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-- Captions by VITAC --
I'm Ree Drummond.
I'm a writer, blogger, photographer, mother,
and I'm an accidental country girl.
I live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere,
and all my recipes have to be approved by cowboys,
hungry kids, and me.
Here's what's happening on the ranch.
Happy birthday!
We're celebrating a very special birthday.
It's Ladd's grandmother's 89th.
The kids are making cute little homemade cards,
and we're surprising her with a birthday supper delivery
of homemade goodies.
It's got all of Edna Mae's favorite food.
ALL: Happy birthday!
Welcome to my frontier.
Edna Mae is one of our favorite people.
She's out with her two daughters, Nan and Diane.
They're having fun together.
Now, Edna Mae is a pretty understated woman,
and she doesn't like big celebrations or parties.
So I thought I'd make some of her favorite foods,
and I decided to start by making a roast chicken.
Edna Mae loves roast chicken.
It's one of those things that can stay in the fridge
for a couple days.
She doesn't have to eat it right away.
Plus, I don't make a lot of roast chicken,
'cause I live among all these cattle ranchers.
So I thought it'd be the perfect thing.
I just rinsed the chicken and patted it dry.
Now I'll move on to the flavoring.
I'm gonna zest a couple of lemons.
I love roasted chicken with lemon --
one of my favorite combinations.
You know, Edna Mae and I share a love
of a lot of the same foods.
We both love soup.
We both love roast chicken.
We both love cake, of course,
so it was really easy for me to figure out the menu
to deliver to her.
All right. That's about two lemons zested.
Now, I've got some rosemary sprigs,
and I'm just gonna strip off some leaves.
I think I'll just need one sprig.
I'm gonna chop up the rosemary.
I love rosemary and lemon together.
All right.
Now I'm gonna make a yummy butter spread
to go over the top of the chicken.
I've got a stick of softened butter.
And I'll throw in the lemon zest...
...and the rosemary.
And then I'll throw in a little bit of salt and pepper.
All right. And then I'll just smear this all together.
I love roast chicken,
but it usually needs quite a bit of flavor
to make it interesting.
Okay. That looks perfect.
Now I will grab the chicken.
And I usually start by getting about half the butter.
Hands are the best kitchen utensil.
That's what my mama always told me.
I smear it over the surface, in the crevices,
tickle it a little bit.
[ Laughs ]
And then I like to get my fingers
and work my way in between the skin and the meat
and just try to get some of the butter up inside.
Makes for extra, extra yummy skin.
I love Edna Mae. She is so awesome.
Let me tell you a few things about her.
Edna Mae is the matriarch of four generations,
and she's taught us all so much over the years.
EDNA MAE: This is me, and that's my father.
There's a picture of my mom when she was about 12 years old.
She looks like Alex.
REE: Born back in 1923, she grew up on a ranch,
and she worked the land with her family.
EDNA MAE: Our family was one
that played hard and worked hard.
Ranching is in the blood.
REE: She married -- you guessed it --
a rancher named Bill Olsen and raised three kids --
John Barton, Diane, and, of course, Ladd's mom, Nan.
Very proud of my family.
Had three children,
and they all turned out to be very productive and honest.
And they've all raised good, honest children.
REE: Family is everything to Edna Mae.
She loves all the old family photos from days gone by,
like the one of Ladd and his brothers as kids,
them riding with their mom, Nan -- happy, happy days.
EDNA MAE: You hungry?
The whole family loves her so much.
She's such an inspiration.
I call her the real pioneer woman around here.
I got this chicken about as covered as it's gonna get,
so I'm gonna cut the lemons in half --
the two that I zested and then an extra one.
And then I like to stick the lemons
right inside the cavity of the bird.
And as I stick it in,
I just give it a little squeeze to release some of the juice.
Edna Mae would never want
a whole bunch of birthday presents,
so the kids are doing something special
and making her some homemade cards.
I know she's just gonna love them.
And I'm pretty sure Alex will come up with something special.
ALEX: I'm making a card for Edna Mae's birthday.
She always comes to our soccer games and our football games.
She's just always there for us,
and she's just a really special lady.
"Happy birthday, Edna Mae.
I love you and hope your day is as amazing as you are."
All right. I got them all in there.
It's a miracle.
Okay. I've got a few extra sprigs of rosemary.
And I just like to tuck those right inside.
Gives it a little extra rosemary flavor.
All right. Now I'm gonna wash my hands.
When the chicken roasts,
its skin gets nice and golden and crispy.
The whole house smells wonderful.
I just love roast chicken.
Now, the chicken needs to go into a 400-degree oven
for about an hour and 15 minutes until it's all done.
Up next, it's cauliflower soup with toasted crackers
and a fabulous blueberry Italian cream cake
for the birthday girl's package.
That's awesome, Bryce.
...then we're headed to town to surprise the birthday girl.
Now that the chicken is roasting away,
I'm gonna move on to the next part
of Edna Mae's surprise birthday dinner --
cauliflower soup.
I knew I wanted to make soup for Edna Mae
'cause she is a bit of a soup maestro herself.
Every soup she has ever made me has been delicious.
So I'm making her my favorite soup.
This is a soup my mom always use to make,
and it's a combination of creamy, dreamy,
healthy, decadent.
I just love it.
I've got some onions going in the pot.
Speaking of the pot,
I'm actually gonna give Edna Mae this soup pot
for a birthday present.
I thought I'd sneak a little present in there.
So to the onions
I'll add some diced carrot and some diced celery.
And then I'll stir this around
and let it cook for a minute or so.
And now I've got a head of cauliflower,
and I'm just gonna cut it into pieces -- big chunks.
Whoop! And they fly everywhere.
And then I'm just gonna chop the cauliflower into rough pieces.
I don't want to totally cut it up.
I like really big chunks of cauliflower in the soup.
That looks good.
Now I'm gonna throw the cauliflower into the pot
with the onions, celery, and carrots.
Okay.
Then I'll stir this around --
let it get nice and coated with the butter.
Now I'm just gonna put the lid on the pot
and let it slowly cook for about 15 minutes.
You know, I think Edna Mae is gonna love the cards
the kids are making for her.
Knowing Paige, as girly as she is,
her card is gonna somehow involve pink.
Edna Mae is my dad's grandma, so she's our great-grandma.
She's really nice,
and she really enjoys it when we come over to her house.
Making a card, I think it's just more personal,
'cause you get to pick out everything.
So I think she'll really enjoy these.
Well, I put hearts because I love her
and flowers 'cause she really likes them.
Now, to keep moving forward with the cauliflower soup,
I'm gonna grab a little parsley.
I just need about 2 tablespoons or so.
This is a nice, creamy, light-colored soup.
I don't like to add too many herbs to it.
All right.
I'm gonna sprinkle in the parsley, stir it around.
Mmm. Delish.
Now, I'm gonna add 2 quarts of low-sodium chicken broth.
And then this is gonna simmer for another 10 minutes
before I move on with the next step.
Now, I'm gonna whip up a simple white sauce,
and that's gonna help the soup
have a nice, creamy, thick texture.
I'll add the other half of the stick of butter to the saucepan,
and then I'm gonna throw in 6 tablespoons of flour.
This is the basis for the white sauce.
Okay. Now I'm just whisking the butter and flour together.
Now, to this paste, I'm gonna add 2 cups of whole milk.
You can use 2% or 1%, but whole milk just makes it extra creamy.
Pour that in, and I'm gonna whisk it as I pour it in.
I'll just let this heat up and thicken
for just a minute or two.
I love talking to Edna Mae about the old days
and the way they used to do things on the ranch,
but one of the things I love most about her
is she has the best sense of humor.
She cracks me up.
She has a really sharp wit.
And she doesn't say a lot,
but when she does, she really comes out with some doozies.
The white sauce is getting nice and thick,
so I'm gonna move on over to the soup pot,
and I'm gonna pour the white sauce right into the pot.
This is gonna keep thickening up the soup.
Gives it a really nice consistency.
