Today's Thanksgiving casserole recipe: A hearty casserole, layers of nutty wild rice and crisp broccoli held together with a gorgeous Mushroom Cream Sauce that's packed with vegetables, including the broccoli stalks. No cheese! So once upon a time, Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman was just another blogger / food blogger. But back in 2008 I guess it was, maybe 2007, I was part of a food-blog panel at the annual BlogHer conference. During the Q&A, Ree stood to ask a question and the entire room audibly gasped – gasped! – realizing that Pioneer Woman was in the room. A year or two later, we were back at BlogHer and in the hotel lobby, I introduced myself: Ree was kind to say with a grin, "Of course I remember you, Alanna ..." Now of course, Ree Drummond is a genuine celebrity and The Pioneer Woman has spun off three cookbooks, a show on the Food Network, maybe an upcoming movie too? and legions of fans. Fame and fortune are great but some times I wonder, really, if Ree likes her life better now than before or if it's just a wave she rides, like the rest of us if on another scale, gathering resources to put kids and grandkids through school.
Ree's latest cookbook is my favorite of three so far, Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays. It's organized by holiday, New Years, Valentines, etc. and feels personal, intimate and imperceptibly but charmingly imperfect, the way all our holiday gatherings are fraught with things-gone-wrong. I've bookmarked a dozen recipes but given the season, started with Thanksgiving. We plan to try her brine for a Thanksgiving turkey (doesn't every family cook four turkeys? yikes) but it was the wild rice and broccoli casserole which grabbed me first.
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