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Smartypants Quiz – Chicago Edition: Enter Now!

Ree Drummond — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:01:32 +0000

Without further ado, here is the CHICAGO Smartypants Quiz. Winners and answers will be announced Saturday morning. (Thank you for being patient through my traveling internet woes this morning!)

1. On what date did the Great Chicago Fire begin?

2. True or False:

The Great Chicago Fire was started when a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O’Leary

3. What is the name used to describe the events of February 14, 1929—events that contributed to a decline in public opinion for Al Capone and caused the Feds to keep a closer watch on his activities?

4. Which of the four main areas of Chicago is home of University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry?

5. Which of the three founders of the Steppenwolf Theater Company starred with Tom Hanks in Apollo 13?

6. What Chicago restaurant invented the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza?

7. Name the respective sports of the following Chicago teams:

a) Chicago Steel
b) Chicago Cubs
c) Chicago Machine
d) Chicago Fire

8. What year did The Oprah Winfrey Show begin airing nationally?

9. Who is the artist of this painting, which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago?

Ready, set, GO!

(Answers will be hidden for the duration of the quiz. You will be able to see your own answers after you submit, but no one else will!)

The Road Rage is Here

Ree Drummond — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:09:07 +0000

Sometimes it’s just unavoidable: we have to drive cattle down the road.

Unfortunately, there are people on this earth who actually want to drive down this same road. It takes them where they need to go, you see.

Roads are funny that way.

Some of them just can’t handle the wait. They have things to do. People to see. Places to go.

And cows ain’t a part of it.

These are the times I love my telephoto lens.

I like to watch the fun unfold.

Call me ornery.

You can almost smell the road rage in the air.

I lived in L.A. I know road rage when I see it.

All the while, the cowboys go about their duties, largely unaware of the anger building in the air.

Cowboys don’t understand road rage. If cattle need to be taken down the road, you take them down the road. There’s nothing so important that can’t wait until the cattle get down the road. If you’re so enslaved to your schedule that you come unglued over a five minute delay, you need to spend more time whittling on the porch in the evenings.

This is what civilians think of that approach.

I probably fall into the civilian category. The road rage is still very present.

Believe it or not, It moderately blows my mind when the cowboys do this. “Those people need to go to work!” I think to myself as I watch it all unfold through the relative sanctity of my telephoto lens. “This is RIDICULOUS!”

“Can’t they move the cattle on their OWN time?”

“Can’t they take the LONG way to the other pasture? Like, through Louisiana or something?”

The road rage is here.

Poor Josh. He has no idea of the flames of fury that burn behind him.

The cattle don’t know, either.

Or if they know…they don’t so much care.

“It’s good to be the king.”

“‘At’s right. We’re bad.”

Hey—cut that out! That’s no way for a king to behave!

Sorry.

It happens sometimes.

Hotel Room Tour – The Four Seasons, St. Louis

Ree Drummond — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:50:21 +0000

We’ve stayed in some nice rooms along the way. But in St. Louis, we hit the motherlode.

I’d reserved a standard one bedroom suite at the Four Seasons in St. Louis. Marlboro Man and I had never stayed in a Four Seasons before, and because it was by the water with a view of the Gateway Arch, we decided it would be worth it. As I’ve tried to do with a lot of our hotel reservations, I prepaid for the room in full. Remember I said that in a moment.

When we arrived at the hotel, I went in to check in and decided since our experience in Kansas City had been a good one, I’d work up the nerve to ask for an upgrade again. I was still a little squeamish about it, but figured it couldn’t hurt as long as I was prepared to hear “no” as the answer, which I was.

And here’s what happened:

“I’m here to check in,” I said.

“Last name, please?” the young man at the front desk asked.

“Drummond,” I replied.

Click-click-click.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “It appears that your room has been upgraded at no charge; you’re now in a much larger suite than you’d reserved.”

Wait. What?