Okay.
And then I'm going to add,
for extra creaminess, a cup of half-and-half.
All right. I'm just gonna stir it around.
[ Chuckles ] It looks so wonderful.
I need to add some salt and pepper.
That's the good thing
about using low-sodium chicken broth --
You can always add in salt,
but you can't take it out if there's too much.
One more stir.
The soup's gonna keep simmering for about 20 to 30 minutes,
and then it's gonna be perfect.
Now, to go with the soup,
I'm gonna whip out one of Edna Mae's soup tricks.
She always puts a sleeve of crackers in an iron skillet.
Doesn't matter what kind of crackers.
I'm using saltines, 'cause they're nice and simple.
She just throws them in the skillet
and puts them in the oven.
They toast up and they have a nice toasted, roasted flavor.
These are gonna go into a 350-degree oven
for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Hardly a recipe, but totally worth it.
Up next, I'm baking a birthday cake for Ladd's grandmother --
a spectacular blueberry Italian cream cake
with a cream cheese and coconut icing.
And then we're heading to town to deliver the birthday goodies.
This is a surprise.
It's Ladd's grandmother's birthday today,
and we're putting together a special package
of all her favorite foods.
The kids are making her homemade cards,
and I'm gonna whip up a really yummy birthday cake --
blueberry Italian cream cake.
It's one of Edna Mae's favorites.
It's really special.
It's got lots of layers -- a lot of yummy stuff going on.
I beat five egg whites until they were really stiff.
And I'm glad I have a swap of a bowl,
'cause then I don't have to stop and clean up
before I keep going.
To a clean bowl, I'm gonna add a stick of butter.
And then a cup of vegetable oil.
This is a really easy cake to make.
And a cup of sugar.
Really simple start.
Now I'm just gonna beat this together
until it's all combined.
I got the original Italian cream cake recipe
from a woman named Billie
who went to our church for a long time.
Edna Mae is actually a bit of a cake queen herself,
so I know she is just gonna love this.
Okay.
That's nice and smooth.
So now I'm gonna drop in five egg yolks...
...and a tablespoon of vanilla.
All right. Now I'll whip this together.
All right.
That's nice and combined.
Now I'm gonna add in an essential ingredient
in any Italian cream cake -- coconut.
I'm gonna add in about a cup.
Okay. I'll beat this together.
Okay. That's all combined.
So now I'll mix up the dry ingredients
that go into the cake,
and it's just two cups of flour.
I love easy cakes.
I especially love cakes
where you don't have to sift the dry ingredients.
That makes me very happy.
Okay.
Then a teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda.
Super simple.
Now I'll just whisk this together.
And then I also have a cup of buttermilk,
and I'm gonna alternate adding dry ingredients
and the buttermilk with the mixer on.
So I'll just throw in a little bit of the dry ingredients --
about a fourth.
Then I'll add about a fourth of the buttermilk.
I'll just let that mix, and then I'll add some more.
Now, the boys are working *** Edna Mae's birthday cards,
and I have to say, I can't wait to see what they come up with.
BRYCE: We're finding supplies
to make my great-grandma's birthday cards.
What else do you think we should get, Bryce?
Leaves.
Good idea.
Feather -- I think Edna Mae will really like that.
I think how we found stuff from the yard
and put it all together on a card
is gonna make Edna Mae like it.
TODD: I think she'll like it
because there's a bunch of stuff from the ranch.
TODD: That's awesome, Bryce.
Up top.
All right. That's the very last bit.
I'll let that little bit of buttermilk mix in.
Oh, that is looking so good.
I'm gonna give it a quick scrape
to make sure it's all perfectly combined.
All right.
Now I'll take the bowl off,
and I'll grab the egg whites that I beat earlier.
And I'll just tip those right into the bowl.
All right.
And then I'll just gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
I don't want to stir it really fast.
I'm just gonna be gentle, be patient.
Now, I've got two round cake pans
that are nice and greased.
And I'm just gonna pour the batter evenly into both pans.
Ooh, I love cake batter.
I get to lick the bowl.
