week 38: boomer sooner, little lady.

we won!  boy, it was ugly but we won.  & i didn't go into labor from all of the anxiety of the game.  wins all around.  nora belle & i had a little chat on friday discussing that most of our family was in dallas for the game, so it sure would be nice if she'd wait to make her appearance until after the game.  i am very grateful she listened.

blake & i cheered on our sooners at rachel & nate's.  we started the day with an amazing gameday breakfast of egg casserole, hashbrowns, & pumpkin coffee cake.  & of course my ou/tx favorite had to be enjoyed - corndogs!

our new kc friends, molly & nate, dropped by with their new little baby girl, poppy.  the sweet 4-day old is absolutely adorable.  so happy nora belle's first friend is already here!  

boomer sooner!  8 days until your due date, little lady.

love love,

kjp.

our beautiful new/old china cabinet!

earlier this year, blakey & i inherited my grandmother's china cabinet.  it was sitting in her dining room with her beautiful dishes & glasses & serving pieces for as long as i can remember.  & now it gets to be apart of our home.

i knew exactly what i wanted to do with it - paint it stark white with grey on the inside back wall & add new pretty hardware.  now, how to do that?  i haven't a clue.  that's where my husband comes in handy.

he bought this super awesome, thick white primer to paint over the super glossy brown.  we didn't have to sand it.  we didn't have to de-gloss it.  we just painted a couple of coats of the primer & that sucker was covered.  it was impressive.

{my handsome handy man}

{of course we left the fantastic wallpaper

my grandmother used to line the shelves}

& here it is!  our beautiful new/old china cabinet!  i feel like a grown up now.  we have a china cabinet.  with china in it.  & a piece of my grandmother is with us each day.

{hello, beautiful kate spade china!
so happy to see you after four years.}

love love,

kjp.

nora belle's nursery!

nora belle's nursery is finished!  it's bright & cheerful & makes me oh so happy.  so many people put so much love into this little girl's room.  thank you, friends & family, for helping create a wonderful space for miss nora belle.

{the perfect place to sit & read to our little girl.
& rock her to sleep.
& maybe fall asleep with her too.}

{tanky loves her room too}

the gallery wall is one of my favorite parts of the nursery.  it's full of so many wonderful things - paintings from two extremely talented & wonderful gals, a piece i remember hanging in my bathroom while growing up, beautiful details from her baby party like the amazing gold polka dot napkins, a piece of oklahoma, a piece of birmingham, & fingerprints from so many loved ones!

your nursery is ready for you, nora belle!

love love,

kjp.

week 24: fireworks!

happy fourth of july & happy 24 weeks!  this nora belly is growing bigger each & every day.  i am feeling her kick more & more, which is just as neat as it was the first time around.  she likes to party after i eat & just about anytime i actually sit down & rest.  it's so nice to know she's having a fun time in there.

blakey & i headed home to celebrate the fourth of july in oooooooklahoma!  the entire porter clan was there, including the adorable baby brooks.  we were so excited to finally meet the little man.  he's so long & skinny & happy to sleep most of the day.  & he has the most adorable little smile.  we are so excited to watch you grow, brooks wilson!

we also got to celebrate the fourth with caric & their little baby caric, coming january 2015!!  our little ones are going to be best of friends.  i cannot wait.

to celebrate parent-style, all four of us cooked up an incredible holiday feast - brats & sauerkraut & grilled corn & avocado salad & brown butter rice krispie treats!  it was oh so nice to spend the day with our wonderful friends.

& we bought a new car!  my first mom car.  can't you see me running around with all of the kiddos in this gem?  can't wait :)

love love,
kjp.

blood orange, kale, & feta salad with wild rice & walnuts.

holy moly, y'all, this salad is delicious.  it's sweet & acidic.  it's crunchy & soft.  it's salty & creamy.  it's pretty much my new favorite salad.  & blakey actually really liked it too!  {the turkey sausage i served on the side certainly helped the non-meat quality.}

so please add these ingredients to your grocery list tonight & give yourself an hour to get the wild rice cooked.  {who knew there was rice that could take an hour to cook??  that's a long time.}  & enjoy!

blood orange, kale, & feta salad with wild rice & walnuts.

found on: pinterest

adapted from:  pinch of yum

1 c uncooked wild rice, cooked

{i have no idea how much cooked rice this ends up equaling, hence the weird verbage}

1/4 c walnuts toasted in a little evoo, salt, & cayenne

4 c chopped kale

3 blood oranges, peeled, divided, & chopped

4 oz crumbled feta

dressing:

3 T evoo, divided

2 cloves minced garlic

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 T water

2 T apple cider vinegar

1 T lemon juice

1 T honey

salt & pepper

1. start cooking the wild rice now!  it takes forever.  cook according to the package directions.

