From NC to RVA: Weekend Recap
As I mentioned in my last post, I spent last Thursday through Saturday in North Carolina visiting my cousin Brooke and her little family. I had a blast hanging out with them. We went for a long walk every morning while June napped in her stroller, went strawberry picking one afternoon and made amazing dinners at home both nights. Overall, it was a a great visit.
Brooke fed me well. Plus she has the cutest plates! Something only a food blogger/plate hoarder would take note of.
We made homemade sangria one night with the fresh berries we picked. Holy yum! Recipe for this deliciousness coming soon, I promise.
The food was good but the highlight of the visit was definitely getting to hold and play with this little cutie.
I headed back to Richmond Saturday afternoon so I could be around for the Richmond Greek Festival and for Broad Appétit on Sunday. Both of these events are well-known and well-loved in Richmond. I missed both last year due to being in crazy wedding planning mode so I definitely didn’t want to miss them this year.
This lady and I got into some epic shenanigans at the Greek Festival on Saturday evening.
And by shenanigans I mean hanging out with friends, lots of wine and a little Greek food. It was so much fun!
On Sunday I headed over to Broad Appétit quite early. If you’re unfamiliar, Broad Appétit is an event where a portion of Broad Street, one of the main roads in Richmond, is shut down so that local restaurants can set up shop and serve some of their best dishes for only $3 a plate. It’s one of my favorite Richmond festivals (see my recaps from 2010, 2011 and 2012) and this year I was honored to be asked to be a judge for the Bon Secours Healthy Dish Award!!
John Haddad, Me, Tim Vidra, Christopher Blain, Ingrid Schatz, Juana Straus, & Rebecca Parker-Payne. Photo credit: Tim and Mary of 17 Apart.
John and I had a great time judging 22 healthy dishes while Tim, Rebecca and Christopher judged 68 main entrees and Juana and Ingrid judged the desserts. It was a really fun experience and I had a great time chatting and getting to know all the other judges as well as the Richmond Magazine team. If you’re curious which restaurants ended up impressing us judges most, the Broad Appétit Award winners are posted here.
I think John and I lucked out because even after trying all the healthy dishes I wasn’t completely stuffed and was able to do some exploring and tasting while enjoying the festival with friends.
Morgan, Isaac, Me, Britt & Bren.
Comfort’s Summer Succotash Salad was definitely a favorite of mine. Can you believe that I’ve lived in Richmond over 6 years and I have yet to actually go to Comfort for a meal? That needs to change!
Boka Tako never let’s us down! These were Isaacs favorite.
Last but not least, we also got to try the Honey Ginger Ale from Ardent Brewery, a new craft brewery opening this month here in Richmond. I have a feeling the Honey Ginger might be my go-to beer summer beer for 2014. It’s 7.8% alcohol but the honey hides it well and the hint of ginger spices things up nicely without being overpowering at all.
Even though the first day of summer has yet to arrive, it feels like this past weekend was sort of a kick-off to summer. It was a blast and has definitely made me pumped for the rest of the fun events we have planned. On tap really soon: Isaac’s last day of school is THIS Friday and our 1 year anniversary is coming up in LESS THAN two weeks! Lots to be excited about.
I hope you had an awesome weekend as well. What fun plans do you have for summer 2014?
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