My kids aren't here to fight me for it.
I'll just smooth out the top so they bake really evenly.
Now, these are gonna bake in a 350-degree oven
for about 15 to 18 minutes,
and then I'm gonna transform these cake layers
into one fantastic birthday cake.
Up next, it's time to surprise Edna Mae
with our Happy Birthday care package.
For recipes from this episode, go to...
It's Edna Mae's birthday today.
Ladd's grandmother has been out celebrating
with her two daughters, having fun.
I've made all of Edna Mae's favorite foods,
and I'm just gonna finish up the cake.
The cake layers have been cooling,
and I'm using a really sharp serrated knife
to cut these layers in half.
I just cut about halfway through and rotate the cake as I go.
And then I have a good chance of getting it even.
I decided to make Edna Mae Italian cream cake
for her birthday,
'cause it's not a cake I usually make the cowboys.
It's really a cake
that has Edna Mae's name written all over it.
The cake layers have been cooling,
and I'm using a really sharp serrated knife
to cut these layers in half.
So that's four thin layers,
and now it's about frosting the cake
with this wonderful concoction.
It is so good.
All I did was throw two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
into the bowl of a mixer with 1/2 a cup of butter,
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract,
and 2 pounds of powdered sugar.
Then I beat it all together
until the frosting was really light and fluffy.
Then I added 3/4 of a cup of chopped pecans,
along with a cup of sweetened flaked coconut.
Then I mixed it all together until it was all combined.
To ice the cake, I'll just take one of the layers,
and then I'll grab a big blob of this wonderful icing,
plop it on top,
and then I'll use an offset spatula
just to spread it into a pretty thin layer.
Now I'll grab some blueberries,
and I just sprinkle them right over the icing.
Okay.
Now I'm just gonna do the very same thing
with the next three layers.
Okay.
Now the final thing I need to do
is just sprinkle some chopped pecans all over the edge.
So pretty.
I love the blueberries in the center. Ah.
All right. The cake is done, so I'm just gonna put the lid on.
I'm actually gonna give Edna Mae this cake tin.
I think she's gonna love it.
Now it's time for me
to pull this whole birthday delivery together.
So, cauliflower soup first.
To add an extra dollop of richness,
I'll just stir in some sour cream.
The saltines have been lightly toasted,
so I'll just wrap them in foil.
The roast chicken is golden and succulent,
so that gets wrapped in foil, too.
And that's everything.
Do we have all four kids?
Yes?
[ Doorbell rings ]
EDNA MAE: Oh, hi.
Happy birthday!
What a pleasant surprise.
Come in.
We come bearing food.
This is fun. How did you know?
REE: Oh, I just know things.
I roasted you a chicken.
Wow. Wonderful.
I brought you some cauliflower soup.
Oh, great.
And toasted saltine crackers,
'cause you taught me how to do that.
I'm surprised I taught you anything.
You've taught me a lot.
I know it from you.
And I made you a birthday cake for you guys to split.
Isn't that pretty?
Why don't you have a piece of cake before you go?
You should taste it.
It's so pretty, and I know it's good, and you should stay.
EDNA MAE: When is your next soccer game?
Sunday, I think.
Beautiful cake.
REE: Okay. I'm cutting.
Why don't you give that to Edna Mae, the birthday girl?
Okay. Thank you.
WOMAN: This is really good. I like all the layers.
And the blueberries are so nice and fresh.
This is the best cake I believe I ever ate.
It is so good.
It's wonderful.
The kiddos made you some cards today.
Oh, how cute.
It says, "Happy Birthday, Edna Mae.
Hope there is 89 more."
Oh, they gave it away.
That's neat.
They gave it away. That's right.
Who made that?
Who made this one?
Todd did.
And this is from...
your great-grandson Bryce.
That's neat, Bryce.
This says, "Happy birthday, Edna Mae,"
and it's got buttons all over the front of it.
REE: So if you ever lose a button,
just go back to your birthday card.
Thank you, honey.
ALL: Happy Birthday!
Thanks, guys.
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.