From Luke’s Diner to Sookie’s kitchen to Friday Night Dinners, life with the Gilmore girls often centers on food in some way. Enter “Gilmore Girls” superfan Kristi Carlson, who, after waiting years for someone to make a “Gilmore” cookbook, went ahead and made her own, compiling more than 100 dishes that were eaten, served or mentioned on the show into “Eat Like a Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls.”
How’s it set up?
Recipes are divided up by type of food and meal: cocktails, mocktails and other assorted beverages; pancakes, French toast, omelets and cereals; burgers and sandwiches—just to name three of the nine groups. But the best part is the icon at the top righthand corner of each recipe, which tells you whether the dish is from Luke’s Diner, Sookie’s Kitchen, Emily’s House or a Town Favorite. The easiest ones to make are the ones from Luke’s Diner (grilled cheese, pancakes), but the fancy schmancy ones are labeled Emily’s House (Rory’s 21st birthday cocktail, salmon puffs).
What’s good?
Each recipe has a couple of paragraphs explaining why the dish is included, giving your memory the little jog it needs to remember that time Sookie made four types of pesto for her two-person picnic basket or Christopher ordered a chai latte at Luke’s. Yet Carlson never loses track of the fact that as much as this is a hardcore fan’s homage to “Gilmore Girls,” it is also a cookbook that needs to be easy to understand and actually useful in making meals. Even the inclusion of the disgusting Santa burger Luke made for Lorelai when she was uninvited from Christmas at her parents’ house comes with the note, “[Lorelai] didn’t eat it, though. It’s recommended you don’t either. The Santa Burger is a gesture, not a meal.”
What’s bad?
Honestly, nothing except the fact that cooking and baking are not my personal forte, as much as I dream of being as skilled in the culinary arts as Sookie. I’d probably be better off gifting this to a fellow “Gilmore” fan who doesn’t get distracted easily when they should be making sure stuff doesn’t burn. And maybe they’ll surprise me with a coffee cake the morning of my birthday, like Luke did at his diner for Rory’s 16th.
Final verdict
This is a must-own for any “Gilmore Girls” fan who eats. Which I’m assuming is all of us.
Eat Like a Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls
by Kristi Carlson
$24.99, Skyhorse
4 stars
@elisekdelo | ekdelossantos@redeyechicago.com
