Anne Marie "Ree" Drummond (née Smith, born January 6, 1969) is an American

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

food writer Food writing is a genre of writing that focuses on food and includes works by food critics, food journalists, chefs and food historians. Definition Food writers regard food as a substance and a cultural phenomenon. John T. Edge, an American food ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

who lives on a working ranch outside of

Pawhuska, Oklahoma Pawhuska ( osa, 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘 / hpahúska, ''meaning: "White Hair"'', iow, Paháhga) is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, ''Paw-Hiu-Skah'', wh ...

with her husband. In February 2010, she was listed as No. 22 on ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' Top 25 Web Celebrities. Her

, ''The Pioneer Woman'', which documents Drummond's daily life as a ranch wife and mother, was named Weblog of the Year 2009, 2010 and 2011 at the Annual Weblog Awards (The

Bloggies The Weblog Awards, nicknamed the Bloggies, was an annual non-profit blog awards that began in 2001. Until its end in 2015, it was the longest running and one of the largest blog awards, with winners determined through internet voting by the pub ...

). Capitalizing on the success of her blog, Drummond stars in her own television program, also entitled '' The Pioneer Woman'', on

The Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. ...

which began in 2011. She has also appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

'', '' The View'', ''

The Chew ''The Chew'' is an American cooking-themed talk show that aired for seven seasons from September 26, 2011 to June 28, 2018, having replaced the soap opera ''All My Children'', on ABC as part of the network's weekday daytime lineup. The name wa ...

'' and ''

The Bonnie Hunt Show ''The Bonnie Hunt Show'' is an American syndicated talk show hosted by Bonnie Hunt. It premiered on September 8, 2008. The show's second and final season premiered on September 8, 2009. It was announced on December 7, 2009 that ''The Bonnie Hun ...

''. She has been featured in ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'', ''

Woman's Day ''Woman's Day'' is an American women's monthly magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters magazines. The magazine was fir ...

'', ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' and ''

Southern Living ''Southern Living'' is a lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. It is published by Birmingham, Alabama–based Southern Prog ...

''. She has also written numerous cookbooks, a children's book, and an autobiography. In 2015, Drummond launched a “homey lifestyle” product line that has become very popular with the public. Cookware, cutlery, appliances, clothing and outdoor living products are currently marketed under the brand name ''The Pioneer Woman''.

Early life

Anne Marie, nicknamed ''Ree'', grew up in a home overlooking the grounds of a country club in the oil town of

Bartlesville, Oklahoma Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Can ...

, with two brothers, Doug and Mike, and a younger sister, Betsy. She graduated from

Bartlesville High School Bartlesville High School is a Public school (government funded), public high school located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Built in 1939, it was originally called College High School, and until 1950 housed a junior college as well as the high school. ...

in 1987 after which she left Oklahoma to attend college in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1991, having first studied

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

before switching to

gerontology Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek , ''geron'', "old man" and , ''-logia'', "study of". The fie ...

. After graduation she hoped to attend law school in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, but her plans changed unexpectedly when she met and married her husband, Ladd Drummond. Her father, William Dale Smith, an orthopedic surgeon, and her mother Gerre Schwert are divorced. "Bill" Smith, as he is more commonly known, later married his current wife, Patsy. Drummond was raised

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

. She is an alumna of

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

sorority.

Blog at ThePioneerWoman.com

Drummond began blogging in May 2006, initially using the subdomain ''pioneerwoman.typepad.com'' within the

Typepad Typepad is a blogging service owned by Endurance International Group, previously owned by SAY Media (from the merger of Six Apart Ltd and VideoEgg). Originally launched in October 2003, Typepad is based on Six Apart's Movable Type platform, and ...

blogging service. She registered her own

domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...

thepioneerwoman.com on October 18, 2006. Drummond's blog, ''The Pioneer Woman'', was originally titled ''Confessions of a Pioneer Woman''. The latter is now the title of a section within the site. The site is hosted by

Rackspace Rackspace Technology, Inc. is an American cloud computing company based in Windcrest, Texas, an inner suburb of San Antonio, Texas. The company also has offices in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Austin, Texas, as well as in Australia, Canada, United ...

