Yellow Aster Butte

We headed out to one of our ultimate favorite spots two weekends ago. We first found it years ago and this was our third time on it.

It is only a 4 mile hike in and it has great views for most of the hike. We started our hike in Friday evening, made it to the top and got a great camping spot nestled in the trees. There were a surprising amount of wildflowers still out which made for some really pretty views.

The next morning we made oatmeal and hung around while the sky cleared a bit. Then we started the Tomyhoi peak day hike from our camping spot. The clouds were playing with the sky and mountains in fun ways. The clouds were moving fast and shifting to reveal bits and pieces as we hiked.

After our little hike we hung around and picked tons of huckleberries to fill the little buckets we brought. We spent hours picking and sitting in the sun. Mt Baker and Chuckanut mountain came out as the day went on. We made some dinner and then packed up. Our hike out was in some great filtered ambient light that made all the flowers seem more colorful.

We got home around 11:30 pm, grabbed some burgers and fries and passed out.

A cake about wheels

I was asked to make a 1 year olds birthday cake last month, I asked for a theme and she said "he likes wheels" haha. I went back and forth on what to do and then I remembered his dad has a truck, so I really wanted to make his smash cake a truck. I think it turned out quite cute. Sadly he wasn't very into the cake. For the main cake I did things with wheels and some cute chocolate road signs to give it more depth and texture. I like the simplicity of it.

The truck cake was gluten free and the main cake was white cake with lemon curd filling.

Infinity Mirrors

The Seattle Art museum is having a Yayoi Kusama : Infinity Mirrors exhibit. Her work is funky, textured, whimsical and also quite deep. I've loved her orange pumpkin installations for years. My work sent out and email saying we could aquire free tickets so I jumped on it, fast.

Last week Joshua and I had our turn and it was really fun. I didn't tell him anything about the artist or her work which made me enjoy showing him even more.

Each installation was in a white box, you stand in line and got to go in 2 at a time for 30 seconds in each box to experience it. You could go back and redo them as many times as you like. Luckily I nabbed tickets near closing so we never had to stand in line for more than a few minutes. There was even something a bit fun about the anticipation while you waited your turn. It was also great to be the only people experiencing in that moment, didn't have to share space or be quiet. We really enjoyed the pieces and jumped back through to see most of them again.

 Then we went to dinner downtown and went home. Very fun, and cheap, date night.

Raw Cashew Mascarpone Cheesecake drapped in Blackberries

After work last week we decided to get over our very deep desire to watch a movie on the couch and bike over to Discovery Park. It was a beautiful evening and we wanted to pick blackberries.

It ended up being a great evening. It felt slow and active. We picked a ton, ton, of blackberries as the sun went down over the water then we biked home. I made a bunch of blackberry hand pies and put them in the freezer but we still had a lot left. I didn't want to turn on the oven so I tweaked an old recipe and love! how it turned out.

crust:
1 cup pistachios
1/2 cup hazelnuts
4 tbs ghee
pinch of salt

1   beat ingredients in food processor
2   mash the crust into a lightly oiled tart tint along the bottom and up the sides
    and place in freezer

topping:

2 cups blackberries

1/4 cup sugar

1   bring mixture to a simmer and let cook on medium heat until juice is reduced by half

2   let cool

filling:
1 1/2 cup cashews; soaked overnight or for at least 3 hours
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup coconut cream
3 tbs agave
1/4 tsp vanilla

1   place all ingredients in food processor and beat until smooth
2   pour into tart shell
3   cover with plastic wrap and let set in fridge for at least an hour
top with blackberries.

Jumping in the Fjords

Our last day in Norway was spent driving back near the airport. We were going to drive until we were about 3 hours from the airport and hope we found a good campspot. Along the way we ran into some very furry yaks, lots of cows that were very intrigued by us, a little local market, a long wiggly bridge, and fjords. I had been dying to jump into a fjord since we'd gotten there. Joshua found a little sign pointing to swimming a mile away, so we followed the random windy road and it led to a fjord with a little platform to jump off of. Perfect spot. There were a bunch of kids out on the ledge jumping in. Joshua, surprisingly, went up and hopped right in. Then the kids started counting to 3 in Norwegian so I had not choice, on 3 I jumped in too. The brackish water (part salt water part freshwater) was quite refreshing. We jumped in a few more times and dried ourselves in bit of sun. I was so smiley after that, it seemed a great little cap to the end of our trip.

That night after some driving back and forth we found a great tucked away campsite. It had a river nearby with a bridge over some rocks someone had built. We explored the area a bit, had dinner and wine, read books, and enjoyed our last bit of vacation.

Next morning we headed into the airport and flew home, via over Greenland which was stunning!

As soon as we landed back in Seattle we hopped a cab home, Joshua immediately! ordered tacos and we passed out. Great trip, great to get to spend such a large chunk of time with each other.

Greenland!

Sognfjellet Hut

The next day it rained in and out. We were driving the Sognfjellet road back because we loved it and made some pit stops along the way, hopped in and out of the car.

We were up for camping but came upon the most beautiful tourist hut. Joshua asked for a room and they had one! The building is an old building that they added onto. The addition is stunning and creates such beautiful shadows.

We took long warm showers, ate 3 course buffet dinner and breakfast all included in that little room.

The hut was nestled next to a lake and some mountains. We  wandered around in the cold for a bit and clambered up some of the hills to take in the light as the sun was setting. Back in the hut we drank coffee and wine all night while reclining on the couches and sheepskins. We played games, read books, walked around in thick comfy socks. We felt pretty fancy.