No matter what you call them -- ICEEs, Slurpees or slushies -- frozen fruit drinks are one of the best ways to quench your thirst on a hot day. This is especially true if you're a kid. But what do you do if you're a mom and aren't particularly fond of the idea of your kids gulping down frozen high-fructose corn syrup beverages all summer? Make your own, of course.

My foray into homemade slushies has been fairly recent. When my kids became old enough to realize what a slushie was, I was only too happy to take them to our local mini mart to indulge. After all, I spent my childhood riding my bike through cow pastures so I could purchase my own Slurpees from 7-11. During the age of sugar innocence -- up til about age 8 by my calculations -- my daughters accepted the occasional ICEE as a little chance gift. It wasn't until last summer that they started begging for these drinks each time we drove through town, and I was relieved when the machine broke down for a while.

It finally occurred to me only this year that I could actually make my own slushies out of fresh seasonal fruit. Although I know some people use Italian soda syrups to make similar concoctions, I wanted my slushies to actually have something worth ingesting in them. So after purchasing an overly large watermelon recently, I decided to experiment with it. The recipe I used is similar to watermelon granita, except unlike that delicacy, my watermelon slushie is not frozen through. Rather I simply freeze the drink in my ice cream maker until the consistency is icy and similar to that of a slushie, and then pour and serve immediately.

Now let's be honest here. Kids aren't stupid, and when mine were faced with a homemade slushie instead of their favorite ICEE they were skeptical about how it would taste and a little irritated that I was trying to dress up frozen fresh fruit as a summer treat. But once I put the concoction in a fun glass with a straw, the complaining ceased as they quickly finished off their slushies. Will they beg for an ICEE the next time we're at the local market? Sure. But were they happy with the watermelon slushies I made? Absolutely. Plus I could eat two and not feel guilty.

Recipe: Watermelon Slushies
A frozen beverage made with fresh watermelon

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 cups

Ingredients:
5 cups hulled and cubed seedless watermelon*
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 juicy lime (or two semi-juicy limes)
* You can also just remove the seeds from a regular watermelon.

Instructions:
1. Heat sugar and water in a pot and simmer for 5 minutes or until the consistency of maple syrup. Let cool.

2. Place watermelon in a food processor (you may need to do this in batches depending on the size or your container). Pulse until smooth.

3. Place watermelon liquid into a bowl and add in the cooled simple syrup and lime juice. Stir.

4. Set frozen ice cream-maker containers into your ice cream machine and then pour the watermelon mixture into them (you'll need to process only half at a time if your ice-cream machine has only one container). According to your ice-cream maker's directions, process for about 10 minutes or until thick. You may need to stir about halfway through.

5. Place in fun cups with straws and serve to unconvinced children.

6. Smile when they exclaim that it's delicious and then feel smug.

Note: If you want something a little more grown up, just pop the mixture into a container and then place in a freezer until solid. After that you flake with a fork to fashion a granita.

I started watching The Big C last week. With Laura Linney as the lead and a tagline of "Grab Life by the Balls," how could I not love this show? The gist (without giving anything away) is that the main character finds out she has cancer and begins to lead a much less structured, sensible life. One night she deliberately pours red wine over the expensive sofa she'd previously obsessed over and at dinner one night with her husband, proclaims "I'm only having liquor and desserts." I knew I'd love this show. A woman after my own heart.

So this week--I bring you liquor and desserts in the form of boozy milkshakes. What's not to love about a thick, simple shake spiked with your favorite booze? I actually experimented and made more of these than I care to admit, but I'm sharing my two favorites with you today. One will appeal to all of you simple vanilla folks out there and the other will call to you chocolate, coffee, butterscotch types. The yin and the yang of the 'liquor and desserts' world. It's kind of perfect timing seeing that summer has finally decided do descend in, oh, the end of August. Right when school's back in session and fall clothes appear in shop windows--that's when summer decides to show its face in the Bay Area. But we'll take it. It's all good. And even better with boozy milkshakes.

