Don’t sweat the holidays

Bonny Doon Ca’ Del Solo albariño (2008) California >

The holiday wine season causes tremendous panic in people — even those who are familiar with wine — about what to serve. The rest of the year, it’s buy a bottle wine at the grocery store and don’t worry about it. During November and December, everyone is afraid that if the wine isn’t right, Thanksgiving or Christmas or whatever will be ruined.

Tues thru Sun 7a-2p

8121 Walnut Hill Lane Ste.1100 214.346.3491 crossroads-diner.com right, Christmas whatever silly. complement wines with, worry especially about with seDo like enjoythat’s wine to buy.

This is silly. Wine is there to complement the holiday, not to star in it. Choose wines that you’re comfortable with, and don’t worry especially about food pairings or impressing others with your selections. Do you like the wine? Will it make dinner more enjoyable? Then that’s the wine to buy.

This month’s suggestions follow that approach, and are more guidelines than specific recommendations: month’s suggestions more guidelines than specific history the there quality price. roussanne west Texas, is fresh and with and lime Hof’s cab($22) rich, perfect for red meat.

• Texas wine: The 2010 vintage is probably the best in the history of the state, and there are quality wines at every price. The McPherson roussanne ($12), a white from west Texas, is fresh and clean with lemon and lime flavors. Messina Hof’s cabernet franc ($22) is a red wine that is deep and rich, perfect for red meat.

• Sparkling wine: more detail bubbly; it’s enough to that there has been tremendous growth in the quality and of cheap sparkling over the last couple of years. from places as odd as Australia

• Sparkling wine: Next month’s column will go into more detail about bubbly; it’s enough to know now that there has been tremendous growth in the quality and quantity of cheap sparkling over the last couple of years. It comes from places as odd as Australia (Emeri, $12) or as well-known as Italy (the various proseccos and astis, like Lamberti, $14). And sparkling wine is not just for celebrations. Much of it pairs with food — use it at brunch or to spi up a midweek dinner.

• “Anything but” wines: That is, anything but cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay. The world wine glut has lowered prices everywhere, making it easier than ever to try something di erent. La Clotiere ($9) is a red wine from the Loire region of France that is light and easy to drink; it practically shouts turkey. Bonny Doon’s Ca’ Del Solo albariño ($18) is a California white made with a Spanish grape that is perfect for seafood.

—Jeff Siegel

JEFF SIEGEL’S WEEKLY WINE REVIEWS appear every Wednesday on prestonhollow.advocatemag.com

Ask the wine guy

Are there rules for pairing with turkey?

More or less, and they usually rev o l ve aroun d pinot noir — a l i gh ter re d t h at comp l ements t h e l i gh ter f lavor o f turkey and doesn’t g et in the w ay o f the rest o f Thanks g ivin g dinner. But any l i gh ter re d wine wi ll d o th e same t h in g, as wi ll most w h ites th at aren’t too creamy or too citrus y

—Jeff Siegel

ASK THE WINE GUY taste@advocatemag.com

With Your Wine

Thanksgiving leftovers

The world does not need yet another recipe for the holidays, some other way to reinvent something we like the way it is. What we need to do is to figure out a way to use what we didn’t eat at Thanksgiving. So consider these leftover suggestions:

Why not? Buy a prepared pizza crust and top it with leftover turkey, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and any cheese in the house. You don’t even need to add sauce.

The simple way is to buy two frozen pie shells, add a can of cream of mushroom soup, leftover turkey and whatever other vegetables are in the refrigerator, and bake for 40 minutes in a 400-degree oven. Less simple, but not difficult, is Jacques Pepin’s chicken pot pie (substituting turkey, of course) in “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home.”

You can do a home version of what restaurants charge $10 (or more) for with nothing more than bottled salad dressing, lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots and leftover turkey. The adventurous can add a hard-boiled egg. Get a serving platter and arrange the lettuce to cover. Add the turkey and vegetables and arrange in any design you want. Pass the salad dressing.

(from the September 2011 Advocate) The whole thing can be done in minutes.

Extraordinary neighbors who, even in their golden years, are making the world a better place

Story by Emily Toman

Benjamin Hager

Albert Einstein once said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” A few Preston Hollow residents embody that truth as they reach their golden years. At age 70 and older, their heartrending experiences have compelled them to make every moment count toward noble causes, both here in Dallas and abroad.

Rosalie Schiff

Free of hate

William and Rosalie Schiff were married in a dank, overcrowded ghetto once part of their hometown of Krakow, Poland. It was hardly a joyous occasion since neither of them knew if they’d live to see another day.

“I didn’t have time to think,” Rosalie says. “I just said ‘I do.’ We were happy because we loved each other. That’s all.”

She was 19. A few weeks earlier, she had helplessly watched as her mother and siblings were dragged off to their deaths.

“They took my mother, my brother