“Oh…okay,” I said. I hadn’t asked for an upgrade. What just happened?

He gave me the keys and as I was walking upstairs with Marlboro Man I said, “Well…I got us a really good upgrade!”

Snicker snicker.

Then we walked in.

Honey? I’m home.

Cancel everything through Christmas.

I’m not leaving.

“Wow,” Marlboro Man said. “What did you say to him?”

“Oh, I just told him that if he knew what was good for him, he’d give me the sweetest room in the hotel,” I answered.

“No, really,” Marlboro Man said. “Did you just ask for an upgrade and that’s it?”

So then I had to come clean. I’d had nothing to do with this.

Then my curiosity got the better of me. I called down to the front desk and asked for the nice boy who’d checked me in earlier. Once he was on the phone, I confessed to him that I was all prepared to grovel for an upgrade, so it had taken me by surprise that an upgrade had already been put through.

“I’m just curious,” I asked. “Can you tell me the reason the room was upgraded?” Not that I was complaining.

He explained that the hotel had oversold/over-reserved the kind of room I’d reserved, and that they appreciate customers who pre-pay for their reservations. So they simply upgraded the reservations of those who’d prepaid.

All I can say is, I’ll take it.

This was the most aesthetically pleasing hotel room I’ve ever been in. And we only got to stay for one night.

TRAVESTY!

This is it. This is home.

Oh my

The hotel just finished construction in 2008, which explains the very well-planned rooms and bathrooms. Out of this world.

The closet. Oh my.

I’m in love with this hotel. It was so comfortable, spacious, sleek, and beautiful…

And the view was out of this world.

Here are some peeks at different areas around the hotel.

An area in the lobby.

A restaurant/bar area…

The view past the bar. I love the arch.

An outdoor fireplace area. Toasty!

An uncommonly gorgeous pool.

And here’s Marlboro Man’s workout room.

Not that this applies to me whatsoever.

And here’s the area near the spa. Striking!

The Moral of the Story: if you don’t mind your plans being inflexible, prepay for your hotel reservations whenever possible. You’ll save money in the long run…

And occasionally, you might get really lucky!

Next up: Chicago!

(Hint: there will be no upgrade involved.)

Smartypants St. Louis Winners

Ree Drummond — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:35:04 +0000

Here are the answer winners of the Smartypants St. Louis quiz. Great job, everyone!

NOTE: Smartypants Chicago Edition will begin at 12:00 am Central Time Friday! (Traveling from Chicago to Minneapolis; internet connection has prevented my posting quiz. My apologies!)

1. Which two notable world events were held in St. Louis in 1904?

ANSWER: The World’s Fair and the Olympic Games

2. Who was president of the United States when St. Louis was acquired from the French in the Louisiana Purchase?

ANSWER: Thomas Jefferson

3. True or False:

The Gateway Arch is the tallest monument in the United States.

ANSWER: True

4. What was the name of The Gateway Arch architect who died from a brain tumor four years before it was completed?

ANSWER: Eero Saarinen

5. Who founded The St. Louis Post Dispatch in the 1800’s?

ANSWER: Joseph Pulitzer

6. Which airline calls Lambert-St. Louis its fourth largest hub in the United States?

ANSWER: American Airlines

7. Which St. Louis-based brewery was purchased by a Belgian company in 2008?

ANSWER: Anheuser-Busch

8. What St. Louis native is described by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in these terms:

“While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, (he) comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together.”

ANSWER: Chuck Berry

9. Which St. Louis museum bills itself as an “eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel”?

ANSWER: City Museum

10. According to the United States Census Bureau, St. Louis has a total area of how many square miles?

a) 56.2
b) 66.2
c) 76.2
d) 86.2

ANSWER: b) 66.2

THE WINNERS

The first person to correctly answer all questions was…#2 Marc. Great job, Marc!

The second person to correctly answer all questions was…#3 Becky. Yay, Becky!

