my first culinary school dish!

intro to cooking is my first pastry school class, & i am having a ton of fun in it right now.  we have worked on a lot of chopping & slicing &, well, more knife skills. 

last night, we started making soups!  in case you do not know, soups are one of my favorite foods, regardless of my sister's opinion on that statement.  {soup can, in fact, be a favorite food, julie byrd!}


clear soups were the topic of the day.  clear vegetable soup, minestrone, & french onion.  i LOVE french onion soup.  one of my favorites of the soups.  & this was a winner!

because i am so nice, i'm even going to give you the recipe!  but because i am so tired, this picture will have to do :) 

after step 3, the directions are to let cooking to boil a little of the sherry flavor off.  {really, the longer it cooks, the more delicious.}  then slice up the bread in 3/8" slices & broil to make the croutons.  when ready to serve, put some soup in a bowl, top with 1 or 2 "croutons", cover with cheese, & broil a few minutes to make it look like the above.  

& voila!  delicious french onion soup!

love love,

kjp.

fun in oklahoma! {part 1}

{the beautiful sunset driving from birmy to memphis}

blakey & i had so much fun in oklahoma!  it was such a blessing to spend time with so many of our friends & family, travel across a lot of states {7 to be exact}, eat a ridiculous amount of great food {including a lot of mexican}, & even get a little rest.

 {tanky was so good in the car the whole way!}

on our first night of traveling, we stayed in memphis with the kleinmans' at their adorable house!  they took us out to dinner at a fun local pub, where we got to try the house oktoberfest.  it's one of my fall favorites.

{wendy, mike, & blakey}

upon first arriving in okc, we had to stop by big truck tacos.  i miss it so much!  the pork verde taco...so so good.

&, of course, we drove by harvey - a wonderful home with so many memories & new friends.  {speaking of...happy wedding in 2 days rAshley!!!}

our first two nights were spent at my mom's house.  she made my favorite birthday meal for this special occasion!  her homemade lasagna.  oooh, i love it & her!  {i forgot to take a picture.  silly me.}

we also took another stab at strawberry cupcakes.  frosting: another fail.  but i think i figured it out: you can only use about 2 T of strawberries instead of half the bag, as the recipe calls for.  too much liquid.  but we threw some cream cheese frosting together & they were again delicious. 

that is only the first three days of fun!

love love,
kjp.

wedding wednesday # 13: a simply beautiful love.

 {love our engagement photos}

{courtesy of LSD Photography}

 a happy encouragement for today from our wedding....

colossians 3:12-14

"chosen by God for this new life of love, 

dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: 

compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.  

be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense.  

forgive as quickly & completely as the Lord forgave you.  

& regardless of what else you put on, 

wear love.  

it's your basic all purpose garment.  never be without it."

 {many thanks, shan, for sharing this part of our wedding!}

love love,

kjp.

this week's menu.

my husband works really hard.  & he has {we have} a huge love for food.  since he started residency, i have tried to make a few homemade meals each week for my love.  fast forward to pastry school starting & this task is a little more difficult.

my idea is to make two or three or four meals at the beginning of the week, so blakey has something {hopefully delicious} to eat for lunch & dinner all week.  monday was my day off, so week 1 is a success!

{your menu for the week, my dear:

1. chicken spaghetti: red casserole dish.  heat individual portions in oven or microwave.

2. bean, cheese, beef, & rice burritos: heat individually in microwave.  add sour cream, hot sauce, salsa as you please.

3. turkey, salami, & pepper jack sandwiches: individually wrapped on bottom shelves.  add mustard, tomato, jalapeno, banana peppers...as you please.

love you!

kjp}

ps the burrito recipe is, shockingly, from the pioneer woman.  a super easy, super manly dish.

OVERVIEW OF MY FIRST DAY:
I. oh.my.gosh, i am back in school
     A. i have a school bag & text books
     B. i will be purchasing the following school supplies
          1. a 3-ring binder
          2. notebook paper
          3. 4x6 notecards
     C. i have homework
     D. syllabus day {still} kind of freaks me out
II. once i get over the initial shock of syllabus day, i think this is going to be awesome.
III. my name is no longer at the beginning of the attendance sheet.  more like 16/26 of the way through.
IV. our chef instructor said to text him if we are running late.  that is so cool.

love love,

kjp.

first day of pastry arts school!

it's here!  today is my first day of pastry arts school & i am super excited/nervous/anxious...

so you can share in my excitement, please enjoy these pictures of our amazing (AMAZING) uniforms we will be wearing 5 nights a week.

much more to come about school!

love love,

kjp.

railroad park # 2.

i have a little crush on birmy's new railroad park.  the site of downtown buildings with fields of grass makes me smile.  one of the super neat things about this particular combination is the array of people that are brought to this area.

on tanky & my day-of-fun at the park, we decided to sit on a park bench {yes, we.  he chose to sit in my lap on said park bench.  all 48lbs of him.  a-dorable.} & watch.  my heart melts...

{the cute couple around our age walking their big puppy}

{a family of four has a nice evening picnic}

{a new mother & father let their little boy run around in the grass}

{kiddos play with a balloon...& subsequently let it fly into the sky}

{my tanky on my lap}

{two friends enjoying the sun}

{free wifi for the business folk}

{a couple walking hand-in-hand}

{a mother helping her daughter peddle up the big hill}

what a beautiful place to live.

happy friday.  do something fun with someone you love this weekend.

love love,

kjp.