Maria’s Virgin Martini

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virginmartini

As some of you may know or remember, I don’t drink alcohol. I haven’t for a good 15 years. I can honestly say I don’t miss it. However, every once in a while I have the kind of day where at the end of it I think, “I could use a drink.” Sometimes it’s a bad kind of day, and sometimes it’s the kind of day when a celebration is order. Either way, it’s a kind of day when the old “sparkling water with a lime” just doesn’t cut it.

This summer, I was at my favorite local restaurant, Bolete, after one of the bad kind of days. It was hotter than hell outside, and I said to myself, “If I still drank, this would be a martini kind of night.” That’s when it hit me: I can capture the best things about a martini without the vodka or the hangover. So I asked the bartender to bring me a “sparkling water, on the rocks, with some green olives.” And voilà, the Virgin Martini was born. It hit the spot, and it had the added value of giving me some good low-fat green olives to tide over my hunger until the first course arrived.

A recent winter’s night was the celebratory kind, the dinner after our last board meeting of the year. It’s been a great year. An amazing year, actually. But it’s been exhausting and filled with hard work, the kind of hard work that either makes you stronger or kills you—the kind of hard work that, frankly, I wouldn’t be able to sustain if I drank alcohol. And so, I ordered my Virgin Martini. A fellow board member thought it was a great idea and explained what a “dirty” martini was, since I gave up drinking long before I learned all that stuff (it’s made with some of the olive juice poured in it). So next time, I’ll order a Dirty Virgin Martini…doesn’t that just sound like so much fun? Especially since I know I can even have two or three and not wake up the next day with a headache! Or worry about driving home. Or worry about what I said that I shouldn’t have.

Ahhhh, I just love being sober!

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4 Responses to Maria’s Virgin Martini

  1. Alice Green December 18, 2013 at 1:31 pm #

    Maria, You are such a sensible and yet amazingly creative woman! I wish our young people were able to have such a role model in their lives. Not that I want to add to your already busy life, but I wish high school kids could hear you speak just once in their lives. Maybe some wouldn’t listen, but I know it would make a difference to those who did. Thanks for sharing your life with so many!

  2. Barbara December 19, 2013 at 11:52 pm #

    Ditto what Alice said! And it was the prospect of meeting your father years ago in a nutrition class at PSU (his fatal accident happened a week or two before he was scheduled to visit us) that brought my attention to Rodale and organic gardening, and eventually to you. His Vision changed my life, and you continue to help me make changes through your writing. Thank you.

  3. Vern January 27, 2018 at 4:20 am #

    I just found this article cruising the internet while I’m here at home, 27 days after the New Year and it’s my 3rd day sober. I’m having a club soda & bitters on the rocks. It’s a terrific drink. Can’t wait to try a dirty virgin martini!

  4. スーパーコピー オーバーホール April 13, 2019 at 3:53 pm #

    ウブロコピー 販売,ウブロブランドコピー時計特集
    弊社は正規品と同等品質のウブロコピーN品を低価でお客様に提供します。
    当店時計はスイス製のムーブメントを採用しています、最先端技術でブランドコピーを研究し。
    2019新作続々入荷!
    お買い得品満載、一見の価値あり!

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