How to Survive Texas Heat

Move. Okay, that's one problem solved!

However, the reality of this Saturday morning consists of one goal: to get my weekend errands done before the temperature hits 100 degrees. Judging from the length of wet tongue hanging out of my basset hound when I let him in from the great outdoors a few minutes ago, I've probably blown that goal already, but it was a nice thought.

Though I adore red wines, in the middle of a Texas summer it's sometimes just too damned hot to drink them, and I'm too much of a purist to put an ice cube in a glass of wine. Ain't happening. I am forced, therefore, to find icy alternatives to a mouthful of full-bodied red flavor. A glass of sauvignon blanc is good. A bottle of chilled French rosé is even better.

Rosé wines are a delicate balance between red and white, and some wine snobs don't even think of them as wine, though they're not in the same category as the bottled mixed drinks that my friend Kittie calls "bitch pop." They're varietals, mixtures of more than one type of grape, such as syrah/grenache, and the color comes from leaving the grape skins in the wine for a little while. Like any wine, rosés can run the gamut from sweet to dry, and I'm always looking for the dry ones. Rosé d'Anjou is one of my favorites but it's sometimes hard to find in Dallas. La Vieille Ferme Cotes Du Ventoux is very nice as well, and reasonably priced (under $12per bottle). Rosés are a fruity wine, very light, and perfect for summertime sipping. I usually have a glass (or bottle) with a dish of pasta primavera or grilled fish.

Easy pasta primavera (a/k/a Nina's comfort food): saute chopped garlic, mushrooms, asparagus, black olives -- really, whatever vegetable you have lying around -- lightly in hot olive oil. Add a little cooking wine or a dollop of whatever you're drinking while you cook. Add chopped tomatoes if you like. Season with salt. Pour over cooked pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Eat while reading a good book (I'm into Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas quartet at the moment).

Can you tell I like garlic? My mother was Greek and I grew up with garlic in just about every dish except chocolate cake. I love the fragrance of fresh cut garlic and the comforting flavor and aroma it adds to my cooking.

Food and wine, when prepared and savored properly, should engage all of the five senses in symphonic harmony and leave us pleasantly satisfied. For that matter, life itself should engage us that way, but too frequently we are caught up in a robotic day-to-day rushed routine that causes us to lose touch with our senses. My advice for today is to take time to enjoy something thoroughly today. Be in the moment and shut out everything else except that one event.