This giveaway is now closed. Thank you!

One of the best parts of blogging has been making some amazing friends along the way, friends who share a devotion to all things buttery, chocolatey and delicious! It is good to be a food blogger, folks. There’s no such thing as eating too much food…it’s research, it’s for the blog! (P.S. Everyone should have a food blog. It does wonders in regards to alleviating guilt about eating too many cookies!)

Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, is certainly one of those blogging friends I am grateful for…not only is she supportive and sweet and wonderful, but I love cracking open her cookbooks or visiting her blog and being immediately transported to a world of rich, decadent, buttery cooking.

Ree has teamed up with Land O Lakes to spread the word about their new Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt. I had the chance to jump on a conference call with Ree and a group of food bloggers a few weeks ago, where Ree shared her butter wisdom. For example, it takes 21 pounds (~2.4 gallons) of milk to make 1 pound of butter. Wowee!

Besides random tidbits about butter, Ree also shared her list of cooking essentials:

• Cast iron skillet (I have one, it’s buried in a box…I know, I know, it’s tragic! I should dig that thing out!)
• A good chef’s knife
• A slotted spoon (Ree told us about her slotted spoon, which was a wedding gift…she uses it every day and even had her name etched into the back)
• Dutch oven
• Flat whisk (Ree says she doesn’t even use a regular whisk.)

Do you have everything on Ree’s list? I didn’t…until the other day! Ree and Land O Lakes sent a cooking essentials gift pack, which includes both of Ree’s cookbooks, a slotted spoon, a pair of tongs and a flat whisk! Woohoo – the flat whisk was the only thing I was missing, so now I can give it a try!

And since butter is certainly one of Ree’s essentials, Land O Lakes also sent some of their Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt. The stuff is tasty. In fact, I caught my 4-year-old sneaking fingerfuls the other day. Okay, she’s always sneaking fingerfuls of butter…but this butter got the Anna seal of approval. It’s officially sneak worthy!

You can use the butter any way you normally would. Ree says she has really been loving it in Pasta Primavera. I’ve used it in several recipes and been very happy…but my favorite use so far has been drizzling it over fresh corn on the cob. Heaven.

It’s time for another Pioneer Woman giveaway, don’t you think?

One of you luck people will also win Ree’s Cooking Essentials Gift Pack! You will receive both of Ree’s cookbooks, a pound of the Land O Lakes Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt, a pair of Oxo tongs, a slotted spoon and that super awesome flat whisk! 

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post! Comments must be posted by Midnight PT on Monday, July 16, 2012.

Good luck and happy buttering!