. Drummond writes about topics such as

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

life and

homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

. About a year after launching her blog, she posted her first recipe and a tutorial on "How to Cook a Steak". The tutorial was accompanied by 20 photos explaining the cooking process in what she calls "ridiculous detail". Her stories about her husband, family, and country living, and her step-by-step cooking instructions and elaborate

food photography Food photography is a still life photography genre used to create attractive still life photographs of food. It is a specialization of commercial photography, the products of which are used in advertisements, magazines, packaging, menus or cook ...

, proved highly popular with readers. ''Confessions of a Pioneer Woman'' won honors at the Weblog Awards (also known as the

) in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2009 and 2010 it took the top prize as Weblog of the Year. As of September 2009, Drummond's blog reportedly received 13 million page views per month. On May 9, 2011, the blog's popularity had risen to approximately 23.3 million page views per month and 4.4 million unique visitors. According to an article in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', "This is roughly the same number of people who read

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

". An article in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

newspaper ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' described it as " ickly photographed with legions of fans . . . arguably the mother of all farm girl blogs." The blog has been referenced in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''. In 2009, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' named Drummond's ''Confessions of a Pioneer Woman'' one of the "25 Best Blogs" in the world. Estimates for her site's income suggest it earns $1 million or more per year from display (advertisement) income.

Food community (TastyKitchen.com)

In April 2008, Drummond held a giveaway contest in the

cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...

section of her blog ''The Pioneer Woman'' in which she asked readers to share one of their favorite recipes. The response was an unexpected 5,000+ recipes in less than 24 hours. She realized that she had not only grown a community of loyal readers but a community of food lovers as well. She immediately sought a way to catalog the recipes and make them searchable for all. A little over a year later, on July 14, 2009, Drummond announced the launch of ''TastyKitchen.com'' – a simple and free online community website with the tagline ''Favorite Recipes from Real Kitchens Everywhere!''. The site was built for her food-loving readers as a place where they could easily contribute, search for and print recipes. In addition to sharing recipes, users can create personal membership profiles and communicate with one another via posts and direct messages. Users also have the ability to rate and review recipes.

Books

''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl''
Drummond's first cookbook, ''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl'', was published in October 2009 after reaching the top spot on

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

's preorder list for hardcover books. A ''New York Times'' reviewer described Drummond as "funny, enthusiastic and self-deprecating", and commented: "Vegetarians and gourmands won’t find much to cook here, but as a portrait of a real American family kitchen, it works." ''Black Heels to Tractor Wheels''
In 2007, Drummond began writing a series on her blog titled ''From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels''. In the series, she chronicled her personal love story detailing how, in the process of relocating from Los Angeles to Chicago, she wound up settling down with a cowboy on a cattle ranch in rural Oklahoma. In February 2011, the series was compiled into a book and published by William Morrow, an imprint of

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. It quickly rose to No. 2 on both ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction and

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

's list. ''Charlie the Ranch Dog''
In April 2011, Drummond published a children's book titled ''Charlie the Ranch Dog'', featuring her family's beloved

Basset Hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...

