Seattle Summer and Fresh Figs

It's summertime in Seattle. Summer officially kicked off last Saturday, June 21, with the nearby Fremont Fair and Solstice Parade, including a naked bike ride! I'll spare you those photos. You're welcome!

What I will share is a photo of three fully clothed humans - Mike (Bryce's Dad), Bryce, and I. Mike is our first summer visitor and, of course, we dragged him through the (Pike Place) market on Saturday morning. The crowd was crowded and the weather was great. This, from what I understand, is Seattle in the Summer.

Cookie Dough Date Bars

This is post #200 for my little old blog here! When I started Aloha Yinz Mangia back in 2010 I was flying high on the heels of watching (the movie) Julie and Julia for the first time and wanted to manifest my new-found inspiration by challenging myself to be adventerous in the kitchen. Here we are, just shy of 4 years later, and I'm still at it. The list of recipes I'd like to try is still a mile-long and, strangely enough, I just finished reading Julie and Julia (the book) this week!

Camp Blogaway 2013

Camp Blogaway 2014 is wrapping up today and I'm pretty bummed that I'm not there this year. I was so excited to go last year, although I never did any follow up posts to tell you all about it! Please excuse the delay, as 2013 was a bit overwhelming with working full-time, planning our own wedding, and moving from Hawaii to Seattle... At long last, here's the scoop on what goes on at a three-day-long food blogger camp.

Parents and the Pink Door

The last time that Carol and Mike were in Seattle was back in 1982, 4 years before I showed up to the party here on Earth. They came for a visit a few weeks ago. Within just a few hours of landing they ventured to the top of the Space Needle, posed near the Public Market sign at Pike Place Market, and we were off to dinner!

Lemon and Orange Chia Seed Muffins

Muffins! They're cake that you can eat for breakfast, what's not to like?

The best part of any food (song, smell, person, or place for that matter) is when you're hit over the head with a very specific memory of a happy place and time in your past causing a big, goofy grin to spread across your face. Lemon poppy seed muffins rock my socks and immediately transport me back to the vacations of my childhood in Florida. Our favorite breakfast spot was the Broken Egg on Siesta Key and their lemon poppy seed muffins were always a tasty treat to start my day.

All that being said, I can't remember the last time I had a lemony breakfast cake speckled with tiny seeds of happiness and I'm sure that I've never made them. These muffins are a collaboration brought to you by two friends of mine - Bob and Sally.