First post, here goes the blog

Well its been far too long of a work in progress, so I have finally put the wheels in motion and started a blog! Basically I am going to keep track of some prominent things happening in my life at the present moment, mainly food and cooking, running, yoga, and life in general.

I'll start with food and cooking. I have recently been working on a database of all the dishes we've done at Cafe Kandahar. Its unbelievable how many dishes exist, a catalog of sorts, I'm already 15 pages deep just listing dishes, and there is still so much more to come. Eventually I'll use this as a tool and resource for having "go to" dishes at my fingertips, as well as, a template for recipes and a cookbook as the long term plan. The Restaurant will open on June 17th and I will post a menu soon enough. For now getting organized is the name of the game, mise en place in its full effect.

As for running, its been put on hold ever since I devastated my calves last weekend. I tried out a new running style aptly named chi running. The idea is to land mid-foot as opposed to landing on your heel while keeping your legs relaxed and leaning forward at the ankles. Instead of the legs leading the body, the body leads and the legs follow, all parts of the body remain in a single line from the ankle, to the knee, hips, and shoulders. (I'll elaborate more on this in future posts) This was all great in theory so I decided to test it out. It felt so great running this way that I just kept on going. 7 miles later, including hills, at a paltry pace of 54 minutes, I felt amazing with one exception, my calves were sore. About an hour after running, I knew I was in trouble. And the next morning, I couldn't walk! It took me several days before I was able to feel normal again. I think I'll do a mile or two today just to feel it out.

And now, yoga. I recently got back into doing yoga, mostly I have been attracted to Anusara. I feel like yoga is perceived as doing something relaxing and calming, a meditative approach to exercising, stretching to limber or loosen up, so to speak. I have found that yoga is all of those things, but most of all it is not easy. Not only is it challenging, its also incredibly humbling; especially for someone like myself who figured yoga was not much of a workout, let alone something that would be extremely beneficial. Since practicing yoga, I have not felt the need to lift weights anymore as each practice leaves me feeling invigorated and fulfilled on many, many levels. I see yoga as a process that develops over a lifetime of devotion. The allure is apparent, there is no end, no level to master, no place to arrive. Yoga is quite simply, as with food and cooking, a never ending series of personal discovery. How exciting!

Lastly on life. Combine the three above paragraphs, mix well, strain, reserve, and you have a recipe for happiness. Topped with a touch of travel and some playing in the beautiful Montana scenery, and a dish of love and light is created, to be enjoyed thoroughly again and again. Hence, the essence of this blog. Enjoy!