Shaken; not stirred.

When we went to the dinner theater to watch Zohan the other night they had martini's on sale for $5 in honor of the, also running, Sex in the City movie. So Chris and I took advantage. It has crossed our minds that a fraction of the entertainment of the Zohan movie may have been a direct result of the 3 delicious martini's we each had - dirty gin w/ 2 olives for Chris; sour apple w/ 2 cherries for me. But the thought was immediately dismissed. Anyway it put us in the mood for martini's and we've been wanting another ever since.

On Friday on my way home from work I stopped at both the liquor store (for vermouth & cherries) and the grocery store (for olives) so that I could make home made martinis. I had, of course, looked up on the internet the recipe for Chris's kind of martini - gin, which we had, vermouth, which I needed, olives, which I needed, and a twist of lime, skipped this step. We had apple flavored vodka so I assumed all I needed was cherries for mine. I measured everything into the glasses and served them up. YUCK!

So Chris said, "eeh. mmm. uuhh. this is almost good but it just needs two things." My first guess was right on the money - "It needs to be cold." Bingo. He said it also needed olive juice (cuz he likes it dirty!) Secondly it needed to be more mixed. So he brings the drinks into the kitchen and asked where was the shaker.

The shaker!! Duh! how was I supposed to know? "I didn't use a shaker." I replied in my most innocent voice.

But now, 1 day later, I have perfected the Dirty Gin Martini. And it is good!

Long ago, maybe 20 years ago or so, I was a freshman in college and we had a little party. Someone, and I have to say I believe it was Miwa, bought a bottle of Gin. None of us knew what to do with gin. What 18 year old does? At that young and dumb age, and back in the late 80's, we mixed barcardi with coca cola or drank strawberry wine. Well, let me tell you that gin doesn't mix well with coke and the first to go down was Miwa. I don't know if it had anything to do with Miwa getting sick or not but I got sick too. Sick like you wouldn't believe. Sick like I'm not going to describe for you at all. My stomach was so turned, in fact, that I have not touched gin since. Not ONCE. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, 20 years after the great-awful-gin-experience of 1989, I made dirty gin martini after dirty gin martini. One for Chris, one for me, one for Chris, one for me. They got better and better. Not because I was getting drunk but because I was actually getting better at it. Tonight I made two martini's for Chris and I and it is the most delicious martini I've ever had!

So as I sign out of this post I raise this martini glass to Carmen, who for the last 20 years or so has been trying to convince me to have a martini with her to which I have always flatly refused opting instead for beer or hell even water, anything other than gin, "I don't do gin"; who this week turned a new age to catch up to my own age; for all the missed olives of the past and looking forward to all the olives of the future; who always toasts every toast with every drink "To us"; to Carmen.