July is usually a slower month for Vince and me. Somehow, this year, it has turned out the be the total opposite. Vince is super busy with his work and I find that I'm still slap-in-the-middle of my wedding season. On top of everything, this morning no less, it suddenly occurred to me that I had a column due – and that I was two days past deadline. Yikes! I had no ideas and didn't want to go to the grocery store.

I must admit to having a sweet tooth and especially at dessert time when the choice is limited to only one – that being a pairing of wine and chocolate. Since chocolate can present a complexity of flavors, the same way that wine does, there are a few simple rules to follow to make this dessert course easy.

When I was a very little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, I remember my Mama inviting her lady friends over for lunch. She didn't host a monthly event, but the ladies came to our house for a fancy luncheon several times a year. The dining room table was set with the good dishes from the china cabinet and several card tables with crisply pressed tablecloths were set up to seat the additional guests.

The ladies were most often the mothers of my friends from Sunday School and kindergarten. I can see Mama in a blue dress and pearls, hair freshly coiffed from the beauty parlor, entertaining flawlessly as she served chicken salad, tomato aspic, homemade biscuits and tall glasses of sweetened iced tea garnished with fresh mint and an orange slice.