I was going to title this review "How I learned to stop worrying and love the butter" but I already loved the butter so that wasn't really truthful.  I also already loved The Pioneer Woman, so I was pretty sure I would love her cookbook long before it was actually in my eager little hands.  (through the magic of Amazon.com pre-order I owned the book before it released on October 27th.)  

The actual real live Pioneer Woman was in town last night doing a book signing at Borders in North Dallas.  I know this because it was circled in red on my calendar weeks ago with happy faces around it.  Alas, I was waylaid by several things and was unable to go.  There was wailing and gnashing of teeth, literally.  You see, I had emergency last-minute dental work.  DENTAL WORK.  I had to exchange what would have been one of the most memorable experiences of my life for my all-time phobia.  GRRR.  But I digress.

With the whining out of the way, let's commence with the good stuff.  The top 5 reasons I am totally in love with The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

1. I love The Pioneer Woman.  I have been reading her blog for nearly 3 years now and have yet to see a single entry that doesn't  make me laugh, cry, or relate.  She's real and honest and self-deprecating in the best way.  When being a home-schooling mom of 4 young children has me stressed and wrung out, I just remember that I do not have to get up at 4:30 a.m. to sort cows, or deal with cows on my porch, or anything else cow-related.  This is a good thing because I have no cow experience and would have no clue how to do anything with said cows.
2. The Pioneer Woman Cooks has step-by-step photos of every single recipe. Every one of them. This makes it very easy to tell if I am capable of cooking what is being proposed. I can see from the pictures if it is doable for me.  Are ramekins involved?  I don't own any, I barely even know what they are.  What about dicing an onion?  Can't do it.  I have to buy mine pre-diced at Whole Foods because my silly, sensitive eyes rebel against all things onion related.
3. The food is good.  It's good good stuff.  There is butter involved.  There are tasty things like bacon, steak, and seasoned salt.  These are feel-good recipes.  Comfort food at it's finest.
4. The design.  I am third generation print industry.  My grandfather hand-set type for a newspaper and had his own letterpress until a few years ago.  My father was in print sales for over 25 yeas.  I spent a scant 6 years in the industry, but I like to say I have ink in my blood.  I am a print nerd, and the design of this book impressed me.  It is a perfectly-sized hardback book with a dust jacket.  The dust jacket used careful application of gloss and matte varnish to subtly emphasize certain elements.  The cover itself had beautiful, delicate graphics along the edges.  The pumpkin-colored end papers and perfectly-chosen fonts and eye-popping photos all made my bibliophile heart skip a beat.  You can tell someone spent a lot of time making this book FUN and special.
5. Do-ability.  PW's down-to-earth writing style and encouragement makes you feel warm inside as you read through her stories of life on a cattle ranch and recipes for cinnamon rolls and pasta.  The simple break down of the recipes and gentle nudging of her voice in your head make you really believe that you, too, can make a luscious chocolate sheet cake for your friends and loved ones.  There is nothing snobby, high brow, or inaccessible about this cookbook.  It is a warm reminder that food is your friend.  

The Pioneer Woman Cooks would make a lovely gift for anyone in your life who loves butter, knows anything about cows or children, or owns their own ramekins.  You can find it online or at any decent bookseller in your area.  Now I'm off to make some Rastafari Sugar  Cookies.