Bender Over!!!

I tend to use my injuries as an excuse to drink. I tend to use anything I can come up with as an excuse to party. I got back in Portland a week and a half ago on Monday and had a job interview on Tuesday. It was at this really cool winery in Dundee and I thought it went really well. So I started wine tasting in the afternoon and one thing led to another and then I was drunk until Friday. It wasn't good for my training. I started up running again on Monday but had to drop back my miles and now I'm doing a Novice training program. :( . Oh well, at least I didn't give up. I ran Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week for a total of 10 miles. Tomorrow I'm going to try and run 9 miles in Forest Park but my legs hurt all over today. Hopefully they will feel better in the morning. We leave for Michigan on Saturday and I'm a little worried there wont be many paths train on and I'll have to run on hard concrete. We'll see!

Marinated Portobello Burgers

Yesterday night my girlfriend made a great salad with a mustard, orange juice and dill dressing. I made yummy marinated portobella burgers. We only had two pieces of bread so we made them open faced. Here is the recipe:

2 portobello caps
1/8 cup tamari
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
juice of half a lemon
4 small cloves of garlic, minced
swiss or muenster
ciabatta or other roll

whisk all wet ingredients together with the garlic and pour over mushrooms gill side up. Marinade for ten minutes then grill or broil the mushrooms for 3 to 5 minutes on both sides. Melt some swiss, or since I had muenster leftover from last night, I used muenster, on top and serve on a roll or a bun with tomato and vegenaise. yum.

After dinner I went to my favourite beer bar, The Eastside Club Tavern, and saw a down tempo band EOTO. I enjoyed the music with a Scullers IPA, nice and hoppy.

Cabbage soup

Tonight I decided to make cabbage soup for dinner. I love cabbage. My girlfriend and I have been eating out three meals a day at restaurants in Portland this presidents day weekend so now that we're home in Olympia, I decided to cook up a comforting, affordable pot of yummy cabbage soup. The recipe follows:

1/2 of a large head of green cabbage, chopped
1 large leek, cut and rinsed
2 medium potatoes, chopped
4 tablespoons of butter
5 cups of vegetable stock
muenster cheese
paprika
salt & pepper

Saute the cabbage, leek and potatoes in butter with salt for 5-10 minutes until cabbage begins to soften. Add stock, bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper. Sprinkle paprika and cheese into individual serving bowls and enjoy!

I drank an oak barrel aged Stone Arrogant bastard ale with this soup and a Moscato D'Asti white wine. I cannot say either one complimented the dish very well but they were both delicious. Cabbage is pretty tricky to pair with beverages in my opinion.