the great state fair of OKlahoma.

an ode to the great state fair of... OOOOOOOO-klahoma.

oh, i miss it...  the giant turkey legs, the dip & dots, the stuffed animals, the stuffing of my face with ridiculously horrible for me food, the crazy amount of toys... & enjoying it all with julie byrd & benny boo & emily & tristan too.

our first year at the donor party:

{turkey leg: arguably the boys favorite part.}

{cheers}

{it's abu!  tanky still plays with him.}

{scary rollercoaster.  

i was "mom" & held everyone's stuff & took the pictures.}

{even more scary.}

{julie & blake are brave!
he looks giddy.}

{love love}

& we are back for year 2!

{more turkey legs.  obviously.}

{my favorite pic from all of the fairs.
i love you julie, for letting me talk you into taking this picture.}

{HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!!!}

{pretty sure they are in love.}

{yay!!}

{GIANT stuffed animals!}

{fair games!|}

{balls?}

{more scary rollercoaster!}

i hope all of you oklahomans make it to the fair this year!  

miss you, julie byrd & benny boo & emily & tristan too.

love love,

kjp.

good morning.

many fabulous blog post ideas are in my brain.  but i haven't actually created them yet.

so on this beautiful thursday the Lord gave us, i say to you...

good morning.

love, the porters.

wedding wednesday # 10: registering secrets.

oh.my.gosh, our friends & family blessed us/spoiled us with amazing wedding gifts.  last night {& every other night that i cook/bake/sleep/shower...} i got to use some of my faves.  that got me to thinking - there are so many awesome things for which to register, i want to share some of my secrets with you.  {you have to read the whole thing.  the BIGGEST secret is last.}

#1. be true to your favorite things.

i love to bake.  {shocker, i know.}  thus i registered for a LOT of baking stuff.  & your loved ones truly want to get you stuff you love.

although i now have 7 cake stands, they make me smile.

this beauty is a one-piece double-boiler.

i have not learned to use it yet,

but come christmas candy time,

i will be a pro.

a huge & super heavy marble pastry board & rolling pin.
oh my... i'm in love.

#2.  shop local(ly).

there are fabulous reasons to register at at least one local shop: being green supporting local businesses, neat & original local flare...

these gems were used heavily at our housewarming/football party this weekend!
thanks, international pantry.

#3. think big & small.

do not be afraid to put a few big ticket items on your registry.  you never know.  maybe a group wants to get together & get you one huge gift.  maybe you have a super generous friend.  maybe your super rich great-step-aunt's mother-in-law's granddaughter wants to give you a big gift...  :)

our wine fridge.

so cool.

we need more wine in it, clearly.

but don't forget the small things either.  some of my favorite gifts were only a few dollars but bring a lot of joy.

olive picks.

condiments spoons.

pepper corer. 

enough said.

#4.  remember this is your husband's big day too.

give him at least one registry of his own.  give him complete control over one.  we went with home depot.  he geeks out about his new tools like i geek out about 7 cake stands.

how awesome is this tool bag?
{wish you could've heard me laugh the first time i said that out loud.}

#5.  two words: le creuset.

if you only take one piece of advice from this blog: REGISTER FOR A LE CREUSET PIECE.  seriously.  it will change your life {or at least your cooking life}.  most people would say if you have just one, get the dutch oven.  but it would be difficult for me not to say the skillet.  i use it literally almost every time i cook.  hence the water in it in this picture.

& have fun!  this is supposed to be fun, remember.  

what is your best registering piece of advice??

love love,

kjp.

tacos! tacos! tacos!

ok.  these were good.  seriously good.  blake's favorite thing i've made in awhile good.

but i'm not sure you can actually label this post as "recipe".  there was no starting recipe.  there was no measuring.  there wasn't even a ton of actual cooking.  yet it.was.so.good.

let's start with the outside:  i heated a few flour tortillas in my super awesome wedding gift tortilla warmer.  hard tortillas were another option, toasted in the oven.  a third option were chips to make a taco salad.

the beef:  as have almost all of my recipes began lately, i sautéed some onion until glistening beauty.  then added 1 lb of ground beef until brown.  then i added a packet of taco seasoning, of course, & some water.  heat away pretty beefy yummy-ness.

the veggies: i started by sautéing some more onions, julianne this time. added yellow bell peppers, orange bell peppers {these things are in the sweet category.  a nice change from red.}, & jalapenos!  evoo too.  oh wow.

the mushrooms: sliced mushrooms in a little red wine vinegar make anything more delicious.

the fixins: black beans with green chilies, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, sour cream, & cheddar cheese!  oh my, oh my.

my first taco looked like this:

blakey, no surprisingly, went with a lot of everything.  i wish i had taken a picture.  but we were too busy laughing at how unlikely it was for the taco to fold into a taco shape.  it was awesome.  

my second taco was a taco salad with a lot of veggies.  so many options!  i could've eaten a thousand.

more homemade mexican.  love it.

seriously though, share your mexican recipes.  we would love to try them.

love love,

kjp.

our football & house warming party!

what a fun fun weekend!  blakey & i had our official housewarming & boomer sooner/all football welcome party on saturday. it was a blast!  {i forgot to take pictures while people were here.  huge fail.  but these pictures will do.  next time, we'll take pics.  remind me, friends.}

{oh, how we miss owen field!

but football parties are way fun too.}

{blakey put up SOONERS streamers all above the living room.
a festive touch.
nice work, husband.}

{the shuffle table bar was a huge hit!

many games were played.

i lost.  blakey won.

the boys usually won.

friends hung out at the bar.

all blakey had dreamed.}

{strawberry cupcakes were another AACD.
they actually tasted quite scrumptious,
but the frosting & i battled all morning.
i wanted it to stay on the cupcakes.
it refused.
so ridiculously messy but delicious.}

{the t man got a new collar!
from a super cute "green" website,
olive green dog.}


{harry barker eton recycled dog collar.
ou red & white, of course.}

hope you had a fabulous weekend too!  a couple yummy recipes coming up this week...that were not complete disasters.  one was blakey's favorite recently.  i guess you'll have to check back soon :)

love love,

kjp.

where did i find that? blik. part two.

more of the awesome-ness that is blik!  {remember the pink grandfather clock?}

fun fun chandeliers to decorate our big huge wall.  i think they go quite nicely with the pink & black.  also, i told blake sorry for girl-ing up his living room.  he said you cannot girl up a 58" tv.  fair.

happy happy friday!!

love love,

kjp.