Katie Stoops Commercial Photography

Today was one of the only open Saturdays I’ve had in a long long time. So, Dave & I decided we would try zip lining at Bryce Resort but we stopped at a diner on the way there for some very tasty subs.

Dave apparently thinks he’s a genius now. Thanks “game”.

I love cows. Lots and lots of cows.

We stopped at a roadside farm stand.

Zip lining here we come!

…and off goes Dave down the line! There are 10 different lines that you take from the top of the mountain all of the way down. I’m not very good at it so I just held on for the ride and dropped down each line.

This happens to be one of the only photos we have together. How ironic.

The view from the top was so pretty.

There are so many great things to say about Savor in downtown Richmond. The industrial, light, and airy space is such a great compliment to the incredibly fresh food they serve. Watermelon chillers, steak chopped salads, organic ingredients, and fabulous service makes this a restaurant that I’ll definitely revisit over and again.

Lunch is the best with new friends!

I just got a ton of film in yesterday and forgot that a trip to Charleston, SC was being held captive on a few rolls. Enjoy!

He’s part Great Dane, part Black Lab, and part lovey dovey. He’s pretty damn cool. This was taken with Fuji’s 800 film.

Recently, we found out that Desmond absolutely loves fruit…all kinds. If you have a clementine, he will follow you around until you give him some. I bought a watermelon and when we cut it open, he was like a fly to honey.

Look how happy Jack is with the gigantic bone I bought him at Target. You can see him smiling.

The whole gang!

The other day I made my first scones. I tried the recipe from Bon Appetit (which is listed here) and was really happy with how they tasted. The lemon zest gives the scones a lighter taste that is hard to find in the traditional heavy scone. My mistake was using foil to line the tray rather than parchment paper (didn’t have any) because it did burn the bottoms. Other than that, I would definitely make these again!

Dave has been on vacation this week & I obviously am never on vacation so that makes it difficult for us to get away on a trip. However, about 30 minutes from us is Massanutten Resort where you can ski in the Winter & do all sorts of outdoorsy stuff in the Summertime. I’ve always wanted to ride a horse. Growing up in the suburbs of Richmond pretty much made that impossible for me to do as a kid, but we found out they have horseback riding lessons at Massanutten. It was an hour long ride through the woods (thank goodness because of the heat today!) and the horse they paired me up with was named “Red”-how ironic. We were two peas in a pod… when he wanted to eat along the trail every chance he got, I knew we were meant to be together haha. Unfortunately, cameras weren’t allowed on the ride but here are some fun ones!

I make that helmet look GOOD with my Olan Mills posing hahaha

Then we went to the Thunderbird Cafe. It used to be terrible…typical way too greasy diner food but we had heard the ownership had changed so we decided to try it again. It was completely different from before and a million times better. I love dry rub wings and these came with a smoky southwestern ranch sauce.

Dave & I both decided to try the Blue Ribbon sandwich that you need an extra stomach for. It was focaccia with a fried chicken breast, a thick piece of Turner country ham, swiss cheese. I put some Cholula to give it some zing and pure yumminess!

This afternoon Dave & I went for the second time to the recently opened restaurant Union Station originally just for their nachos…but, as you can see, that plan failed. I’m not sure you could classify the food there into one category other than “comfort food”. The kind that makes you feel better after a long day because everything reminds you of home.

Everything about the nachos tastes really fresh…from the toasty chips to the cold corn. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that there’s a mound of chorizo on top!

The french onion soup makes you wish it was Fall/Winter time. Lots of cheese on top makes me happy!

Daniel was our server & a perfect one at that. I love how there are real photographs around the whole restaurant of what the area used to look like.

I decided upon the panko breaded black bean cakes with cumin. I was shocked how good these were and would definitely have them again.

Bonus: Mac & Cheese

Dave got the “fish & chips” . I’m a sucker for anything fried…it’s really going to catch up with me one day.

I was on my way home yesterday from North Carolina desperately trying to find something good to listen to on XM Radio…what gives? when I drove past a random tiny farm stand in Amherst, VA. There was something that told me “you should go back to the stand” so I did. I swung the car around and hopped out on the side of the road in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. The older I get, the more & more I’m interested in people. When I was younger, I think I was drawn to certain folks who I admired because of their job or what they had. I know, I was stupid…and young. However, now I find myself hopelessly in love with hearing how people…anyone- got to where they are today. The story behind the person.

The moment I got out of my car and walked up to the farm stand, I knew instantly that the older man resorting the tomatoes was someone I needed to meet. I’m not sure why but I knew I had to. I came to find out that his name was Ollie and was originally from Newport News but had not been back in decades because he married a girl who lived in Amherst and that’s all he needed. You could smell the fruits and vegetables in the heat, particularly the peaches. I picked one up and Ollie said”Those are as sweet as honey” and he peeled back the skin and handed it to me. He couldn’t have been more right. They were by far the best peaches I had ever tasted. The ten or fifteen minutes that I was there left a huge mark on me. In the world we live in today, there are so many people who aren’t as nice as they could be. However, here was a man who was as pure & genuine as they come. Sweet as honey himself.

As I left, he told me “Now Katie, I wish for all of the good things in life to happen to you today” and to everyone reading this-that is what I wish for you.

When I got home, we had an impromptu bbq with all of the veggies and peaches I had bought. Here is a caprese salad with Ollie’s gigantic tomatoes:

A refreshing cucumber salad with his cucs:

I threw some balsamic vinegar on the peaches and put them on the grill for probably 20 minutes (it shouldn’t take that long but the grill was cooling down). SO good!

Then I put the peaches on top of a hot blueberry pie. Nothing says “Summer” like pie.

The dog on the left is Chewie. She lives next door to us & is Jack’s best friend (our black lab/pit). Des, our insane puppy, is on the right. They all got to play together yesterday!

And chew on sticks…

There was way too much garlic on the Naan but it didn’t stop me from eating it haha.

The perfect amount of spice.

Comedy night at a local park. So much fun!

You HAVE to visit Dessert Truck. They really do have the best desserts-the chocolate bread pudding beat Bobby Flay’s version & each dessert is $6 or less. This was the Espresso Pana Cotta: