Visiting WA, a Wedding, and the Great Outdoors
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This past weekend was so nice. If you’ve been following along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, you know we went to one of our favorite places; Washington (around the Seattle area, where I grew up).
We visited family, attended my husbands’ cousin’s wedding and explored the great outdoors. I also wrote down 5 new recipes which I can’t wait to make at home. Here’s a peek into our trip. Every time we visit, our relatives make us feel so welcome and at home. A huge thank you to each of you :).
First: the wedding (I don’t think I’ve ever shared a wedding with you)! The church where the ceremony was held is gorgeous. The courtyard was lovely and surrounded by enormous blooming bushes.
Diana is gorgeous and her dress was timeless.
Are you ready for a little scandal? We could all use a little scandal once in awhile and I was so happy that I got this shot 😉 …
Then we headed off to the reception which was very classy and elegant.
Tulips everywhere!
The brides flowers were beautiful. Anyone know what these are called? I want them growing in my yard!
The food? Fabulous. Tender steak, flaky and juicy salmon with plenty of healthy veggies on the side. It was a feel good meal ;). If I were alone in the line, I would have gotten 4 slices of salmon. Yum!
The wedding cake was stylish but the inside of the cake really blew my mind; sponge cake studded with walnuts, a layer of poppyseed cake, thick layers of crunchy meringue and coffee infused buttercream frosting. Take a look!
The dessert table was incredible and ultra impressive.
The waffle tower was my favorite. Such a clever way to arrange them! P.S. I have an easy waffle cake recipe here.
We also got to spend time with family; eating and chatting it up. I am so blessed with great relatives both on my side and my husbands side of the family.
One of the best things about this trip was exploring nature near the beach and hiking up a mountain to take in that clean mountain air.
This totally took me back to my childhood; looking for shells and little crabs on the beach. My son loved it!
And so did I.
We also did a little chilling on the front porch. I should do this more often! Maybe if we all do it, we can make it cool again? What do you say?
P.S. Stay tuned. I’ll be posting another recipe tomorrow that I know you will love!
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
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hi Natasha. i was wondering what is the recipe for the cake that’s on the dessert table picture 3, the cake in the middle that’s been cut into little squares? looks so delicious. i’ve been asking my mom to bake a Ukrainian cake for so long but she doesn’t know what cake i’m talking about. lol. please help =).
I wish I knew, but I had nothing to do with that fabulous dessert spread 🙂
ahhh =(. ok but do you know at least the name of that cake?
I don’t, sorry,…
Natasha – Where did you guys go on a hike to? I don’t recognize the view from the picture of your husband & son and would love to go there!
Kitti, this picture was taken on the top of Tiger Mountain in Issaquah after they did a 4 mile hike to the top. You should definitely go there :).
hello, i was hoping you have that cake recipe that’s in the middle by those green cookies with mushrooms on them? & the recipes of those tube cookies & shells? i want to make some for my friends wedding.
To be honest, I don’t even remember what that cake was. It may be a honey cake but I’m not sure. I have a good honey cake recipe here: https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/12/26/prune-honey-cake-recipe/. I’m not sure if I will be posting the waffle cookies or the shells (oreshki) since most folks don’t have the special oreshnitsa or pizzelle maker required to make those. I try not to do anything too specialized, even though I have an oreshnitsa. I hope you love the honey cake! It’s definitely a favorite 🙂
spaciba =) i will try out your recipe. my mom has an oreshnitsa & i was hoping you have those waffle & shell cookies because they do look sooo good lol but if you change your mind please let me know or i guess i’ll just be checking your postings, thank you again.
If I come up with a great recipe, I’ll definitely share :). I’ve never been very good at keeping a good recipe a secret 😉
hi, i was wondering if you have the recipe for those green cookies with the 2 hazel nuts on top of them right by the waffles in pictures…hopefully i get an email from you.
I don’t but I’ll see if I can get the source one day :). They were little tartlets with green frosting made to look like grass with little mushrooms on top.
yeahhh =)lol those are mushrooms? ahaha i thought they were hazelnuts but also that cake thats cut into a lot of squares, do you know that one?…thank you very much for the responce.
from the white yellow wedding cake it being picture 1 i want the picture 5 cake.
Natasha: After reading your recipes, seeing your photos, and hearing your gracious comments to all who post to you I have to commend you for making your readers feel like you are part of our family. Being Ukrainian, I love to see our family recipes stay alive so the younger generation can learn the old world ways of cooking for good health. Love your site, keep posting all those recipes, especially the ones Baba tucked away.
Marusha thank you so much for your sweet comment and compliments 🙂 It does take time but you’re all so important to me that I can’t help myself ;). You just made my day! Blessings to you!
What beautiful pictures! The dessert table at the wedding was gorgeous; and so was the place where you stayed. (What city was this in?)
Thank you Tiffany! Wasn’t it lovely? We were in the Seattle/Kent/Issaquah areas 🙂
I was happy to see you and meet you in person on Sunday! Remember the girl from the nursery at Slavic Christian Center? lol that was me!