The following three randomly selected players answer all questions correctly and win the runner-up prize:

#388 Julie
#802 Becca D.
#946 Vanessa

Congrats, winners! Contact prizes@thepioneerwoman.com to claim your loot!

Roasted Carrots, by Pastor Ryan

Ree Drummond — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:31:38 +0000

We’ve all heard the myth that eating lots of carrots can give you super-strength eyesight, but did you know that it’s mostly true? Low levels of Vitamin A in our diets can cause poor eyesight. Carrots are rich in Vitamin A. Turn up your carrot intake and you just might see the quality of your seeing ability increase. Don’t go overboard eating carrots though or your skin could turn orange…I’m serious!

This recipe might just have a new record for lack of ingredients needed. Fresh Carrots and Fresh Thyme. With their powers combined, they’re unstoppable. We’ll also need some of this magical elixir:

12 Carrots

1 Handful of Fresh Thyme

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

This should be just enough to fill up a baking sheet pan. Also, enough for 6-8 people.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and take a look at this photo below as it illustrates several points:

#1 — Never, ever paint your entire kitchen red if you plan to photograph orange-colored foods. It’s just a horrible idea overall.

#2 — You need to cut the tops off of your carrots. Why? Because your carrot is a vase that contains water. If your carrot still has the pretty, leafy top attached to it, you’re losing water! Although they’re beautiful and organic-looking, those leafy tops will cause you to have a dry, rubbery carrot devoid of the moisture that you want in it. So get rid of em’! The carrots will stay fresh far longer without the tops.

#3 — Carrots are not uniform in size. To help things cook evenly, we’ll need to cut these carrots into a uniform size for even cooking. This will prevent some carrots from being too crunchy and some from being too mushy.

I like to split mine down the middle like this:

There is no need to peel your carrots ~~if you’re lazy like me~~ as long as you wash them well.

Once you’ve split your carrots down the middle into similar sizes, you can lay them out on a sheet pan and drizzle them with olive oil.

Give them all a toss to make sure they get coated…

And now for our flavor punch treatment — fresh thyme! Grab your handful and pinch those tiny leaves off of the sprigs. It’s easiest if you pinch your fingers near the top of the stems and pull backwards.

Thyme. What an excellent herb. Plays well with others, and fills your kitchen with an incredible aroma.

Once you’ve seasoned your carrots with the fresh thyme, it should be a given that a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper come next.

Arrange the seasoned carrots onto your sheet pan in whatever obsessive compulsive manner you feel comfortable with and slide them into a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

Once you get these roasted carrots out of the oven, they should be soft, wrinkly, and delicious. You’ll notice right away how naturally sweet they’ve become, and you’ll crave carrots cooked this way from now on — pinky swear.

Fancy things up a little bit by adding some fresh chopped green onions if’n you feel like it.

I wish you could smell these. I really do. You should make them.

Consider the humble carrot. It’s roots are packed with Vitamin A, dietary fiber, and lots of antioxidants. More importantly than that of course, is that they taste pretty stinking great.

Love Wins,

Ryan

www.thisisreverb.com

www.twitter.com/detzelpretzel

Hump Day Winners!

Ree Drummond — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:02 +0000

Here are the winners of yesterday’s Hump Day mixer (and cookbook) giveaway:

MIXER:

Winner #1 – #83 Kari in Atlanta (early number this time!)

Winner #2 – #4966 Memoria

Winner #3 – #19799 Mistergee

COOKBOOK WINNERS:

#1202 Brian Heyer
#1543 Sam
#2063 Maria from Madison
#2370 Alyssa Ivy
#3897 Craig
#5603 Kim
#6675 Susan Samson
#7845 Olivia
#8378 Stephanie Nichols
#10847 Darlene
#14724 Hannah
#19956 Jasmine
#21225 Winker
#22167 Missy
#23031 Cosmo’s Dad
#26877 Christina Copitzky
#28685 Karen Y.
#28695 Amanda Nix
#30003 Dottie
#30404 Arwynn
#30438 Teacherjos
#30894 Christine F.
#32803 Beth Hartman
#33848 Terese
#34002 Typelittlea

Congrats, winners! Contact prizes@thepioneerwoman.com to claim your loot.

