i just love the smell of pine!

it is bachelorette week here on love, the porters!!  my friends & i had so so much fun in breckenridge celebrating our dear bachelorette, cari, & her adorable fiance, aric.  they are a fabulous couple.  she's one of my best friends in the world & he treats her like a queen.  i am so excited for their wonderful winter wedding in a few shorts months.  so this was a fabulous way to start out the party...

our home for the weekend was a gorgeous "big ass mansion" on the mountain in breck.  a fabulous kitchen {pictures coming!}, hot tub in the back yard, & a view that will take your breath away.

 {home sweet vacation home}

{the view!}

so i must tell you the story about the "big ass mansion":  in our gigantic three-story home, we each had our room.  & it was the first time any of us had slept with no husbands &/or no dogs in quite some time.    & with the gorgeous mountain air, we all slept with our windows open.  so the house made noises.  

night one: success.  night two: not so much.

i wake up to a phone call in the middle of the night from cari.  "are you awake??  come downstairs right now. [click]"  have i ever mentioned i do not like being woken up from a good sleep?  so i go downstairs.  all of the girls are already in cari's bed.  & they are freaking out.  "oh my gosh... i heard a nosie!  i think someone is in the house!"  

for the first time ever, i was the calm one.  {seriously, first time EVER.} 

i explain that i doubt anyone is in the house since nothing has happened yet.  but if we are going to stay up worrying about it, we should call the police.  we call & explain the situation, so they send some people out.  a few minutes later, we get a phone call from the police trying to figure out which house it is, to which armstrong replies "the big ass mansion".  to which the officer responds "oh, right.  THE big ass mansion."  haha.  love him already.

so they come in & check everything out.  find nothing.  & the officer chick was super nice to explain it was probably a bear on our back patio, etc etc.  &, of course, armstrong takes pictures so we can always remember our midnight excursion.  yesssss.

in addition to hanging out with the attractive police guy & his buddy in the middle of the night, we had so much fun around breckenridge!  we enjoyed a beautiful morning on the patio of a coffee shop before heading to our spa date...

we did a little shopping in this quaint mountain town & enjoyed some delicious burgers...

we took advantage of our back patio with happy hour & a rainy afternoon in the hot tub...

{the adorably pregnant ladies are drinking alcohol free wine :) }

& celebrated our wonderful bachelorette all weekend.

love you, cari marie!!  check back for more fun to come on the blog this week!

love love,

kjp.

snickerdoodle brownies :)

snickerdoodle brownies.

yep.  cinnamon & sugar soft brownie goodness.

i ate an entire one.  & loved every cinnamony/sugary bite.

happy friday, friends.

love love,
kjp.

thankful thursday - the fabulous bachelorette.

i am incredibly thankful for our awesome bachelorette weekend in fabulous breckenridge... gorgeous fall weather... lovely ladies... two of my best friends... one fantastic bride... & the celebration of an amazing couple.

still lots & lots of pictures to come.  i promise.

when i stop soaking up every minute with my husband & puppy :)

i hope you can think of something today for which you are thankful.

love love,
kjp.

the cookie fairy!!

when julie came to town, she suggested i try making some chocolate earl grey cookies.  she really is so much more creative than i, so i went for it!  i used my chocolate red wine cookie recipe, brewed some extra extra strong earl grey tea, & replaced the red wine with my super strong earl grey tea.

let me tell you what... these are pretty darn delicious.  at first bite you think, these are delicious soft chocolate cookies.  but then wait for it... no, seriously, keep waiting...  BAM!  earl grey tea in your mouth.  it's the weirdest thing!  it's the latest a flavor has ever arrived.  craziness.  & so addicting.

i could eat two right now.  & i almost never eat something i bake.

oh yes, since julie byrd created the cookie, the cookie fairy sent her a few.

love love,

kjp.

a play on chili's enchilada soup.

having a pretty kitchen really does make me want to cook more.  stand in a gorgeous kitchen for an hour?  ok!

& the gorgeous rainy weather really makes me want to eat soup.  i love soup!  i also have a small love for chili's.  not as much as armstrong, but i do love some chili's :)  so when i saw a pin for chili's chicken enchilada soup on pinterest, it was food love at first sight.

ps don't let the long list of ingredients fool you.  this is super easy & not expensive.  also, don't let the velveeta turn your nose up either.  i am, in general, not for processed cheese unless queso or grilled cheese is involved.  but i cut the original recipe's amount in half & it does add a good flavor & creamy texture. this soup makes a gigantic amount, so you really aren't eating that much processed cheese.  promise.

chili's chicken enchilada soup

adapted from: lindsey's luscious

2T evoo

1 T minced garlic

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 green onions, sliced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 quart chicken stock

1 c water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

8 oz tomato sauce

10 oz enchilada sauce

8 oz velveeta, cubed

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

salt & pepper

 6 small corn tortillas,  diced

1 lb chicken breast, cooked & diced

1 can corn

1/2 c shredded jack cheese

garnish with a fresh pico de gallo & tortilla strips

1. in your handy dandy gigantic dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat.  add garlic, both onions, & bell pepper.  saute  until tender-ish.

2. add the stock, water, boullion, both sauces, velveeta, spices, tortillas, chicken, & corn.  stir it all together.  bring to a boil.  then reduce heat to low & simmer for awhile.  i would suggest at least an hour.  soup really does get better the longer you let those flavors fall in love.

{by the way, the original recipe's author stated:

"most of the recipes that i found online called for one or two cups of masa harina to thicken the soup.  the store i was shopping in didn't carry that, so i got the brilliant idea to just chop up some corn tortillas & let them dissolve in the soup.  it worked perfectly & gave the soup great flavor... just like chicken enchiladas!"  

i thought that was pretty brilliant myself.  & i didn't want to search for masa harina.  so i went with it.  & enjoyed it a lot.}

3. in the last 5 minutes or so, add the jack cheese.  if you add it early, it can clump on the bottom of your pan.  i don't like that.  so i add it at the end.  

by the way, this is the perfect time to taste your soup!  need more salt or spice or water?  add it, friends!  soup is great in this way... you can always make it even better.

4. serve with your favorite homemade pico de gallo {chopped tomatoes, green onion, & salt!} & tortilla strips {you know you have to buy way more than 6 corn tortillas, so cut them into strips, sprinkle with salt, & broil on low until crispy!}.  

comfort food without too many of those comfort calories.  i bet you & the husband will love it.

love love,

kjp.

back from beautiful breckenridge!!

the bachelorette weekend in breckenridge was amazing!!  the mountains were absolutely gorgeous.  the cool days were so lovely.  celebrating wonderful cari & aric was fantastic.  & spending three entire days with two of my best friends was perfect.

i look forward to telling you all about it... once we all get our pictures uploaded to dropbox.  so it might be a few days.  but isn't technology grand?

hope your weekend was amazing too!

love love,
kjp.