Martini Please...

Martinis are tricky. Deceptively simple, it's quite tough to make a really good one; because it's all about perfect proportion. And I think we all know how hard that is to achieve.

But real martini drinkers take this very seriously. Very.

In a book appropriately called The Martini, author Barnaby Conrad III says:
"The Perfect Martini, as an idea, has infinite possibilities. For me, the Dry Martini remains as an American symbol of elusive perfection, a kind of pagan holy grail." He then goes on to compare it to a religion that "takes away the sins of the earth." Okay. Please. I even kind-of know what he's trying to say, but oh good Lord, that's so completely over the top. I mean, it's only a beverage. Although a fantastic one, if only because its glasses are cool.

However, sadly, to make a proper one, you have to like olives. And I hate olives.

Hate.

And you pretty much have to tolerate them to enjoy the classic martini. Also, there's some debate about if a martini can be made with anything other than gin and still be considered a martini. Probably not. But I'm an equal opportunity drink maker, and I recognize that vodka has feelings too.

It should be fairly obvious then, as I am a vodka lover and olive hater, that real martini drinkers like the good reverand Baranby Conrad III have no time for me.

But I've got time for martinis.

So in order to develop my own taste and prove that I am my mother's child, I like to concoct my own unique and special brands of unolived treats, as often as I possibly can. Usually it starts with raiding the refrigerator and/or liquor cabinet to see exactly what I can create with that which we have in stock. Sometimes this is a really difficult task. Sometimes the results are scary. Tonight's was not award winning, but not too bad.

Recipe for Yummy Summer Martini
1/4 cup of orange juice
3/4 cup of peach juice stolen from son's bottle*
1 whole fresh squeezed lemon
1 cup Absolut Citrus vodka
3 tablespoons of Contreau
3/4 cup of gingerale**

Mix together/stir in a pitcher.
Put this on the rim of your glass with lime juice. Add a lemon twist. Enjoy.
Makes 4-6 martinis, depending on your glass size.

*Stolen peach juice is made by boiling 4-5 largely sliced peaches in a medium-sized pot with distilled water. Extract the peaches to be pureed for son's breakfast treat. Keep the water, which is now juice, to put in son's bottle and/or your martini.
**If I ever make this again, I would not use as much gingerale, if I used any at all. It did give it a bit of a nice fizz though.

Recipe for Fab Friday Night at Home
Put 1 child to bed
Drink 3 Yummy Summer Martinis
Watch 1 surprisingly better-than-it-sounds "Social Class in America" documentary with brilliant husband

Let me know if you have a favorite olive-haters martini recipe. Because sharing is caring.