Thank you to everyone who entered! I’ll be having a fun cooking giveaway (good loot from CHEFS Catalog) over the weekend…great stuff!

His Element

Ree Drummond — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:27:09 +0000

We worked cattle right before we left, and I brought these photos along with me.

I miss the ranch, but the trip is going really well. My oldest boy is having fun checking in and out of hotels, riding escalators and elevators, and eating in restaurants.

But this…this is his element.

Sitting behind the wheel of a 1,200 pound animal. For my curly-haired blond whippersnapper, life doesn’t get any better than that.

And if I start to get rattled on this trip when he gives his brother a roundhouse kick in the hotel lobby…or breaks into a lope down Michigan Avenue…or conducts a UFC match in front of the folks at the book signing in Kansas City…

Or does things like this…

I just have to remind myself that he’s a boy.

That he’s young.

That he’s a little bit out of his element.

And that he just misses his horse.

Everything’s Up to Date

Ree Drummond — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:13:25 +0000

Kansas City was wonderful.

A local independent bookseller, Rainy Day Books, organized two signings there, which meant I had to rein in my agoraphobic tendencies twice in the same 24-hour period. In addition, I had to take two showers, apply deodorant two times, and try twice as hard not to poke out my eye with my Pat Benatar black eyeliner since I wear so much of it these days.

Gosh, do I ever love black eyeliner.

The first signing was at Will Wyatt’s Cowboy Couture, a ridiculously dangerous store for anyone who even remotely likes cowboy and cowgirl clothes, boots, or accessories. If I hadn’t been shy and felt the need to dart violently back to the hotel the second the signing was over, I might have spent my life savings there.

All 77 cents of it.

But seriously, the stuff was sickeningly cute. The boots were calling me from across the room.

“Ree…Ree…” they whispered seductively. “You don’t have enough boots…Ree…Ree…”

BEGONE, SATAN!

I was so happy to see Michelle, who knew me back in my hometown when I was a freckly, dumb little redhead with sunbleached eyebrows and an unnatural obsession with Gilligan. Hi, Michelle!

Why am I always looking at the wrong camera?

I think Gilligan fried my brain.

And this sweet girl’s friend wanted to come, but she’s been suffering with an illness and couldn’t make it. I passed along a hug.

Then my bracelet got caught on her sweater and I think I snagged a thread.

My face felt hot.

They brought me doughnuts and I love them forever. Hi, girls!

That’s my hair. You can’t see my roots, but I need to get them done, STAT. I need Chicago hair color recommendations before my roots have a nervous breakdown and decide to break free from their follicles and fall on the floor. And see that cameraman? He’s from the Discovery Channel, and he’s there filming a documentary about women who have bulging Angelina Jolie-style veins on their hands. Notice where his camera is pointed.

Why do hands get veiny?

My hands are very veiny. My daughter holds my hand in church and presses on my veins. It’s very demoralizing.

I would like to repeat the following announcement:

“If you come to meet me on my Griswold-Style Book Trip, please do not bring your baby. My hormones surge and I spiral downward and before too long I’m picking out baby names for the baby I immediately start planning to conceive that night.”

Please. For my sake.

Please.

Grew up with her. Went to school with her. Called her by her maiden name.

Cute girls!

Not me. Them.

Cute girls!

Not me. Them.

That’s a great pose, Ree. A winner. You need to make that your signature arm-on-the-desk maneuver for the rest of the book trip. And cute girls!

Not me. Them.

She drove. From Nebraska. Through a snowstorm, though I don’t think she knew there’d be a snowstorm when she left her house that morning.

