Just in case your device calendar missed it, today, June 19, is official National Martini Day. We do not know exactly what this means, but we do know what we will drink to toast the occasion.

Recipes for the world’s best martinis pollute the internet. Most use gin, but some do admit vodka into the mix for those who do not like the essence of juniper berries and pine nuts, or remember a particularly rough night after a gin insult. Pinky insists on vodka and that has worked out well enough.

And then there is the matter of stirring or shaking, with admonitions that shaking has the unintended consequence of diluting the drink. That might not be such a bad thing, but we do not want to use this happy occasion to get judgmental. If one stirs, there is the matter of whether to use the spoon end or stick end of the stirrer and we will leave that up to individual choice as one wonders how the ice molecules could possibly know the difference.

We won’t even get into whether or not the garnish should be a lemon peel twist, olive, cocktail onion, gherkin or whatever. It has to be an olive or one is just putting on airs. The basic truth on martinis is that the real and true world’s best is right here on Tipsy Table, the Smartini. Check it out. Better yet, mix up a pitcher full and get it into the freezer for at least an hour.

At the same time that we ran across this important official day, we saw in the supermarket flyer that there was a load of Willapa Bay oysters available at a precious low price, right here in the mountains of Idaho. What a brilliant confluence of food and drink. We bought a few dozen and they look fine. Once rinsed of sand, they will be grilled over high heat until the shells open and then brought to the outdoor table in the shell, with the succulent juice hopefully intact after opening and cutting at the valve. A wonder from the Colonel’s boyhood home on Willapa Bay. All one needs is a little hot sauce and a subtle squeeze of lemon. Is there a better companion to the world’s best martini?

Cheers.