Coffee Klatch: a social gathering for conversation while drinking coffee.

Let’s drink delicious coffee and gab about our lives! Our current topic is Gilmore Girls as we are re-watching the entire series leading up to the release of A Year in the Life on Netflix!

This week’s recipe is inspired by the Four Thanksgivings episode. The salad they eat at Richard and Emily’s Thanksgiving has a full poached pear on each plate and is just so gorgeous! I really hesitated about posting this Poached Pear Salad in a Gilmore Girls coffee klatch post because it is so off brand for the girls! They don’t get excited about salad. I just thought the ruby red pears were so pretty. I wanted to make and photograph them, so I did. I put them in a salad just like at Emily’s Thanksgiving.

Don’t worry. You don’t have to eat salad. You can eat your fancy poached pears with ice cream instead if you want to! I ate mine both ways. That’s the beauty of testing and shooting recipes during the day when it’s just me and the baby at home: I get to eat it all.

If you go the salad route, definitely have too many dinner rolls to eat with your salad. Don’t be silly and skip the rolls like the girls did on Thanksgiving. Luke comes to the rescue with a bag of leftover rolls, and you know the girls went home and ate every last one!

Gilmore Girls
Season 3
Episodes 1-14

I still sing the theme song with every single episode, and I still get choked up every single time. One day this week I was cradling Henry and looking at him while singing the theme song… not the first time I’ve done that. While I was singing he got the biggest smile on his face! He just looked into my eyes and smiled so huge and for so long!!! Can you guess whether I made it through the rest of the song? Correct, I did not! I was a blubbering mess for a good ten minutes.

-Christopher coming to see the girls and getting yelled at by all three Gilmore ladies! He deserved it. Emily stuck up for Lorelai! Sad for Rory.
-Rory! Figure out who you want! At the very least put Dean out of his misery until you figure it out. Seriously, how long is she going to stay with Dean when she’s not really into him anymore? She’s too sweet to break up with him, but now she’s just hurting him, and confusing herself.
-Lane dyes her hair! “Run around the block!” “Why?” “I don’t know!” “Good enough for me!”
-Luke being freaked out by the nursing mother! So funny. Totally Luke.
-I like when Emily acts sarcastic and jokey. It’s so not her personality, but it makes her seem more like Lorelai and I always think “she had to get it from somewhere”.
– Sherri’s baby shower. Eek. So awkward for Lorelai. I would have done the same thing with messing up the bathroom. The deviled egged Jess’ car! Hilarious.
-24 hour dance off. Rory is a bit teenager moody towards her mom, but still joins in. I like when they make her act her age sometimes. Lane’s Dave! He perfectly impressed Mrs. Kim.
– OMG Dean broke up with Rory on the dance floor! He finally accepted that he’s losing her. Poor Dean! Poor Rory, too, but mostly Dean. I’m glad Rory went and talked to Dean.
-I don’t think I’m Team Jess, but their first almost kiss was so awkward and cute! And Luke is so protective of Rory! Love it!

Four Thanksgivings! Oy. Lorelai’s chat with Dean! So nice! How could Mrs. Kim not appreciate the chocolate turkey?! (Because she’s Mrs. Kim, duh) Lane’s Dave at Thanksgiving. Cute!
-Jackson’s deep fried turkey! Sookie haha: “My beautiful, expensive, organically grown turkey”
-flower/vase tradition with Luke. Of course.
-Lorelai finding out about Rory applying to Yale, that was tough.
-did you see that fancy salad?! A whole poached pear on each plate! (the inspiration for today’s recipe)
-Lane’s first kiss!!!

Winter carnival. Ohhhh Jess is totes jells!
-Emily making Trixie wait for the next course! Lol. The relationship between Emily and her mother-in-law makes Emily more human and lovable to me.

-Sookie “cheated” on Jackson. Oh man. They’re the best couple.
-Sherri “really screwed up” and went into labor a week before her scheduled c section. I was a bit bummed they didn’t show more of Rory meeting her little sister and having some sort of awkward/sweet reaction. At the same time, the show is not about Christopher and his life. So I’m fine with them not being in it very often.
-All the flashbacks to Lorelai finding out about being pregnant and going into labor. This was a tearjerker episode for me.

Ohhh nooooo Rory is ready to think about “it” with Jess!
“Well nothing’s happened…but, it might.”
“Okay. Could you tell me before it does?”
“Right before?! or…”
Oh man. Rory is growing up! This conversation was exactly perfect. It showed Rory as a young woman who isn’t quite ready for adult decisions. She is still able to talk to her mom about it all, and Lorelai doesn’t freak. She just supports her daughter and lets her know she is interested in her life. How do I get this openness with my kids?! I hope when the girls are ready for this major decision, that they feel comfortable talking to me about it.

Now go share some pancakes and eggs with Heather of All Roads Lead to the Kitchen!

Poached Pear Salad

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Ingredients

• 4 firm pears
• 1 750ml bottle red wine
• 8 fluid ounces (1 cup) orange juice
• 2 fluid ounces (1/4 cup) maple syrup
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 whole cloves
• romaine lettuce
• belgium endive leaves
• walnuts
• goat cheese

Instructions

1. Peel the pears, leaving the stem in tact, and slice a small piece off the bottom to help the pears stand upright.
2. In a saucepan large enough to hold all four pears, combine the wine, orange juice, maple syrup, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil, add the pears, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to a simmer.
3. Simmer the pears until they're soft and they have absorbed enough liquid to become ruby red, about 40 minutes. Turn the pears every 10 minutes if they are not fully submerged so they can get evenly colored all over.
4. Remove the pears from the liquid, turn the heat up to high, and boil the poaching liquid until it thickens. This will be your salad dressing.
5. In a large salad bowl, toss to combine the romaine, endive, walnuts, and goat cheese.
6. Place a pear on each salad plate, add a heaping pile of salad, and drizzle with the reduced red wine dressing.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 133Carbohydrates: 35gProtein: 1g