But it makes me feel better about myself to imagine someone driving through a blinding snowstorm to see me. When I was a young girl, I used to lie awake at night thinking how wonderful it would be if someone drove through a snowstorm for me.

It’s just that my mom. Had a baby. When I was five. And it knocked. Me out. Of my. Baby position. Forever.

And now. Enough of me and my neuroses.

That’s is Vivien from Rainy Day Books on the right…and that sweet woman? That sweet woman beside me is DREW’S MOM.

Drew.

Do you remember Drew? As in, Drew and Randall? The couple that…

The kids that…

Oh, never mind. it would take too long.

You can read it here if you missed it.

_____________________________

(More Kansas City coming up in a bit, with lots of KC blogger links.)

Wishing We’d Worked on Penmanship Skills

Ree Drummond — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:35:21 +0000

This was an unexpected development.

Had I known my boys’ penmanship would come into play on this book trip, I might’ve spent a few weeks drilling before we left.

But at least I can tell myself the following:

1. They’re boys.
2. They don’t have much practice writing with Sharpies.
3. We don’t generally practice handwriting with the books balanced on their knees.
4. Their hands were cold from the near-freezing temperature outside.
5. They have arthur-itis.
6. They were nervous.
7. They’d had too much coffee and were shaking.
8. They’re boys.

Anything to make me feel better about our homeschooling progress.

Amen.

(Lengthy update coming later this morning. Warning: it involves blood, sweat, tears, sex, drugs (well, Advil), rock-and-roll, and a purple velvet Prince jacket.)

(I haven’t figured out how to type that Artist Formerly Known As symbol. I don’t think my keyboard is capable of those characters.)

What To Do at Night?

Ree Drummond — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:13:57 +0000

This is a question I get often.

What do I do when I have to shoot in the gym and what do I do at the football field at night?

Last week I had the opportunity to shoot outside in the dark at a flag football game in the Windy City.

Under the lights.

With the L clickity clacking by every five minutes.

And the wind that was blowing was a warm one.

And Emma was there.

It was a great night.

I had the perfect opportunity to experiment and see what I felt would work best.

Here’s what I discovered:

Give your flash a try.

(But read your manual first. I did not and I was pushing buttons in my menu willy-nilly. It shows.)

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Flash: On, Return not detected

If I got a nice shot with the flash on, it was just luck!

But for heavens sake, if you know how to use your flash, use it with wild abandon at night.

Why not?

If you are not happy with your camera’s flash or do not know how to use it, bump up your ISO.

In the days of film, you would have gone to the store and bought some 1000 ISO film. Now, you just change your camera’s settings.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Flash: No Flash

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 2000
Flash: No Flash

It is all about the ISO.

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 2000

I have my camera on spot metering and my camera is pointing right on her face.

“Find the light, Katie,” I shouted.

And she did.

As winter approaches here in the Northern Hemisphere, the time I have with my Katie during daylight hours is very short.

Never fear, I say. Higher ISO’s are here to save the day!

Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1000

This is just window light at four in the afternoon. I’m so happy I gave it a try, I love the light in this picture.

I am feeling more and more confident to move that ISO button on my camera.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Give it a whirl!

Encourage one another,
Donna

Smartypants Quiz – St. Louis Edition!

Ree Drummond — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:06:48 +0000

Time for the St. Louis Smartypants quiz! Enter your answers in the Comments section of this post. You can DO eet!

THE PRIZES:

The first person to correctly answer all questions will receive a $250 Amazon.com gift card. Woohoo!

The second person to correctly answer all questions will receive a $150 Amazon.com gift card. Yippee!

Three randomly selected players who correctly answer all questions will each receive a $75 Amazon.com gift card. Yahoo!

NOTE: I will hide answers until the end of the quiz today at 6:00 Central Time.

Winners and answers will be announced THURSDAY morning.

Go for it, darlings!