[Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Entertaining guests has its perks. I pick the menu. I always get the dessert I want. And at the end of the evening, when the conversation's devolved into into giggling over elephants knocking people over, there's a journey of no more than 30 feet between me and a bed.

Sure, there are downsides. Guests who won't offer to help wash dishes, and realizing that stain someone left on your grandmother's tablecloth isn't coming out. The real casualties, though, are the odds and ends. That errant 1/3 pound of cheese bits, the half-drunk bottle of wine you were about to refrigerate when...well...did you not see the elephant totally take that guy out? Last night's lovely dry white doesn't seem so appetizing the unrefrigerated morning after. But where there's a will—and a pint of Greek yogurt—there's a way.

Frozen yogurt is my go-to no-fuss dessert. If your ice cream maker is prepped, it takes 20 minutes and as few as 2 ingredients to make something way better than Pinkberry. Once you have some, your toppings are limitless. Fresh figs? Check. Olive oil? Hell yeah. Roasted cherry compote? We can do that.

But you can also mix in whatever you like, all the more so when you use ultra-rich Greek yogurt. Suddenly that wine looked a lot less ruined. Creamy, fatty, tangy Greek yogurt brings out the floral, honeyed, and fruity flavors of dry white wine, almost like adding water to Scotch. What were subtle tasting notes become bold flavors, and the dual twangs of yogurt and wine cozied up real nice together. It took all of a spoonful for me to know that I'd be making this again. With fresh wine, even!

The best part? I'm serving it the next time I entertain. Circle of life and all.

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White Wine Frozen Yogurt »

About the author: Max Falkowitz writes Serious Eats' weekly Spice Hunting column. He's a proud native of Queens, New York, will do just about anything for a good cup of tea, and enjoys long walks down the aisles of Chinese groceries. You can follow his exotic spice- and ice cream-based ramblings on Twitter.