Pioneer Woman shares ranch tales

When Ree Drummond started a blog in 2006, she didn't know it would evolve into a career as a writer, photographer and television personality.

The star of Food Network's "The Pioneer Woman" visited Amarillo on Thursday as the featured speaker at the sold-out Power of the Purse Luncheon to benefit the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health.

Drummond was a major draw. More than 900 people attended this year's fundraiser, even more than when former first lady Laura Bush headlined two years ago, said Meagan Seymour, marketing specialist at the Institute.

Drummond returned from college in Los Angeles to her hometown in Oklahoma with intentions of moving to Chicago, but after meeting Ladd Drummond, she scrapped that plan. The couple married and moved to his ranch near Pawhuska, Okla.

"I was enamored with the country," she said. "I had a lot of things to get used to, but by the time I started raising my kids there, I was settled in."

The mother of four decided in 2006 to start a blog to share her family's day-to-day ranch life. She loaded it with photos of her kids and animals, including a sick calf the family nursed back to health.

"Raising kids in the country, I had always taken pictures of it," Drummond said. "My husband had grown up that way, so to him it was just the way it was done, but to me it was so special."

Over time, she became more dedicated to her photography and used photos as an approach to storytelling. Then about six months into blogging, she was cooking steak for her husband and decided to take pictures of each step she took, from putting butter on the grill to the first bite.

"People enjoyed watching the step-by-step process, even though not everybody needed to know how to sprinkle seasonings on a steak," Drummond said. "It was just fun to watch the process involved."

She gradually posted more recipes, and people responded to her approach. She began a food blog that took off and led to the eventual publication of her first cookbook in 2009. A few years later, she began starring in "The Pioneer Woman" with her family.

Drummond credits her career to her initial decision to start a blog, but she didn't realize how her endeavors would evolve from that first post.

"I blogged about things I was passionate about," she said. "I think that's always my No. 1 advice to anyone. … Do what you are passionate about, write about what you're passionate about and speak about what you love, because people will see the passion, the heart, is there. You won't ever go through the motions if you do what you love."

Power of the Purse raised about $180,000 for the Laura Bush Institute, which will go toward operating costs and to fund its Girl Power program, Seymour said. The money will also fund grants for gender difference research.

"When we began the Laura Bush Institute, we said we were going to have a seat at the table for this agenda to incorporate sex and gender into clinical medicine and make sure that men and women, boys and girls, are given personalized health care," said Dr. Marjorie Jenkins.