2. this is also a good time to toast the walnuts.  400 degrees for 15ish minutes, stirring once.  set aside to cool.  don't stir it in the salad - that will make them not crunchy, which would be unfortunate.

3. dressing!  in a small sauté pan over medium high heat, heat 1T oil & garlic.  add onions & sauté until the onions start to get a little bit of brown.  transfer the onions & oil & garlic to a vitamix or food processor.  add the remaining 2 T oil, water, vinegar, lemon juice, honey, & salt & pepper.  process until creamy.  {this is so cool - onions make a creamy dressing!  again, who knew?}  taste your dressing & adjust seasonings as necessary.  

4. in a big ole bowl, stir together kale, blood oranges, & feta.  top with the dressing & mix well.  hopefully after all of this stirring & dish-doing, your rice will be done!  add it straight from the pan to the salad - this will wilt the kale just a smidge to create a great texture.  stir it up.  & finally top with walnuts when ready to serve.  enjoy, friends!

love love,

kjp.

happy 1st birthday, #littlemalcolmv & happy 30th, benny boo boo boo boo boo!

malcolm turned 1 this week!  & benny boo turns 30 in a few days!  so we threw a party.  a fantastic party, of course.  there was birthday cake & balloons & our family & a beautiful evening in oklahoma.  what more could you ask for?

{little man loved his navy & chartreuse themed party}

{a happy day for the vandaveers}

little man sent me the sweetest card a few months ago, asking if i would bake his first birthday cake.  i was so honored!  his mom & i decided upon a homemade nutella cake with a nutella & banana center layer & vanilla frosting & lots & lots of sprinkles.  yummm.  little man loves bananas.  & we discovered he loves cake too!

{navy & chartreuse sprinkles, of course}

malcolm is a very healthy eater, loving foods like bananas & avocados & beans.  so this was his first cake experience.  he wasn't sure at first, but he learns he loves aunt kenlie's cake.

{yummmmmm}

he was super sweet to share his cake with mom & dad.  no smashing, really.  just sharing.

{mom, dad, try this!}

{i think he liked it}

after cake, our evening was filled with wonderful friends, a cookout, a game of ladder ball, an intense game of 3-on-3 soccer, & a good game of getting thrown in the pool.  a lovely birthday party indeed.

{so happy caric joined in the fun!!}

happy 30th birthday, benny boo!!  & happy birthday, little man.  love you both.

love love,
kjp.

where my baking ideas begin.

people always ask me where i come up with my baking ideas.  i would not consider myself a "creative" person.  ever.  for any reason.  i am pretty good at recreating other people's creative ideas.  but i'm just more of an inside-of-the-box kind of girl.  so, where do my ideas come from?  all over!

pinterest has certainly been huge.  thank God for technology!  you bloggers are crazy creative.  thanks so much for that.

 {maple brown sugar cookies - 

my new favorite fall cookie.}

i love going to bakeries all over the country & discovering their amazing ideas.  i always appreciate flavor combination ideas.  oh, you make a neapolitan donut?  i can make that a cake bite!

 {neapolitan cake bites -

strawberry cake, vanilla frosting, & chocolate shell}

the seasons certainly inspire my creations.  i LOVE fall.  love love love love fall.  so maple, pumpkin, sweet potato, brown sugar, pecans, & the fall trinity - cinnamon, ginger, & cloves, are happily welcome in everything!  

& you, my friends, are pretty darn talented yourselves.  i keep your best recipes & share the creations here for all in birmy to enjoy.  thanks, loves!

{sarah's amazing peanut butter swirl brownies}

happy friday, friends!

love love,

kjp.

roasted tomatillo salsa!

now this was a super fun & ridiculously easy dish to make.  broil some ingredients for a few minutes, throw it all into a food processor, & keep mixing until it's delicious.  cheaper & far more tasty than store bought.  heck yes.

roasted tomatillo salsa

found on: pinterest

original recipe: pick fresh foods

1 T evoo

1 lb fresh tomatillos {about 8ish}

2 jalapeños

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 green onions, stems & scallions, rough chopped

1 bunch cilantro, including stems, rough chopped

1 lime of juice

1 tsp salt

1. to prepare a fresh tomatillo, remove the paper husk & rinse with warm water to remove the sticky coating.  place tomatillos & jalapeños on a foil-lined baking sheet, lightly sprinkled with 1 T-ish evoo.  

