Monte Cristo Sandwich

LANE: Did you take off the Monte Cristo sandwich?

A Monte Cristo sandwich is an egg-dipped or batter-dipped ham and cheese sandwich that is pan-fried or deep fried. A variation of the French croque monsieur, recipes in American cookbooks called this a French toasted cheese sandwich from the 1930s to the 1960s. The Monte Cristo sandwich supposedly entered the scene in 1960s Southern California, and exploded in popularity after the Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland began serving it.

For reasons which escape me, this sandwich is often served with powdered sugar, jam, or maple syrup in the US. Although Wikipedia says it is usually savoury in the US, I was unable to find a picture of an unsweetened Monte Cristo sandwich.

Pringles

LUKE: There wasn’t really that much for her to eat on the menu, so I just . . .
LORELAI: Oh, you added three more salads just for Nicole. When I asked you to add chili-topped Pringles, you said no.

Pringles, brand of stackable potato-based chips made from fried dough invented by Procter & Gamble in 1968 and marketed as “Pringle’s Newfangled Potato Chips”. The brand was sold in 2012 to Kellogg’s.

I think Lorelai’s idea is meant to be a version of chili fries. Note how quickly Lorelai becomes jealous and possessive over Nicole’s influence upon Luke.

Hirschfeld

LORELAI: Why’d you get new menus?
LUKE: It was time.
LORELAI: But I had made little doodles with my name hidden in them on each one of the old ones just like Hirschfeld.

Albert “Al” Hirschfeld (1903-2003), caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars, in a career spanning nearly eight decades.

Hirschfeld had a daughter named Nina, born in 1945. Hirschfeld is known for hiding Nina’s name, written in capital letters (“NINA”), in most of the drawings he produced after her birth. The name would appear in a sleeve, in a hairdo, or somewhere in the background. The number of NINAs concealed is shown by the number written to the right of his signature. Generally, if no number is to be found, either NINA appears once, or the drawing was completed before she was born. Originally done to amuse his friends, the public quickly noticed and became obsessed with this little gimmick, sending angry letters when he tried stopping it.

Al Hirschfeld had died not long before this episode aired, so this mention feels like a little tribute to him.

“One was enough”

LORELAI: Three more salads – who needs three more salads?
RORY: One was enough.

Rory says that the one salad on Luke’s original menu was plenty. However, when Emily ordered lunch at Luke’s in “Haunted Leg”, she chose between the Cobb salad and the Caesar salad, so there were at least two salads on the menu only a few months ago. Perhaps Rory never noticed the second salad option.

Note that Nicole’s love of salad means that she’s one of those women who eat healthily, unlike Lorelai and Rory, making her really uncool and probably a terrible person. In the world of Gilmore Girls, at least.

Expired Medicine

RORY: These [allergy tablets] expired in ’98.
LORELAI: So, what, I should take four?

Even though the allergy medication expired five years ago, a 2012 study found that antihistamines actually last decades after their expiry date, and can still be safe and effective ten years after expiration. Lorelai should probably just take them as normal.

Cobain

LANE: It’s getting frustrating. I mean, there’s so many great songs that have been written post-Cobain, but try and convince Zach of that. I mean, he’s impossible, stubborn, and just a tad intellectually challenged, in case you haven’t noticed.

Rock star Kurt Cobain, previously discussed. Kurt Cobain died in 1994, so Zach apparently isn’t interested in any music after that date. Lane complains about Zach being stubborn and stupid; later she marries him.

Daniel Day-Lewis

RORY: Guess I’ve got time to tie my shoes.
LORELAI: Yes, well, cobble yourself a new pair, Daniel Day Lewis.

Sir Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957), English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, including three Academy Awards for Best Actor, making him the first and only actor to have three wins in that category. He has also received four BAFTAs, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, Day-Lewis received a knighthood for services to drama.

In 1997, Daniel Day-Lewis retired from acting for three years, taking up a new profession as an apprentice shoe-maker in Florence, Italy. He returned to acting in 2000.

I’m with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie

In the first scene, Lorelai is reading this 1987 memoir by Pamela Des Barres. During the late 1960s and ’70s, Pamela found fame by leading a wild party life with some of the biggest rock stars of the day. It became a New York Times Best Seller.

The book was republished in 2003, but a little later than this episode aired, and Lorelai is reading the original edition, suggesting that she has owned it since the 1980s. Rory called Lorelai “Pamela Des Barres” a few episodes previously, as if the author and the book are well known subjects for both of them. This is another example of Lorelai reading a quirky memoir.