Laying out the Ingredients for the Whiteout Milkshake

Let's start with what I'll call the Whiteout Milkshake. I have a fondness for really fabulous vanilla ice cream. It's obviously great plain, on top of berry pies or right beside a piece of chocolate birthday cake. Well it turns out, it's also the perfect base for a boozy shake.

Scooping Vanilla Ice Cream

Häagen-Dazs happens to be my favorite vanilla. What's yours? I like that you can actually see the vanilla flecks throughout. I was shocked to discover that yes, indeed, it takes an entire pint of ice cream to make a single shake. But let's not spend too much time contemplating that minor detail--just think of all the calcium!

The Whiteout Milkshake

And here you have it. We mixed up some premium ice cream, a little Kahlua, some Stoli Vanilla Vodka and just a touch of milk and topped it with a generous portion of canned whipped cream. There's something very diner-y and perfect about canned whipped cream that seemed fitting for these shakes.

Laying out the Spiked Malted Coffee Ingredients

Now the next milkshake is essentially the polar opposite. It's edgy and dark. It has very different flavor profiles that somehow compliment each other perfectly. It has bourbon. Enough said.

Scooping and Blending : On Our Way!

Mix in a bit of bourbon, some malted milk powder, coffee ice cream (or feel free to use chocolate if you like) and top with whipped cream and butterscotch sauce. Seriously, kind of magical.

Voila: Spiked Malted Coffee Milkshake

Below you'll find both recipes. The nice thing about going the liquor and desserts route is that you can't really go wrong. If you're a big Bailey's fan, throw some in. Love Irish Cream? Add it. A good rule of thumb is to work slowly, taste as you go, and--like me--you just might find some new summertime favorites.

The Whiteout Milkshake

If you just have plain vodka on hand, that will work just fine. And I add the milk slowly and don't use all that much because I like my shakes rather thick. Feel free to add another splash so the consistency is to your liking.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream (essentially, 1 pint)
1-2 Tbsp. whole milk
1 oz. Stoli Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz. Kahlua

Method:
Blend together, top with whipped cream, and serve immediately.

Makes: 1 generous shake

Spiked Malted Coffee Milkshake
Ingredients:
1 1/5 cups coffee ice cream
2 Tbsp. malted milk powder (like Ovaltine)
1 oz. bourbon
1-2 Tbsp. milk

Method:
Blend together, top with whipped cream, and serve immediately.

Makes: 1 generous shake.

It may not be sunny, but it is Memorial Day weekend, and you know what I'm thinking? Pink! Rhubarb and strawberries, shrimp Louie, cherries, pink boxers, and yes, rosé.

Stand up and be counted, pink wine drinkers! Personally, I love it when a date seconds my order of rosé. A person who embraces pink wine is a person who's not afraid to get a little girly. It means he or she is a hey, why not? sort of person, happy to take a little vacation from the hopped-up IPAs and tannin-slugging Cabs to sip on what your aunt Cherrie would call a "swimmin' pool wine."

I have fond associations with rosé--chaise lounges, love, the South of France--but I've found that rosé really cheers anyone up, if they're man (or woman) enough to drink it.

So, what's worth pouring this weekend as you lounge under the patio umbrella? My two faves remain Bonny Doon's Vin Gris de Cigare ($15) and Domaine Tempier's Bandol Rosé ($32). The Bandol 2008 vintage has just arrived at Kermit Lynch in Berkeley; get over there now before they drink it all up. Both these wines are supple and elegant, perfect for a sunny summer lunch with cold salmon and a salad full of flowers.

Over at Bi-Rite Market, assistant wine buyer Sarah Bouldin puts the Robert Sinskey Vin Gris ($22.99) on the top of her list. "We can only get 10 cases at a time, so it goes fast. It's really well balanced, with strawberry fruitiness, a little melon." And then there's the Unti Rosé ($18.99), a biodynamic wine from Mick Unti in Healdsburg. Says Bouldin, "It's lighter than the Sinskey, a little more acidic. We're always happy to get our hands on anything Mick produces; his wines are always delicious, really outstanding."

