Gilmore Martinis 1.15 Christopher Returns

“Aha! You speak the truth young man! I have made martinis. So Christopher, tell me about your business.”

Ingredients:

• 4 oz of gin

• 1 oz dry vermouth

• 2 green olives for garnish

Directions:

1. Chill a martini glass in the freezer for at least 5 minutes. If you don’t have a martini glass, a wine glass will work fine.

2. Add ice to a cocktail shaker then add the gin and vermouth to the shaker.

3. Shake vigorously then pour carefully into the chilled glass.

4. Add the olives to a toothpick to garnish your martini.

If you don't have a cocktail shaker, you can stir your martini (which is more classic).

I picked the martini for this episode because surprisingly, there aren’t that many food references in this episode. We have Al’s nod to Paraguay (which, I wasn’t quite sure what I could make for that since I’m not familiar with traditional Paraguayan dishes), cold Pop-tarts for a week (and I JUST made Pop-tarts), Lorelai eating biscotti at the Independence Inn (I’m saving biscotti for season 4, obviously). Martinis are classically Gilmore, specifically Emily and Richard Gilmore, so it seemed fitting to make them during this culinary journey! The gin I used is actually really special to me. In July 2019, I went on my first big solo trip to Banff and Canmore, Canada. It was such a magical and meaningful experience. While I was there, I went on a tour and tasting at the Wild Life Distillery in Canmore. I purchased a bottle to commemorate the trip and had been planning on saving it for something special. Well, surviving a pandemic is pretty dang special, so there you go.

I highly recommend a visit to Banff and Canmore. It was majestic! If you do, visit the Wild Life Distillery!

What I love about martinis is their versatility. Play around with the recipe to find what you prefer. You can swap out the gin for vodka for a gentler taste (I actually prefer vodka martinis to gin). If you prefer sweeter cocktails, use sweet vermouth instead. Try to find a white sweet vermouth so you don’t end up with a red martini (although that could be fun too!). You can also utilize flavored syrups to create different martini flavors. I have plans to make a lavender simple syrup because one of my favorite summer cocktails is a lavender martini. Personally, I hate olives, but I used them for garnish for this classic Gilmore martini. I prefer a nice lemon peel instead.

I actually made my martini with sweet vermouth because I prefer it to dry.

I did some research on classic martinis because I’m sure you’ve heard different martini phrases such as a dirty martini, but I wanted to know the variations on a classic martini. The dirty martini has a splash of olive brine (hard pass for me, I already didn’t want to use the olive for garnish). If you replace the olive garnish with an onion (as Emily thinks Lorelai likes in a future episode), it’s called a Gibson. If someone prefers a dry martini, that means they want less vermouth. The less vermouth in the martini, the drier it is. Technically, a true classic martini is stirred in a glass with ice and then strained into the chilled martini glass. But we’re James Bond over here, so we’re going to shake our martinis! These are pretty strong, so you can scale back if you need to for sure! You can do 3 oz of the gin/vodka and 3/4 oz of vermouth or 2 oz gin/vodka and 1/2 oz vermouth. But if you're Lorelai trying to get through dinner with your parents, your ex and the father of your child, and his awful parents, you'll want your martini to be STRONG!

The secret to a good martini is a chilled glass.

Alright, as promised in my last post for That Damn Donna Reed, I vowed that I would discuss Christopher Hayden more in-depth in this post. So...here we go. To start, I would like to say I think Chris is overly hated. Do I think he’s a good father to Rory? Absolutely not. Do I think he is shitty to Lorelai some of the time? Sure do! But...after Luke, I actually think Chris is my second choice for Lorelai suitors. Now, before you come in here to tell me I’m wrong, this is my carefully formed opinion after multiple, MULTIPLE rewatches. And sure, a great deal of this opinion comes from the chemistry that Lorelai and Chris have, which is the natural chemistry between Lauren and David, something that isn’t fully there between Lauren and Scott.

A nice slow pour is so satisfying.

There is just something about the back-and-forth banter between Lorelai and Chris that just works for me. Other than Rory, Chris is the only character that can really keep up with Lorelai’s quips and random references. Just in this episode, with their Metallica and Offspring debate, you can just feel the chemistry between them, their history. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Chris is a good match for Lorelai in just this episode. In fact, I think it takes him maturing after having Gigi and Sherry leaving him for him to be a good match for Lorelai. And when they end up together in Season 7, it’s completely the wrong timing, and I do put that on Lorelai.

Notice how careful I was to NOT let the olive touch my drink. I hate them that much, ha ha!

As we move through the episodes, I’ll share how my opinions of Chris evolve to being almost Team Chris. Look, I get it, they aren’t going to work out. They aren’t really meant to be. But deep down, I want them to be. If Chris was just a little better. In this episode though, Chris is not a great guy. He’s still a lousy father to Rory, tries to be a “pal” with her, lies to Lorelai about his job prospects, and then proposes to her out-of-the-blue. I get it. It’s not a good look for Chris. I don’t think he’s right for or even healthy for Lorelai here (and a lot of the time I don’t think he is), but that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to be right for Lorelai? Like- I want him to be better so that they can be together. Does that make sense? Anyway, let me know your thoughts about Chris in the comments.

Happy Cooking!

I'm officially a classy martini bitch!

If you missed what I made last episode, catch up here!