Books and Balls

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Monday night The Pioneer Woman ^[2] was in town for her book signing tour. So the night before the signing, I worked on making her a little treat. I thought it would be nice to bring her something sweet to snack on while she signed away. I decided on cake balls. But, made them smaller than usual, so they could easily be eaten in one bite. I was right in the middle of finishing them when I received an unexpected invitation for dinner. Pioneer Woman (PW), was already in town with her sister, Betsy and friend Hyacinth. They were going to dinner and invited me along.

Ummm… decision time. Can I make it to dinner in an hour? I’m not dressed. My hair is wet and has been wrapped in a towel all afternoon. (Don’t ask.) And the restaurant is at least 30 minutes away. Or should I stay home and finish my present for her like a reasonable person. I think you know what I picked. And dinner was fantastic. I’m completely glad I went, because there was simply no time to chat Monday evening as there were hundreds of people in line to see her hours before she even arrived.

I paid the price late Sunday night though, because I had to finish assembling the cake balls and take pictures of them. Plus, I had a post I wanted to put up. And, that’s when I found out my camera was broken. So, no post and no pictures. Luckily I borrowed a camera (Thanks Ted) Monday afternoon so I could take these photos.

Okay, back to the cake balls. You see, I didn’t just want to bring her a box of balls. I wanted to make them a little special. So I stuck a stick in them.

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And came up with this to accessorize them…

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What are they you say?

Well, they are teeny-tiny, little, itty-bitty…

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miniature Pioneer Woman Cook Books.

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Complete with inside pages. Yes, you can say it. I know. I’m crazy.

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But look how cute they are.

The inside is made using her chocolate sheet cake recipe ^[8]. If you want to use it to make them, follow the basic how-to for cake balls here ^[9], substituting PW’s sheet cake and icing. Bake the cake and cool. Make the frosting and let it sit in a bowl, covered overnight to thicken. I used about half of the frosting to mix in with the crumbled cake and it worked out great.

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A snack pack of her book in paper back.

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And all wrapped up.

Now, off to the signing.

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I met my friend Lori there.

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And my friend Meimi and her friends.

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I even made some new ones. Pam is on the right. She’s a hoot. We all waited together and had a blast.

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There were people everywhere. Hi Robin ^[16]! Hey, that’s a nice camera.

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After reading Ree’s recaps from her previous signings, I expected to see lots of smiling faces.

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Everywhere… everyone was so happy to be there to meet Ree. She has that effect on people. Me included.

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I expected to see lots of adoring fans. Aren’t these two ^[20] the cutest.

But I didn’t…

I didn’t expect …

this…

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or this…

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Something weird was happening. I found myself on the other end of the camera throughout the night.

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And it was a completely unexpected treat to meet so many people that love Ree and also visit my little website. And just about everyone I met had even made cake pops. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. The evening was very surreal.

Here are some more photos from the night. I tried to get pics (Thanks Lori) of all the people that asked for photos so I would know I wasn’t dreaming the next day.

But wait…

I was here for a book signing. I had books to be signed.

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Everyone received post it notes to write their names on … it made things go faster since there were so many people.

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Ree is a machine. Signing, and spinning pens and pages. Even Betsy and Hyacinth were swamped. Seriously, I think they all signed books for at least five hours. Non-stop. And all with a smile.

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When it was my turn, I kneeled down beside Ree and looked up to find several cameras taking our picture together. I think that’s why I look like a dork. Disbelief behind those cheeks.

And … P.S. – I’m still short.

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All I can say on this one is …… paybacks…

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Just kidding … I heart you PW.

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And, you too guys. Hope you all had fun while you were here. I did.