It’s that day again. I’m putting on my hat and heading out the door to see what another blogger is up to. Today I’m dropping in on The Pioneer Woman Cooks – another country-style cook, albeit not a vegetarian like I am. That doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from her blog.

The first thing I noticed is that she’s got way too many photographs on the main page – and there’s no way I’ll get them all to load because I’m on dial-up. So I chose a single recipe page and . . . I’m still waiting . . . It is at times like this when I think I may someday break down and get DSL, which is the other option out here in the boonies, for those who can afford it. I hear our prices on DSL are higher than elsewhere.

Still loading.

The second thing I noticed was that The Pioneer Woman’s blog is friendly, personable, and has character. She says her name is Ree. She is the main character, and her side-kick, The Marlboro Man, is apparently her husband. In any case, we get to know who’s there and to put a face to it she has some retro-type graphics showing what she wants us to believe she looks like. In any case, it is cute and entertaining. Almost enough for me to want to do a blog makeover and hire a quality graphic artist to make a cool header for my blog too!

I’m looking at this page: Orange Mini-Muffins with Brown Sugar Glaze.

The Pioneer Woman has a popular blog – not just because she’s a strong, interesting personality – but because she illustrates her cooking experience with step-by-step photos, and that’s just what some people need to have the confidence to try out the recipes she features. And she doesn’t use recipes that are too difficult or confusing for common people. Not only that, she uses ingredients most people have at hand. She says, “I’m a desperate housewife. I live in the country. I love to cook delicious, abundant, satisfying food using the simplest of ingredients. Welcome to my kitchen!” Right away we feel like we know her, identify with her, and want to cook like her.

Still loading.

Well, this site is probably great for people with better internet connections than I have, and is a superb example of what a successful cooking blog can be. You can see she loves cooking and is dedicated to sharing that love and knowledge with people everywhere. I highly recommend a look at her site, to any food bloggers out there. The Pioneer Woman is an expert cook who exudes enthusiasm for her work.

The Pioneer Woman’s blog is insanely popular. The recipe I’m looking at was posted late in June, and has 63 comments on it already. Her fans love her home country cooking, and the detailed instructions. One of the comments suggests some changes to the recipe to make it perfect for vegans. Another says, “I love that you do the printable recipe, now! That helps alot!!” I tried the printable recipe link – it opened a doc file in my Open Office word processing program. Very cool!

There are 35 step-by-step photographs for this one recipe alone. Many of them are still loading into my browser, even though I’ve written all this. When I was a web designer, I tried to keep images to a six-per-page limit for quick loading. But these days with the fast connections, the image-heavy pages are acceptable to most. And for young cooks needing help and inspiration, The Pioneer Woman’s style is ideal.

As I finish this article, I see all the photos are displayed in my browser now, but the page is still loading. ::sigh:: Sometimes I feel so behind the times. Seriously, my town is known for being a throw-back to an earlier time here in California. We’re as remote as you can get in this state. People come here and feel like they’ve stepped back twenty years. Only recently we’ve gotten better cell phone reception and suddenly I see people carrying them around town more frequently. Before this, it was common to see tourists standing on Highway 96 looking desperate as they tried to get their cell phones to work!