You know I like my (steak) chicken fried

In case you're living under a rock, here's The Pioneer Woman's link. I had been perusing her blog for quite some time when my mom surprised me with her cookbook for Christmas.  Love it! She takes you through step by step without leaving imperative information out. Many cookbooks don't smile kindly to the beginner in the kitchen. They use terms I've never ever heard of and I end up having to google how to do it. I shouldn't have shared that. I guess you've figured out by now that I don't try new dishes often.

I have an excellent excuse, though! My husband is a pretty darn good cook and he enjoys doing it- now why would I strip him of this joy for a single night?

Well, he works pretty hard, too. That's why I decided to surprise him with some good ole comfort cookin'. Enter Pioneer Woman Recipes:

Chicken Fried Steak and PW's Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I started off with the potatoes.



This is when I learned that you should probably take off the blue wrapping of the peeler so it works better ;)



Next ya got boil em!



Then drain and add all the yummy extras. Then voila!



Oh, yeah...don't forget to mash them- like I forgot to take a picture of the finished potato product. This one will have to do, but I swear...this was one tasty treat!

Then it was time for the Chicken Fried Steak...and then the gravy, which used to make me shiver in my boots. I was scared to attempt it. My Mimi showed me how once, but that was a long time ago and I've slept since then. Never had I ever tried to make gravy by my lonesome. Anyway, I'm skipping a step. The following are the steak photos:

You'll want to get some plates ready and then get ready to get your hands dirty! You'll need all this and then some-



But all that mess will create these-



After the meat is cooked, PW says to drain the grease and put it off to the side. I did so, but I didn't have nearly enough. I did what any good cook would do, I broke out the bacon!



The bacon helped create sufficient grease for the gravy and also served as a nice addition to the mashed potatoes. Now, add flour, milk,  salt, and pepper and you've got yourself a meal.



Bon appetite!





Can you believe I cooked all that on that old school stove?

Which reminds me, hey land lady...what happened to that new stove/oven unit you were going to install?! Oh, right...The whole world doesn't read my blog.

But the whole world reads The Pioneer Woman's, though. Go check her out!
Happy Cooking,