''Charlie''. According to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', “Adult readers will recognize in Charlie’s voice the understated humor that has made Drummond’s blog so successful; kids should find it irresistible.” The book was illustrated by Diane deGroat, an illustrator of more than 120 children's books. ''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier''
Drummond's second cookbook, ''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier'', released in March 2012 and was a #1 New York Times Bestseller. ''Charlie and the Christmas Kitty''
Diane deGroat again illustrates this children book about the family's Basset Hound. Released in December 2012. ''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations''
A cookbook for holidays throughout the year. Released October 29, 2013. ''Charlie and the New Baby''
Another children's book about the family's basset hound, illustrated by Diane deGroat. Released on April 29, 2014. ''Charlie the Ranch Dog: Charlie Goes to the Doctor''
An I Can Read story about Charlie the basset hound's trip to the doctor, illustrated by Diane deGroat. Released June 17, 2014. ''Charlie the Ranch Dog: Stuck in the Mud''
An I Can Read story about Charlie the basset hound, illustrated by Diane deGroat. Released January 6, 2015. ''Charlie Plays Ball''
A Children's book about Charlie the basset hound, illustrated by Diane deGroat. Released March 24, 2015. ''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime''
A cookbook featuring 125 dinner recipes. Released October 20, 2015. ''Charlie the Ranch Dog: Rock Star''
An I Can Read story about Charlie the basset hound, illustrated by Diane deGroat. Released November 17, 2015. ''Little Ree''
A children's book about a little girl named Ree and her adventures in the country, illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers. Released March 28, 2017 ''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It!''
A cookbook featuring 120 simple and delicious recipes. Released October 24, 2017. ''Little Ree: Best Friends Forever!''
A children's book about a little girl named Ree and her best friend, Hyacinth, illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers. Released March 27, 2018 ''The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Super Easy!''
This cookbook is perfect for the families who are always on the move! Not only does it provide simple recipes, but it also clues you in on some "shortcut ingredients". Released October 19, 2021. ''Ree's Best Family Meals''
This spiralbound cookbook allows you to plan a meal every night of the week! With the new format of the spiral bound book and the step by step instructions with photos, your meal planning was just made easier. Released online August 2, 2022.

Television

Drummond made her television debut on an episode of ''

Throwdown! with Bobby Flay ''Throwdown! with Bobby Flay'' is a Food Network television program in which celebrity chef Bobby Flay challenges cooks renowned for a specific dish or type of cooking to a cook-off of their signature dish. At the beginning of each show, Flay rec ...

'' when the celebrity chef was challenged by her (in a change from the show's normal format) to a special Thanksgiving face-off. Flay traveled to her Oklahoma ranch for the event. The episode aired on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

on Wednesday, November 17, 2010. Drummond's home cooking beat Flay's gourmet-style spread in a tight contest. Music artist and fellow

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

resident

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...

was one of the judges. In April 2011, the Food Network announced that Drummond would host her own daytime television series on the network. '' The Pioneer Woman'' premiered on Saturday, August 27, 2011.

Film

On March 19, 2010, Drummond confirmed media reports that

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

had acquired the film rights to her book ''From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels''. The production company was reported to be in talks with

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

to star as Drummond in a motion picture based on the book.

Personal life

On September 21, 1996, Drummond married Ladd Drummond (born January 22, 1969), a fourth-generation member of the prominent Osage County cattle ranching

Drummond family Clan Drummond is a Highland Scottish clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). pp. 120 - 121. ...

whom she refers to as "the

Marlboro Man The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. ...

" in her books and her blog. They spent their honeymoon in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and lived on a remote working cattle ranch approximately 8 miles west of

. They have five children – Alex, Paige, Bryce, Jamar and Todd. Alex and her husband Mauricio Scott are graduates of

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. Paige is a graduate of the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

and Bryce is a student and plays

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. Their foster son Jamar is a student and football player at the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...

. Ladd's second cousin is

Gentner Drummond Gentner Frederick Drummond (born October 3, 1963) is an American attorney, rancher, banker, and politician from Oklahoma. Drummond is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party and the current Attorney General of Oklahoma ...

. In late 2016, the Drummonds opened The Mercantile, a restaurant retail store located in a 100-year-old downtown Pawhuska building that they bought and began renovating in 2012. In 2018, the Drummonds opened a bed and breakfast in downtown Pawhuska, "The Boarding House", as well as a pizzeria, "P-Town Pizza". The Drummonds opened "Charlie's Sweet Shop", an ice cream and candy shop, in 2020. The shop was named for their basset hound Charlie, who died in 2017 and was the inspiration for Drummond's "Charlie" children's book series.Ree Drummond Opens New Sweet Shop and Ice Cream Store
/ref>

Awards

References

External links

The Pioneer Woman
official website
Tasty Kitchen
food community

cooking show on

* * * *
Ree Drummond on IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drummond, Ree 1969 births 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American bloggers American food writers American television chefs American women bloggers American women chefs Food Network chefs Living people Oklahoma Drummond family People from Bartlesville, Oklahoma Women cookbook writers