

I am a long way from returning to a farm or farm work, but if I can have a little taste of home, in my own home, I will take it.

I am no Pioneer Woman, but stay tuned, maybe I'll share :)