Henry Tran | Seneca & 3rd

Cocktail Recipe | Saint Revival

Welcome to Friday! Last weekend I concocted a tasty cocktail that we enjoyed throughout the long weekend. A friend told me that she had recently made a Corpse Revival II and loved it. That drink calls for Absinthe which I didn't have on hand so I improvised and came up with something new.

Saint Revival

1oz gin

1oz Saint Germaine 

1oz Lillet

1oz lemon juice

2 dashes of orange bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake till frosty. Serve over ice. 

I added lavender stems to our glasses for swizzle sticks because it just started growing like crazy in my herb garden. Highly recommend...

Oh, and the above photo was taken on our porch over a game of rummy. For more photos of the things I'm eating, my cat and my adventures with Don on the weekend check out my Instagram page. My username is @itsmydarlin.

Lei Ann Shiramizu | Owner of Momo Boutique

Love love love everything about Lei Ann's style. Before taking her photo we talked for a long time about the style of Japanese women, both young and old. They aren't afraid to wear unique proportions and lengths that a lot of women here tend stay away from. In addition to this amazing jumper Lei Ann is wearing a Marimekko shirt, a favorite closet staple of mine. 

Lei Ann owns Momo Boutique in the International District with her husband. The next time you are looking for a gift for someone, go to Momo. Her shop really does have something for everyone and she supports local companies as well as bringing things in from overseas that might otherwise be hard to find here. In Hawaii, where Lei Ann is from, eclectic stores like hers are called Hapa Shops.

Lower Queen Anne

Derek David Potts | Seattle Center | Folklife

Unbelievably Good Vegan Carrot Cake with Macadamia Nut Cream Frosting

This cake is crazy good! I did a little dance around the apartment when I tasted it. It has the consistency of boxed cake but with a fresh baked at home flavor instead of all the processed flour and sugar that you get with the store bought stuff. And it's super easy to make! The cook time would probably have to be adjusted a bit but I think this would also make a great layer cake if you doubled the frosting recipe. I'll try that next time.

I adapted my recipe from one I came across on a really great food blog called Love and Lemons

Ingredients

cake:
1 1/4 cups white spelt flour
1 cup gluten free all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (I make mine at home using this recipe from My New Roots)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup (melted) coconut oil
2 cups grated carrots (about .75 lb carrots before grating)

frosting:
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (soaked in water overnight or for 8 hours, drained and rinsed)
1/2 cup cashews (soaked in water overnight or for 8 hours, drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

To make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 9 x13 baking pan with coconut oil.
If you have a food processor definitely use your grating attachment to speed up the grating process. Set aside grated carrots.
In a large bowl use a whisk to combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
After melting the coconut oil  down to a liquid state in a double boiler or in the microwave add honey to the warm coconut oil to make it more of a liquid consistency.
In another bowl, whisk together the applesauce, almond milk, vanilla, almond extract, coconut sugar and the melted oil and honey mixture.
Mix the liquid ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.
Fold in the carrots and stir until just combined.
Add cake mixture to the greased baking pan.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cooking time will depend on your oven and elevation but mine was done at the 35 min mark.
Let cake cool completely before frosting... this part is always torture for me...

To make the frosting: Drain and rinse the macadamia and cashew nuts then combine the nuts and all other frosting ingredients into a high speed blender (I use a Blendtec and I use my smaller jar attachment). Blend on a low speed till mixed and then increase speed until the frosting is a smooth consistency. You will have to scrape the side with a spatula a few times between blending.  I haven't tried to make this frosting in my food processor but I imagine that you could use that instead if you don't have a high speed blender. Place the blended frosting in the fridge while the cake cools. It will come to a much more frosting-like consistency once chilled.  Then, once the cake has cooled and the frosting is chilled slather that tasty frosting all over the top of the cake and dig in!

Enjoy, and accept that you might take the whole thing out sooner than you might like. But if you do have leftovers, store them covered in the fridge.

Misako Sakimoto | University District Street Fair

Elema Aryshtaeve | Downtown Seattle

Ted Wideman | Lower Queen Anne

Looove this outfit! When we spoke Ted told me he lives up on Capitol Hill. For how much walking I do all over the neighborhood I'm always surprised when I meet a longterm Capitol Hill dweller who has great style but I have never crossed paths with them before. Looking forward to running into Ted again on the hill.

Shoreline resident Lily Bird

Amy and Ely York | Ballard Farmers Market

Olympia residents Melanie Smith and Kalie Rose

Lower Queen Anne

Bold floral at SIFF Opening Night

Filmmaker Bret Fetzer | My Last Year With the Nuns

Bret's film My Year With the Nuns is playing at the Egyptian Theater on Wednesday the 21st and Monday the 26th. It's a coming of age film set in 1966 Capitol Hill, Seattle. Really excited to check this film out.

Olivia Kim | SIFF Opening Night Gala

My favorite outfit of the night. Such a perfect skirt. 

SIFF 2014 Opening Gala

There were so many great looks at SIFF's Opening Night this evening. Here's a few for you. All of the photos that I took tonight will be up on the SIFF facebook page in the next day or so. Keep and eye out if I took your photo.

Holly King

John Ridley- writer, director and producer of tonight's film Jimi: All is By My Side

Megan Tucci

Olivia Kim

Trysta Kershner | Summer weather is here!

Sachi Kuwabata | Broadway Farmers Market

Happy Mother's Day

I love this photograph of my mom. I have it blown up and framed in my living room. My dad took this picture in Central Park back when they lived in New York long before my brother and I came along. What better day than today to feature my mom's style. 

If this dress were still around I'd snag it up from your closet in a heartbeat. Love you Mom!

Derrick Crespo and Clash

Temple attire in Bangkok

Thailand's Floating Markets

I could have spent days just exploring and photographing these markets. Boats serve as mobile food carts; some women even prepare meals like noodle dishes and soups right there on the water. Shops line the water's edge and your boat driver pulls up to them so that you can peruse locally produced Thai goods. Such a special place.

Blanca Martinez and Cody Martinez | Fremont

Evanston St

Lio Bocalam

14th & Pine

Eleanor Petry and Claire | Daryl Ary

Eleanor is a hugely talented photographer here in Seattle. You can find her work here.  Claire has been on the blog a few times. She has such a unique sense of style. We run into each other every year or so and I get to see how her style has evolved.  The painting is by Daryl Ary, if you live on Capitol you are no doubt familiar with this homeless artist that paints and sells his work outside Dick's Drive In and City Market.