The Pioneer/Pirate Project: Come Cook with Me!

I had an idea.  Sometimes, when you’ve been snowed and iced in for four days, that happens, I guess.

Remember this movie review for Julie and Julia?  Well, after I saw that movie, I had a natural inclination to want to cook through a cookbook and blog about it too.  Julia Child’s book on French cooking is way, way, way beyond me.  So I kept perusing my shelves, trying to decide which one to tackle, when it suddenly hit me that the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook would be perfect!  She’s a blogger.  I feel like over the past three or so years that I’ve read her blog that I’ve watched her become famous.  Her recipes can be a tad challenging at times, but they are attainable…especially with her mouth-watering photography.  And, most importantly, pioneer, pirate, and project all begin with the letter P, and I’m in love with alliteration.  Perfect! (Ha!  Another P!)

But then I had another idea!  (Remember:  four days…snow and ice…a long, long game of RISK with the kids)  What’s the fun in cooking through a book by yourself?  Wouldn’t it be more fun if others joined in?  Wouldn’t it be like the biggest party if you had a whole posse participating with you? (Sorry…I really can’t stop with the P’s.)

So, do you want to join me?  Here’s a sort of outline of what I had in mind….

• Every other week, probably on Monday or Tuesday at the latest I would post which recipe I’m going to make.  I will post the title and page number and the link, if it’s also on her website.
• Then sometime over the next week (I will probably be doing mine over the weekend) we all cook up the recipe and serve it to our families or our friends or our neighbors or our postal carriers.
• I will then post about the experience….the good, the bad, and the ugly.  If you have also joined in, then you can post about your experience in the comments section and hopefully some lively, fun discussions will ensue.
• You can also send me some pictures via e-mail, kellie@thepiratemom.com .  It might be the finished product.  It might be your spouse’s satisfied smile.  It might be your kitchen stacked with dirty dishes.  Or, best of all, it might be you covered in flour or tomato sauce or the like.  Whatever you want to share, send it to me, and I’ll add it to my post.
• Then I will post the next assignment, and the whole process will begin again.
• You don’t have to cook every recipe to participate.  Feel free to float in out as you choose.
• Anyone can join:  bloggers, non-bloggers, men, women,  kids (with parents’ permission, of course), Republicans, Democrats, pioneers, or pirates…just come join us in completely trashing the kitchen every once in a while for the sake of education and a good time!

Her cookbook is pretty easy to find.  It’s available at most major bookstores.  You can also purchase it here or here or about a dozen other places on-line.

For our first recipe, I chose the very first one in the book.  It is The BBQ Jalapeno Poppers, and it is found on pps. 14-15 of the book, in the Starters section.  I thought these would be perfect for the Super Bowl this Sunday, especially if Peyton Manning is sacked twelve times and the Colts lose 521-3.

Many of her recipes are also on her website, and the poppers are one of them.  I thought this one might be good to start with, so that anyone who wants to join would have time to get the book.  So, if you need it, here’s the on-line link:

BBQ Jalapeno Poppers

Sound fun?  Want to join?  I hope so, but even if I don’t have any takers, I’m still gonna’ do it and blog about it because, ya’ know, I had that idea and all…

Leave me a comment, and let me know if you’re up for the P/PP!  And feel free to grab my picture above and link to the post in order to share with your friends.  The more the merrier!

This blog post was brought you by the letter P.  Thank you.