2. broil the tomatillos & jalapeños on high for about 8 minutes, flipping everything over in the middle, once the sides have started to brown.  remove when the char looks lovely.  de-seed the jalapeños at this point to make sure your salsa isn't crazy spicy.  

3. add roasted tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic cloves, green onions, & cilantro to the food processor.  pulse a few times until the tomatillos are well-processed.  add the lime juice & salt.  pulse a few more times until the salsa is consistent.  taste to make sure it's delicious.  enjoy!

{tanky was quite intrigued by the tomatillo husks}

love love,

kjp.

dinner with the residents & a blueberry corn salad recipe.

one night last week, i got to take a homemade dinner to the hospital for blakey & the residents!  it's always nice to take a hot meal to these awesome people who are working so hard.  they are super appreciative & let me join in their "family dinner".  & date nights with my husband are even fun at while he is busy working.

for the main course, blakey requested his favorite slow cooker shredded beef {recipe here} with pepperocini peppers to put atop kaiser rolls with havarti cheese.  yummm.

for dessert, i brought some of my favorite cookies as of late - brown butter sugar cookies!  it's a nice twist on the good ole sugar cookie.

ps have i told you my theory that in the next decade we are so going to make fun of this decade for our obsession with things like brown butter, pickling anything, & bacon on everything?  just wait & see.

since i always have to try out a new recipe on our friends, i went with a delicious seasonal salad i saw, of course, on pinterest - summer blueberry corn salad!  it's full of raw veggies & fruit with a tasty vinaigrette; exactly what i want to eat in the summer.  so get a tiny bit brave & try this creative new dish!

summer blueberry corn salad

found on: pinterest

original recipe: dining at my desk

 8 ears corn, freshly cut off the cob

{check out my tips here}

1 large cucumber, sliced into half moons

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 jalapeños, seeded & finely chopped

1 large bunch cilantro, chopped

1-2 pints blueberries

dressing:

3 T evoo

1/4 c red wine vinegar

juice of 3 limes

1 T honey

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

salt & pepper

1. in a large bowl, stir together corn, cucumber, onion, jalapeños, & cilantro.  gently fold in blueberries.

2. in a cute little mason jar with a lid, add oil, vinegar, lime juice, honey, red pepper, & seasonings.  shake it up until everything is mixed well.  pour on top of blueberry corn salad & gently stir it all together.  taste it to make sure it's delicious.  best if chilled & left to marinate for a few hours or even overnight.  enjoy!

love love,
kjp.

"promise me..."

{credit: tylerknott.com}

i ran across this quote on pinterest the other day & it really hit home.  we've been crazy busy at work lately with the summer crowd & special orders & employees being out of town &... crazy busy is, in the scheme of things, very good.  but i started to get so involved with just trying to get everything done that i had forgotten to enjoy it.

i love baking.  i love my job.  it truly is my dream job.  someone pays me to bake every day.  bake the things i actually want to bake.  & that is so so cool.

so friends - "promise me you will not spend so much time treading water & trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim."

love love,
kjp.

watermelon & tomato salad.

i'm pretty sure i could eat an entire watermelon every day.  they are my favorite fruit, by far.  & my favorite summer food.  {oooh, that is a big statement.  it might be fresh corn from the cobb.  or fresh tomatoes.  or fresh blueberries.  or homemade ice cream... ok ok, it is definitely in my top five favorite summer foods.}  so my love for watermelon continues this week with a slightly odd but incredibly tasty dish - a watermelon & tomato salad!

watermelon & tomato salad

original idea from: fitsugar.com

originally found on: pinterest

inspiration for what i actually made: southern living magazine

1/2 seedless watermelon, chopped to bite size

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped to the same bite size

1 red onion, sliced very thinly

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes or 1 jalapeno, finely diced

1 T sugar

salt & pepper

1/4 c evoo

1/4 c red wine vinegar

serving options: arugula {of course}, sliced avocado, feta

1.  chop up the watermelon & tomatoes to relatively the same size.  it's fun when you eat the salad & are surprised which bright red fruit you are about to taste.  by the way, i saw a pin on pinterest about how to cut up a watermelon {here} - pretty smart.  i had never thought to do it that way.  

2. in a big ole bowl, toss together the watermelon, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, & pepper.  sprinkle with sugar, salt, & pepper.  let this sit for at least 15-20 minutes.

3.  drizzle oil & vinegar on top.  toss.  & there you go!  delicious.  i served mine over a bed of arugula.  it would certainly be tasty with sliced avocado or crumbled feta.  but the simple green & red salad made me a happy girl.

love love,

kjp.