So in case you haven’t gathered yet, MAC is GF (gluten free.) Because of this fact, she couldn’t come over to bake with us, but we had video-conference with her.

First, we had to make a red velvet cake for Jen’s birthday. Hopefully since we’re with her today she won’t read this until tomorrow, on her birthday, thus not ruining the cake-photos pre-Birthday.

I would like you to know that we didn’t have enough red food coloring because the PW calls for an ounce. Which, as it turns out, is three and some change of those little ones that come with four colors. And who has more than one of those in their house anyways? I did, but only two, so the cake is kind of pinky-red, but it’ll do. Dear PW: Where do you get so much food coloring??

As we were finishing the red velvet we needed to make the Prune Coffee Cake.

This was the list of ingredients, so we could figure out what we needed to buy.

These are things that we needed to bring to Becca’s from Melissa’s house.

Things we learned while making PW’s chicken fried steak and fried cube steak:

1. It is extremely difficult to find 3 pounds of cube steak in any grocery store in L.A. I went to at least 3 before I found what I needed.

2. The only difference between fried cube steak and chicken fried steak, is that you dredge the cube steak in an egg mixture before dredging it in flour. Also, if you’re the PW woman, you repeat that step and dredge it in flour twice.

3. We are not chicken fried steak kind of people.

4. The boys really do not understand the meaning of “I don’t have time to play a game. I’m cooking.”

5. The rules to a new game called “Liar’s Dice” which can (sort of) be played in rounds in between frying your steak.

Enjoy some photos:

A few weeks ago, we tackled the Pioneer Woman’s twice baked potatoes along with chicken fried steak and fried cube steak. None of these recipes fall within our normal purview, and we’ll honestly probably never make them again. But, we signed up to cook the whole book and that’s just what we’re doing. So it was twice baked potatoes and chicken fried steak or bust.

Now, I don’t mind telling you, those twice baked potatoes nearly did us in. I don’t know what kind of magical oven the pioneer woman has, but ours was really not up to the task of producing a potato soft enough to scoop out the middle while maintaining a crispy outer skin.

It was honestly touch and go, but we persevered, and in the end they were decadent, delicious, and approximately 7 billion calories. But that’s okay. Our diet starts Jan 1st. When the PW challenge is over.

It’s the countdown to Thanksgiving. 4 days. Turkey has been bought. Recipes have been planned, ingredients have been divvied up, magazines have been examined, and we’ve watched Bobby and PW Throwdown. PW has won out, but not before B. Flay taught us that we need to add pomegranate seeds to our Brussels. Wednesday’s evening has been planned, along with making breakfast for Thanksgiving, and preparing for JT’s birthday party on Friday. A three-day friend filled affair that threatens to be the best Thanksgiving yet. With live coverage starting on Wednesday, you can expect that you’ll be seeing every step of the process. Tackling a few PW recipes while we’re at it, here’s to the week before the day that culminates all that Cor and I are, and all we’ve learned this year.