An inspired mid-winter dinner

Stylist Jenn Elliott-Blake

At the end of January, when Seattle was still dark and hibernating, my friend and stylist Jenn Elliott-Blake and I decided to get people out of their homes into my studio for a simple mid-winter communal dinner.

I shared recipes from that event on the blog before, but now I wanted to share images from that night with you. All the photos in this post were taken by our dear friend and photographer Dorothee Brand.

It was a night about Hygge.

Hygge banner by Julian Manchik

Hygge…

“The art of building sanctuary and community, of inviting closeness and paying attention to what makes us feel open hearted and alive”

This is what we went by. And in the process, many people collaborated.

My super talented friend Jenn Elliott-Blake designed and styled the table and the flower arrangements. Denim, leather, cotton, vintage flatware, wood… So much texture and all in a very minimal way. Jenn had the idea for leather pouches to hold the menus and our friend Keli of Dry Goods Design came to the rescue. The two of them stayed up late one night cutting and sewing leather. These two women constantly inspired me and I have learned so much from them.

The beautiful menus and the inspired Hygge banner were designed by Julia Manchik. One side the menu, the other a map of Seattle. Brilliant.

The cotton came from our favorite flower shop in Seattle Marigold and Mint. If you are ever in town, a must-visit.

Dorothee Brand photographed the entire event and of course, I cooked and taught along. We divided people into groups and everyone cooked part of the meal we ended up eating that night. I couldn’t have done it without Kathleen and Molly who assisted in the cooking that evening.

Seattle Farm Tables let us borrow the most beautiful rustic benches and San Juan Island Sea Salt Company donated little jars of flaky sea salt for all the attendees.

It was such a fun evening and the collaborative spirit keeps feeding me.

Some of the recipes for that night are here and here.

And there will be other events and inspiring collaborations.

More here.

Thank you to everyone involved. x