I only do vodka martinis if I’m in the mood for a dirty one, as I would never contaminate a good gin with olive brine. Vodka is flavorless booze and goes with everything… if one must 
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I keep being told that vodka is flavorless, but not to me. I taste every bit of it.
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How can you 21 and not had martini yet ?
My mouth is watering now.
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I grilled the tenderloin part of a t-bone, blue cheese butter, cotc, mixed greens salad, tomato, green onion, orange bell, kalamata olives, creamy Greek dressing. Gin, now I’m craving port and a cigar.
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Eating outside is the best. Unless it’s raining. Or too hot. Or the bugs are crazy.
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I have never seen mussels grilled this way!
Everything looks delicious (and the baby basil is adorable).
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BF made a bean (Rancho Gordo Coronas) soup for us tonight - with shrooms, spinach, and an egg. Also, zucchini boats with the zucchini filling and garlic, topped with a little toasted breadcrumbs and parm regg, and a little tomato salad. All delish and warming on a chilly May night on which I had to work late.
And here are our salteñas from last night. We made the dough, rolled it into balls, let them rest in the fridge for 3+ hours (should have been overnight but we wanted them for dinner last night), then rolled them into disks. Filled with a large tbs. of the beef stew (beef, onions, potato, peas, carrots, ground garlic, raisins, aji panca (a Peruvian chili paste), paprika, cumin, oregano, sugar, beef broth), and then assembled, adding a slice of hard boiled egg and a kalamata olive to each, before closing and braiding. My braiding skills pale in comparison to the BF’s, but no matter. They get glazed with an egg wash and then baked for 20 minutes at 525 (i think our oven isn’t hot enough) and didn’t get nearly as dark as we wanted (the braid should be almost black!), but they turned out delicious, I have to say. The dough isn’t exactly right still, and the filling should have been a lot juicier, but we’re getting closer and closer, and we’ll keep trying! In the meantime, we were very happy with these. Three were dinner last night (oddly, in Bolivia, salteñas are only eaten mid-morning to early afternoon, never at night. not sure why!). We froze the rest and a few will go to my sister’s house.
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the cocktails all look lovely! I agree, he probably just needs to develop a taste for gin. I did at a (way too) early age but then went off it for years, until my early 30s, at which point i came back to it with a vengeance. and i love dirty gin martinis! haven’t had one in a long time, must rectify that…
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Hmmm…does that mean you are Mr. P? I hope I am not messing up. It’s really late, so that is my excuse.
The mussels were a bit of a hail Mary pass. I got a little too excited at the fish store on Friday and bought them without considering that we weren’t planning on eating them 'til Monday. And they were unlikely to survive that long. So I steamed them and shelled them in the hopes that they’d keep, which they did. A few minutes on the grill to finish, a little vinaigrette, and there you have it.
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Yes, I am Mr. P 
Never had a martini and I’m pushing 70. Vodka and gin just never appealed to me.
Did reverse sear method (Kenji, Serious Eats) on a huge thick steak for the first time. My technique needs a bit of work (more oven time, less stovetop time) but it was delicious with buttered rice and peas and kimchi. Tons of leftovers.
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Wow!
That salad is beautiful!
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