Rosés are featured right now at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant, both as a flight on the tasting menu in the bar as well as in their adjoining shop. Wine buying manager Drea Dedona likes their classic Provencal rosés, of course, but also points out the Botasea Rosato di Palmino ($18), from Santa Barbara, made by winemaker Chrystal Clifton. Actually, it's hard to miss; it looks like strawberry Boone's Farm slapped with a lipstick-pink label. "I know the color's a little scary," Dedona admits, "But it's got great fruit and a little spice," thanks to a 50/30/20 blend of dolcetto, nebbiolo, and barbera grapes. There's also a reason for the pink: part of the purchase price of every bottle goes to support breast cancer research.

Were money no object, though, I'd throw down for the Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé ($80), a fabulously glam and grown-up French Champagne that glows like sunshine on pink marble.

But what if you're looking for a rosé that's more naked Carla Bruni, less Dior-clad Mme Sarkozy? Then you want Jean-Paul Brun's FRV100 ($16.99). Say it like the French do: eff-air-vay-cent. (Get it?) This is Brun's sparkling answer to soda-pop Beaujolais Nouveau: a light, fast-fermented wine with some residual sugar that's a goofy, picnic-perfect good time, not just overhyped grape juice.

From the glittery black label to the fan-dancing fizz inside, this is an unapologetic disco wine, made to get the party started. "It really should have house music pumping out of the bottle," laughs Bouldin. It's also a good way for a girl to drink and have fun without ending the evening as a drunk-dialing hot mess, thanks to an alcohol content that's just 7.5%.

Don't want to drink pink alone? Drop by Piccino on Sunday, May 31st from noon to 9 pm for Dogpatch's own festival of rosés. On the menu: pizzas, salads, a few lovely specials, and lots of rosés, all guaranteed to charm.

Akaka Falls, Big Island, Hawaii

I don't think I've disguised my deep and abiding love for all things New and Belgium when it comes to beer. I recently fell all over a coriander and bitter orange peel laced summer quaff called Mothership Wit Beer (New Belgium's first organic beer) and I do highly recommend that one as well, but I've got a bead on a fascinating new hot weather beer. Kona Brewing Company -- the self-same outfit that introduced my confused system to the awesomeness of coffee and beer -- has a new summer sipper out.

Wailua Wheat, coolly saronged by a bright, tropical label, is named for Wailua Falls on Maui's famed Hana Highway and brewed with tropical passion fruit. Or, if you're from the islands "lilikoi." Now, I'm not a fruit beer lover. I freely admit that I did the raspberry-blueberry-cherry beer thing in college, and they're probably the reason why the mere idea of fruit beers chokes my throat and offends my tongue. However, this is not what I would call a fruit beer. At least, not in the Boston definition of fruit beers.

The tart passion fruit in Wailua Wheat is neither sweet nor cloying, and its twangy edge matches as well with the crisp and hoppy wheat beer as a wedge of lemon in a cloudy pull of Hefeweizen. It's the heat and throb of the tropics crashing up against the centuries-old tradition of brewing and when the tide ebbs out, you're left with this icy bottle of exotic sunshine.

From the brewers themselves:

Wailua Wheat is an excellent beer to enjoy after a day on the water or at the beach (or even after mowing the lawn or playing softball in your "pau hana" summer league!). It typically pairs well with lighter fare like grilled fish and shrimp, roasted chicken, salads and Asian foods. Perhaps even a dish of vanilla ice cream.

I think I'll leave the vanilla ice cream for my Pipeline Porter, but I'm on board with the grilled shrimp idea. In fact, marinate the shrimp in this beer before grilling and see what happens.

You can find Wailua Wheat at BevMo.