Food Network star, ice cream shop owner and cookbook author Ree Drummond is a certified celebrity in her own right. But she also geeks out for other stars just like everyone else.
TODAY Food recently caught up with the Pioneer Woman and asked her a truly character-defining question: If you could cook with any celebrity — anyone at all, living or departed — who would it be?
Like millions of Americans, Drummond is a huge fan of the HBO hit series "Game of Thrones." Of course she tuned into the series finale but the show's end hasn't dulled her obsession.
“I love anyone from 'Game of Thrones',” Drummond told TODAY. “But I’d probably like to cook with Tyrion Lannister. That would be my top choice.”
And yes she means the fictional character, not Peter Dinklage — the actor who played him for a decade (although we're sure she'd love to host them both) — who famously fought against prejudice with cynicism, wit and wine. Drummond loves to laugh in the kitchen and she doesn’t take herself too seriously, just like the head of the House Lannister.
But if "the Imp" couldn’t make it to a dinner date with Drummond, she would choose "Love, Simon" actress Jennifer Garner.
“I love Jennifer Garner,” Drummond said of the actress who is no stranger to merrymaking in the kitchen. The Golden Globe Award-winner even launched a “Pretend Cooking Show” on social media in December 2017. Though she often tries out "Barefoot Contessa" recipes, it's clear Garner knows her way around the kitchen and shares plenty of her own original dishes in new episodes.
Garner’s goofy videos have even earned the star a visit to Ina Garten’s home, where the duo cooked together, wandered around the garden and chatted over coffee. Apparently, Drummond would’ve loved an invitation to that happy playdate.
Beyond her favorite actors, the Pioneer Women shared that she has nothing but respect and admiration for many of her fellow celebrity chefs.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Ina Garten,” Drummond said. “She has the same effect on me that probably she has on a lot of people. She just puts me at ease. As an early home cook, I learned a lot from her, too.”
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While promoting her most recent cookbook, Garten reiterated that “store-bought is fine," when it comes to many ingredients. Drummond agrees wholeheartedly with Garten’s approach and said that this semi-homemade philosophy is one of the most important things she's gleaned from the Barefoot Contessa.
“I really think my number one piece of advice for a beginning home cook is to not expect yourself, not put the pressure on yourself, to make every single component of every meal from scratch,” Drummond, who recently launched her very own line of ready-made sauces, said. “Making things from scratch is amazing and I love to do it, as well, but when you can find really high quality, really delicious tasting ingredients to help a meal along, then, don’t be afraid to try them!”
Drummond also said that she and Bobby Flay “go way back.”
“We did a 'Throwdown' together,” Drummond told TODAY of the Thanksgiving feast the pair created on an episode “Throwdown with Bobby Flay." “He kind of sets me at ease, too. I think I just like people that kind of calm me down.”
According to Drummond, cooking should be nourishing, delicious and fun, and she believes that despite their fame, both Flay and Garten have stayed true to those ideals.
“They just have the attitude that I tend to have when I cook,” Drummond said. “Just throw this in and throw that in and you don’t have to be so precise all the time. Just make it. Enjoy what you’re doing and love the people you’re making it for.”
