The Innkeeper hits the town to see Steamy Kitchen

Brownies aren’t the only thing I’ve been creating from scratch this year. It took us about six months of spinning in circles to turn our house into The Old Hen Bed & Breakfast. During this time, we designed everything  from the B&B interior design. marketing, menu, the fire pit, brochures, river path and so much more… all from scratch too. Needless to say, I haven’t gotten out much this year!

I was finally able to sneak out this week to a foodie gathering in honor of Steamy Kitchen foodie blogger, Jaden Hair, for her new book, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight’s Dinner .

When you get lost it’s an opportunity to meet someone new, a gas station attendant.

Of course, not until I was able to get myself adequately lost between I-90 and Queen Anne Hill and back to I-90 and again Queen Anne Hill did we actually find Bustle. I’m so glad that I had invited my mom because the saddest of situations becomes a gigglefest with her along for the ride and that makes every stupid turn more fun.

Bustle on Queen Anne

Via a detour through China Town, we found our way back to Bustle on Queen Anne, a hip new coffeehouse, loaded with French pastries, sandwiches, beer, wine and personality. I got to meet one of the owners, Jimmy Curran, who was a perfect host. Be sure to check out Bustle… just don’t get directions from me.

Raspberry Almond Mazarine Tart

We arrived 20 minutes late and I turned in my dessert entry. I made a Raspberry Almond  Tart which received raves from fellow foodies. I brought home about a quarter of it and the leftovers were gone in no time. Yummy!

The big winners were the creators of the flavored butters (L) and Swedish chocolate cookies (R).

Congrats, fellow foodies! I’m sorry for the poor pictures, I forgot to bring my camera so I had to use my iPhone.

Mom was excited about the gift bags. We do love gift bags! We morph into Hoops and YoYo when we see them.

Once we chilled from our big adventurous drive out to Queen Anne, we chatted with some lovely people. This was our first offline foodie social though, so it was hard to resist saying LOL and BTW instead of actually laughing out loud or saying “by the way.” Help! I’ve become a social media geek and can’t get out!

Mingles and munchies! Jimmy from Bustle says a few words.

Best coffee ever and my own copy of Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, ready for Jaden’s signature.

With the hustle in the Bustle, I completely forgot to ask Jaden for a picture together, so until we meet again I have a stunt photo to insert here…

Jaden & Deanna

Yep, that’s us. Practically BFF’s with a little cropping and cutting. Really, Jaden was fun and sweet as could be. I’m so excited for her as she take the next steps in her foodie adventures!

Bella Cupcake Courtue cupcake wrappers by Carrie Middlemiss

After the treats, a Q&A with Jaden and prizes, we ended the evening with a gift exchange. I was so excited to walk away with a new product that I’ve been wanting to try! Bella Cupcake Courtue cupcake wrappers. Check these pretties out!

Thanks ever so much…

You can buy your pretty little Bella Cupcake Couture cupcake wrappers here! Thank you, Carrie!

Also, a huge thank you to Jaden Hair for specifically choosing “sunny” Seattle to visit on her book tour and to Keren Brown from Frantic Foodie who put on the event. What a fun night!

Update: Jaden was on CBS, The Early Show on December 4, 2009!