Oh that is SO COOL! It was awesome to meet you and thanks for saying hello here 🙂 P.S. those little rooms in the nursery that Alla was showing off to me were adorable!
Yep, the nursing rooms are awesome! I currently nurse my baby and absolutely love them.
So happy to hear that even people from other places love our nursing rooms. Our work has paid off 🙂
Natasha, I really like your black and white shoes. Can you tell me where you bought them? Very classy 🙂
Thanks dear 🙂 I bought them at Banana Republic. Although I purchased them at the end of the season on sale. You might be able to find them online?
They were adorable! We have 1 nursing room with 2 chairs and it’s own bathroom and changing station but the added privacy of individual rooms would be nice 🙂
Hello.
The flowers that are on the table are called peonies. I don’t know what kind they were but overall they are called that.
I have been following your blog for a couple years now and never realized that you are from the Seattle area! I am too, but no longer live there either. Sure is beautiful! Made me homesick looking at your pictures. My family and my husband’s family still live there, so we go back every summer! I grew up in Tacoma. I am sure we probably know a lot of the same people! Russians all know eachother 🙂 Its a small world!
We all know each other through someone’s cousin somewhere ;). Yeah I love to visit there; it reminds me of my childhood and it’s awesome to have relatives there who are genuinely cool people.
Natashen’ka, can you tell me how to do make waffle cake tower?
i know how to make a cake, but tower??? have no idea
Thank you
Regina
I didn’t make it but it looks like they just stacked them making it wider at the base and getting narrower as you go up. It almost looks like a little wedding cake! 🙂
Hi Natasha,
The flowers look like peonies. Very nice. You can buy bulbs. I’ve seen them at Costco. You are so funny–I thought Idaho also had beautiful air?? Thanks for sharing.
We do have beautiful air. I guess its a case of “the grass is always greener” lol. I do love living in Idaho 🙂 Maybe I need to travel to the mountains more often.
You have a wonderful family, & it is so good that you put your pictures up from time to time. I enjoy your great recipes. In December 2012, our family had a 100 year reunion for all the family, as our Grandparents from Russia and the Ukraine arrived in Australia on that date. It bought us together as a family once again, as we had drifted apart & were living each our separate lives.
100 year reunion?! Wow that’s incredible! Family is such a blessing; even if you haven’t seen each other for years; the conversation is never awkward or boring 🙂
Wow! ! That’s all I can say 🙂 Beautiful and everything looked delicious… can’t wait until you share the recipes
The church looks familiar.. is it located in downtown Seattle>
and which bakery … I will be in Seattle next week and sure
do want to check it out!! I know WA is beautiful we live
near Sequim.. Thank you for sharing beautiful family you have…
Hmmm I’m not sure where the church is actually (my Seattle geography stinks) 😉 Which bakery?
Hi… I meant which bakery was used for all the desserts….
Thanks ..
Oh goodness I’m not sure who made the wedding cake or who all contributed to the dessert table. I think it was multiple sources.
dooze faynee znemke vid veceelia ee yeedlo. Need a translation. Really nice photos of wedding and food.
I am bummed out that we didn’t get to see you! Next time you must visit 😉
I know it! We have to plan a full week in WA just to be able to visit with all the relatives. My husband and I both have family in your state and we love to hang out with all of them. They’re just such cool people 🙂
So, so pretty! Especially the outdoors. Seattle, WA is on my bucket list of places to visit. I’ve been watching too much Grey’s Anatomy lately. Ha!
If you go, make sure to take a hike in Normandy park. It leads right to the beach. It’s such a treat! I grew up in Seattle but there’s still so much I haven’t seen or done. It’s a great place to visit 🙂
They are called peonies and they are outrageously beautiful in bloom, with lush foliage all summer long. My favorite flowers of them all.
I wondered if they were peonies or those roses that look similar to them. Thanks Julia! 🙂
Looooove the bride’s dress! Stunning!
I agree. She wore it beautifully!
Wow what a great trip!! And you slaviks sure know how to throw a great wedding, or party, or shower 😉 I know because I’ve been to a few of them myself! Love it, thanks for sharing Natasha! Xoxoxo
Lindsey you’re so sweet (and funny) Slavics – lol. I agree I’ve been to some baby showers fancier than weddings 🙂
Natasha – the flowers are peonies, and I love them too! We have 3 or 4 bushes of them in our front yard, but they’re pink instead of white. 🙂 I think any color of peonies looks great though. 🙂 You should definitely plant some! They smell AMAZING. 🙂
Are your bushes big? My mom has a bunch of peonies but I guess they are a little bit different variety 🙂 thanks Luba!
They are probably up to my ribs, and I’m 5’4″. On each bush there are about 10 flowers. So you decide, is that big? Yeah, there are a lot of varieties of them, that’s for sure. But I think all of them are just gorgeous!
I imagine your bush is gorgeous! Wow! I purchased a few small peony bushes from Costco and they are blooming so nicely but they haven’t even reached my knees 🙂
Thanks for the glimpse of your trip! The cake looks to die for. Any way you can reconstruct the recipe and share with us?
I’ll see what I can come up with. This cake was massive. It would probably take the entire day. Maybe it can be simplified? 🙂