Suuuuuutra

Sutra was so amazing! I've been getting nagged by Jenna for a long time to go, but only recently made it there. Bad Bethany! I should have gone much sooner.

Sutra is a cozy little vegetarian restaurant with a funky cool atmosphere. The walls are painted w/ vibrant colors that I would want in my house if I could get the energy to paint.

They have scheduled seatings with a fixed menu. If you want a vegan meal, let them know when you make the reservation - you totally need reservations. It takes about 2.5 hours for the meal. It was a very animated environment, which is fun for groups. At the same time, it is easy to filter out the conversations and be all romanticky if you want.

We sat at the bar, which gave us the opportunity to see all of the prep action in their open kitchen. Well, yours truly saw it through a haze of wine - I'm a lightweight when it comes to wine, doncha know.


It was blazing hot when we arrived as it has been for weeks now. It was nice to have some frozen grapes before dinner started. If you haven't tried frozen grapes, do it. They are like a mini popsicle.
Zucchini, Avocado, Sesame, Basil, Fresh Cayenne Napoleon with a Tomatillo Nigella Sauce. Mmmmm! As you can see, the dinner is progressing nicely.
Chioggia and Yellow Beet, Sea Bean, Cucumber, Heirloom Baby Lettuce Salad with a Lemon Ginger Hempseed Dressing. Very delicious and fresh - It was assembled right before we ate it. The sea beans were interesting and salty tasting.

House Smoked Porcini Cashew Cheese Stuffed Local Anaheim Chiles with Spinach and Rainbow Chard Saag served with Coriander Basmati Rice and a Bing Cherry Parsley Chutney. The mushroom cashew cheese in chiles were incredible. I could have eaten a pile of them. The rest of the entree was great too, but I can't stop thinking about the chiles. Must try to replicate.

Flaming Fury Peach Torte with a Pecan Fig Crust and a Vanilla Bean, Nutmeg, Coconut Ice Cream. Oooh, it was like a pineapple upside down cake w/out the cake part. I really loved it because it was satisfying w/out being filling. The perfect ending to an amazing meal. Sutra - I shall return!

Now I'm off to eat a tofu salad sandwich while I dream of Sutra.

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Here is Tubs, taking a break from trouble making. You can sort of see Chippy in the background on some laundry. It's cat laundry, so that's ok. Like I could stop them - well, maybe if I put it away. Nah, too much effort.

Guava Love is quite an experience, let me tell you!

Many many thanks to the talented Guava for crocheting me this awesome kitty hat and sexy glovelets for PIF! Aren't they gorgeous? I need them because Andy keeps the house like a walk in freezer during the winter. Now I will be able to knit, snack, and draw up yurt plans while I watch TV or listen to books on tape.

I'm modeling them in a blueberry field near Mt. Si. Perhaps it was a bit hot that day for a hat, but sometimes it is so hot that one hat can't make a difference. I was there on a meetup for the Seattle Veg Activity and Adventure group on meetup.com.

(I got my hair chopped, around 8 inches. All this nasty 90 degree plus weather we've had forced me to do it.)

Mt. Si was our backdrop for the u-pick blueberries. It looks like I took a blurry pic, but I didn't. It looked like that in real life because of the heat.


As if blueberry picking in the heat wasn't enough, we went on a hike afterwards at Twin Falls State Park. The hike was along this river.

On the way back along the trail we took advantage of a swimming hole. The water was like ice, but somehow I made it in. Not everybody did.

This is me jumping off a rock. It took me forever to get past my fear because you had to run off the dry mossy part and push off from the rock where the moss ended. It really freaked me out because I thought I'd slip and crack my head. I don't want to share my precious vegan blood with a rock.

Once I was back in the frigid waters, I just didn't have the strength to swim upstream to this much easier jump. It was higher up, but better because you were jumping straight down. No running necessary. This is Andy in action. Not the yellow cat, the jumper.~~~~~

This is Tubs earlier this summer. He looks sort of crabby because I'm disturbing his nap.

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PS. Jenna, I will post on Sutra soon. You were right, it was fabulous!