Recently my mom and I watched an old episode of ‘The Pioneer Woman’ on the top ten things that she loves. I don’t know if any of you have watched Ree Drummond’s show, but let’s be honest, it’s one of the best things The Food Network has cookin’ right now. (Nice pun, I know. :)) She also has a fantastic blog where she talks about cooking, her kids, homeschooling, the Marlboro man (her husband), and has awesome giveaways. She lives on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma and she might be my woman crush.
She also makes a cinnamon toast that will make you want to slap your mama good. Not literally, but it’s that good. Basically if you are just toasting bread, adding a little butter, and then dusting cinnamon and sugar on it, you are doing it all wrong. Trust me. She’s right. I’m going to add the recipe to the bottom of this blog so that you can enjoy the goodness too.
I don’t know that I can narrow the things I love down to ten things, but I thought I would make a list with things that I love. These are in no particular order and it might be more than ten once I am said and done…but here goes:
1. Pride & Prejudice – it’s no secret my love for Jane Austen and all things Darcy. I’ve read the book I don’t know how many times and when Darcy confesses his love to Elizabeth I get goose bumps every time. Even though the movie version with Kiera Knightly is not the best that scene makes me want to crawl in the book and live forever.
2. Baking/Cooking – I don’t know that I am the best cook around but I like doing it. Baking however, is my thing. Some of my best recipe’s include strawberry rhubarb pie, chocolate covered cherries, and white wedding cake. I’m not the cleanest in the kitchen either which makes it all the more fun.
3. Edwardian History – Ok my inner nerd is about to scream, but I do not even care. The Edwardian era is the era in England where the really wealthy families had downstairs servants. The shows like Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey cover this era beautifully. What’s fascinating about it to me is the idea that there is pristine picture to the public of elegant dinners and detailed dresses but when you look further the tangled web of lies and deceit and poverty and infidelity come creeping through. It makes since why this era failed, the financial difficulties for those that didn’t live upstairs resulted in death and disease. Even those that did live upstairs sometimes ended in death and destruction. They could lose their manor houses and everything would crumble.
4. My Family – Sometimes I want to hit them in the face but in reality my mom, dad, and brother are some of my favorite people. We have some fantastic stories together and we do have fun when we are together. Oh no worries, we can also fight like cats and dogs, but in the end we still really love each other. I mean, come on, we have a group text on iMessage that stays pretty busy.
5. Camping – I have camped since I was a baby. We’ve camped in pop-up campers, small travel trailers, and tents. I love it all. The smells, the weather, the sleeping on the ground…it never gets old. In fact, my family has camped at one campground since before I was born. Some of my closest friends have been there too. Oh the name of the campground you ask? Raccoon Holler. Trust me, it’s as fun as it sounds.
6. Vegetable Soup – My mom makes the best vegetable soup ever. Seriously, it’s got chunks of potatoes, carrots, beans…and it makes the kitchen smell heavenly. The longer it sits in the refrigerator the better it gets. It reminds me of cooler weather and good family times.
7. Driving around at night – This is not a creepy thing, I promise. This is what you do, you get in your car in comfortable clothes, get a nice cold drink at the nearest gas station, and just drive around. People will often have their windows open at night with their lights and you can see how they decorate their houses. You get great ideas, you can also have really great conversations with friends. It doesn’t come across all the great on paper, but it’s a fun time.
8. Bonfires – Who doesn’t love one of these? I don’t even need to explain myself.
9. Christmas – I love Christmas. I just do. The decorations, the presents, the stores full of shiny objects, Pinterest projects. The list goes on. Oh and don’t forget the baking! Every year since my brother was born my mom gets he and I a Christmas ornament. The idea is when we move out we get to take our ornaments and start the tradition with our children. I don’t think she expected when I moved out and took my ornaments I would be moving back in and bringing them all with me.
10. Diet Coke – I don’t drink a lot of soda anymore. But every once in awhile an ice cold Diet Coke makes my heart happy. I realize it’s full of chemicals, but those chemicals are pretty heart warming.
11. These Bible Verses –
- Hebrews 4:16: ‘Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’
- 2 Timothy 4:17: ‘But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all Gentiles might hear..’
- Exodus 14:14: ‘The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.’
- Psalm 139:16: ‘Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.’
12. Tattoos – Small, large, ugly, pretty, I love them all. I have a few myself and they hold some of my greatest memories and deepest thoughts. A tattoo tells a fantastic story if you can get to know a person well enough to ask. A pictures tells a thousand words.
13. This blog – It’s new and exciting and I like it. It’s fun to write down my thoughts, and its fun to come up with things to talk about it. My love for it may end but I don’t care, it’s nice to be a faux writer for a few hours every couple of days.
So my list was 13, lucky 13 in this case. And since it’s been chilly the last couple of morning this recipe is going to warm you right up! I’ve also added the link to Ree Drummond’s blog, it’s a good time too.
The Pioneer Woman’s Blog: www.thepioneerwoman.com
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 15 Minutes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Servings: 8
Ingredients:
- 16 slices Bread (whole Wheat Is Great!)
- 2 sticks Salted Butter, Softened
- 1 cup Sugar (more To Taste)
- 3 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract (more To Taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg (optional)
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Smush softened butter with a fork. Dump in sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, if using. Stir to completely combine.
Spread on slices of bread, completely covering the surface all the way to the edges.
Place toast on a cookie sheet. Place cookies sheet into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil until golden brown and bubbling. Watch so it won’t burn!
Remove from oven and cut slices into halves diagonally.
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