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 & love to you!!

wishing much happiness & love to you on this february 14th!  i hope your day is filled with wonderful people & a delicious treat or two.

 {valentine's vanilla cupcakes}

 {conversation heart sugar cookies}

{hugs & kisses to you, sweet husband & valentine of mine}

love love,

kjp.

home with our grandparents

my sisters & i traveled home a couple weeks ago to visit each other, our dad, & our grandparents.  our wonderful & amazing 92 year old grandma & grandpa have been having some health issues over the last few months, so it was very nice to spend time with them & give them big hugs.

these two have taught me so much about love.  the way they take care of one another, put the other first, & still show their love, affection, & respect for each other all of these years later.  it's a true honor to learn from them about marriage & family.

{it was pretty darn nice to be home with family too.}

{my favorite meal of all time:

my grandma's gravy & urban's biscuits.}

{my new/old a.mazing hat

from ou's championship the year i was born.

i LOVE this hat.

thank you, grandpa!} 

 {true love}

love these two so much.

love love,
kjp.

besties in oklahoma.

i got to see two of my bests while in oklahoma!!   we dined at the incredibly delicious kitchen no 324.  mimosas, fried chicken pot pie, & a kale caesar salad.  if you've haven't been here, you totally should go.  then a walk around our oklahoma city home.  a little shopping, a little photo shoot, & much love & joy with friends.  these two beautiful faces were absolutely a highlight of our trip.

before we headed out, we also got to happy hour at pub w with caric!  it is always so nice to catch up with these two.

love love,
kjp.

ringing in 2014!!

this new year celebration was one to remember!  dinner & drinks & dancing with all 10 of the porters.  fancy dresses, fancy family, & good ole fun.  we began our evening with a delicious steak dinner at an oklahoma city staple - junior's supper club.  then to beau & cara's home for champagne toasts, lots of dancing, & the big ball drop.  a beautiful evening with so many of our favorites.  

{my handsome love}

{lisa & dave}

{justin & peyon}

{cara & beau} 

{the porters!}

{a toast with the lovely porter ladies}

{& the gents}

{happy new year to you!!}

we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

love love,

kjp.

christmas baking treats!

{christmas ale donuts with a christmas ale glaze!}

christmas time is a wonderful time in the baking world!  gingerbread & peppermint & eggnog.  salted caramel & spicy chocolate & even christmas ale.  all sorts of comforting tastes & aromas, twisted in a new & fun way.  one more reason to love christmas!

 {glazed gingerbread donuts}

 {peppermint marshmallows,

the original puppy chow,

& salted caramel puppy chow}

my favorite new experiment of the season was making homemade marshmallows!  oh my goodness, it was so much fun.  it made a huge mess, turning from a liquid into this big, white, fluffy goo.  at one point, you think there is no way this is going to turn into a marshmallow.  & then a few hours later, marshmallows!  i made peppermint this time, but it would be so fun to experiment with all different flavors like rum or whiskey for adult beverages.  i think yes.

 {eggnog cheesecake with a graham cracker crust}

 {mexican chocolate cookies with spiced whipped cream}

{homemade flavored whipped cream might be my favorite food of all time.}

{& my winter cupcake - salted caramel!}

happy weekend, friends!

love love,

kjp.