new adventures

I've decided to expand my blog beyond the running stuff. The reality is that running, while important, is only one of many interests to me. I think that's why my posts are so far and few between lately. I like it. It's a part of me. But there are a lot of other parts too. I had a moment of clarity during my run this morning (which often happens in the cool quiet of the early morning) that I've grown a lot as a person this last almost 2 years and that includes the big things like accepting myself and nurturing good relationships and the smaller things like running and making really awesome martinis. So, while I'm not going to stray completely from training talk, I'm going to share other things too.

In that spirit, I wanted to share what I did last night! Pete and I have gotten into the habit of eating dinner at the dining room table to dedicate some real "face time" to each other every night. I've also gotten in the habit of having a cocktail with dinner a few nights a week. The combination makes our meals feel special even if we're sitting in our sweats. Anyway, I created (I'm sure it's been done before but it was the first time that I made a cocktail without a recipe.) a rosemary martini that I've dubbed a Holy Rosemary!. It was inspired by the Herbed Goat Cheese and Pine Nut Crusted Salmon we made from one of my favorite food blogs, Cara's Cravings. I wanted to use up the rest of the rosemary in a timely manner since there aren't too many things I use it in the summer.

Anyway, the smell of rosemary reminded me of the smell of Bombay Sapphire. I'm usually more of a vodka fan, but gin seemed like a more natural fit. We had very little gin left, so I had to use half gin and half vodka. I added muddled rosemary, lime juice and sugar which I shook and strained into a martini glass that I rinsed with dry vermouth (you get a hint of the flavor without adding it to the cocktail). I finished by garnishing with a rosemary sprig.

Pete, who's not really a martini guy, thought it was very smooth and tasty. It also complemented the salmon well. Overall, I was very pleased with this meal. It was incredibly easy, but looked and tasted like it took so much longer. I'm very proud of how far I've come in my cooking. It seems like just yesterday I was cooking ramen every night...