Pioneer Woman Cooks Reviews #4 and 5: Homemade Ranch Dressing and Penne alla Betsy!

I was skeptical-- Could a person actually make a ranch dressing at home that tasted like real ranch? I followed Ree's recipe to find out. In her cookbook, she says to serve it over an iceberg wedge, so that's what I did. For the record, though, this does not a salad make in my mind! You need some onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese... something more than iceberg lettuce and ranch! Okay, that said, on to the review!

Homemade Ranch Dressing did not disappoint! It was just like the ranch we all know and love except better. I will definitely make this again, and you should too. The recipe filled a 16 ounce jar.

Ratings:

4 out of 5 for easy (I took off a point here because there are a lot of fresh herbs you are going to have to find at the grocery store! I had to go to two stores to find them all.)

4 out of 5 for time required (you need to let it refrigerate to let the flavors come out.)

5 out of 5 for consistency with cookbook

5 out of 5 for taste.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 Yay Ranch!

*UPDATE* Here is her post for the Ranch recipe! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/homemade-ranch-dressing/

On to the next review, Penne alla Betsy.

Betsy is Ree's little sister and this is her favorite pasta dish. It looked so good when I first saw it on the website, and I was happy to find it was also in the cookbook. This dish has some of my favorite things: pasta, cream, wine, shrimp, onion, garlic, butter and fresh basil! Yum. Oh, it's so gooood.

It is so good! Oh, did I already say that? Well, it is! It's delicious, creamy without being heavy, and refreshing. I know that sounds weird, but for a dish with butter and cream, it is amazingly light tasting. It really is a perfect summer meal. Try it. Make it for friends. They'll swoon! Here's the link if you don't own the cookbook.

Ratings:

5 out of 5 for easy

5 out of 5 for time required

4 out of 5 for consistency with the cookbook (I took off a point here because she never tells you to remove the tails and chop the shrimp, however in her final product it's obvious that's what she did.)

5 out of 5 for taste.

Overall rating: 4.75 out of 5, the highest rating yet!