The Real Reason ‘The Pioneer Woman’ Star Ree Drummond Says Thanksgiving Makes ‘Me Cry Over My Bowl of Sweet Potatoes’
The Pioneer Woman star Ree Drummond remains thankful for her blessings this Thanksgiving. Even with the heartbreaking passing of family patriarch Chuck “Paw Paw” Drummond on November 4, Ree will forge ahead with gratitude for many important reasons. However, Thanksgiving also brings out her sentimental side. She reveals the real reason the family-centered holiday makes “me cry over my bowl of sweet potatoes” every year.
Ree Drummond starts Thanksgiving with a film classic while she prepares the family meal
While other families may watch parades or listen to music while preparing the meal, Ree takes a different approach to Thanksgiving morning entertainment. Every year, she watches the 1972 film, The Godfather.
“One tradition I have is watching The Godfather as I cook,” Ree said. “The Godfather is always on. I like to have that on in the kitchen.”
The Godfather tells the story of the Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and covers the decade from 1945 to 1955. It focuses on transforming Vito’s youngest son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), into a ruthless mafia boss.
Ree will sometimes alternate The Godfather with another film classic, Gone With the Wind. “They’re on TV every Thanksgiving and get me through it,” she admits. In a YouTube video, Ree says she always makes mashed potatoes, prepared a day ahead. Green beans and tomatoes are also on the menu, as well as dressing, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, and homemade rolls.
The real reason Thanksgiving makes Ree Drummond cry over her sweet potatoes
In Ree’s book “The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays,” the Food Network star shared the real reason Thanksgiving brings her to tears.
She wrote in a passage that prefaced her favorite Thanksgiving recipes that the November holiday is “a beautiful day.” Ree admits she has taken the concert of Thanksgiving “seriously and literally.”
“What I mean is that I try, amid the enormous meal preparation and busyness, to keep my mind fixed on the things in life that bring me joy, peace, contentment, and happiness,” Ree wrote.
She continued, “My husband, my children, my entire family. The health and well-being of the people I love. My own health. The land we live on. The beauty of the earth. The freedom we enjoy. It’s enough to make me cry over my bowl of sweet potatoes as I mash them. And I’ve actually done this before.”
Her feelings toward Thanksgiving go one step further
After this, Ree revealed she is not satisfied with being thankful for her many blessings. She admits she takes things one step further.
“Thanksgiving to me isn’t just an acknowledgment of the way in which we were blessed. It’s a recognition that others in the world don’t have the same peace, the same health, and freedom. As I go about the busy work of Thanksgiving Day, I try to carry a sense of ‘There but by the grace of God go I’ along with me,” she wrote.
She concluded with the following message. “Just as sat enhances the perception of sweet, this drives home the awareness of ‘blessing’ even more.”
The Pioneer Woman airs new episodes Saturdays beginning at 10 a.m. EST on The Food Network.
