As I reflect my week, I realize that I’ve eaten out in Tucson restaurants almost every day. Is this an odd pattern? Yes, but not when the temperature in Tucson has been triple digits every damn day.

Let’s recap:

Last Sunday I went to Montana Avenue for lunch with a greyhound owning friend. We shared the spinach-artichoke dip appetizer with home made tortilla chips. We each ordered the Ahi tuna on a bed of greens with some kind of Asian vinaigrette. It was yummy. Then for dessert we shared the bread pudding which by the way was divine. Neither of us had any alcoholic beverages because I had to go back and work and there’s no way I can drink anything alcoholic in the middle of the day especially a super hot day.

On Monday, I ate from my own coffers.

Tuesday brought a belated birthday dinner at Miguel’s. I picked Miguel’s because I haven’t been there in well over a year and was in the mood to try somewhere different than my usual special occasion places here in Tucson. Miguel’s is a Latin influenced restaurant within the La Posada Hotel. While the bar was bustling, the restaurant was more sparse. Amazingly, we all ordered fish or seafood and raved about our dishes as the sauces and presentations worked well. The guacamole appetizer was chunky just the way I like it. I believe we drank refreshing pinot gris. Then we shared lime cake with tres leches. The tart lime contrasted against the sweet milks was intriguing.

On Wednesday I had penciled in that my friend Susan and I were going to celebrate our May birthdays that are just days apart. I called her early in the a.m. and she never called me back. I had eaten sparsely in anticipation of dinner so by 3:30 I was starving. I decided to go out to eat and headed for Zivaz which is walking distance but of course not in triple digit weather. I love Zivaz and am thrilled that it’s so close to where I live. It’s Mexican food with a twist. From 3 to 6 p.m. is considered happy hour and appetizers are half price. I ordered the veggie quesadilla which was quite ample. I chose iced tea because a beer or hibiscus margarita at that hour would’ve done me in. Around 5 p.m. Susan called and apologized for not calling sooner. We rescheduled for July.

Thursday I went to a Mexican bakery in South Tucson to interview them for a forthcoming article. I will save that for later. My only comments are - it was about 90 degrees in the bakery and the aromas were overwhelming with delicious promise.

Thursday evening a friend was writing an article about soups for the winter issue of a magazine. It was 105 degrees when we went to dinner and I thought that soup was the last thing I wanted. Soup was just perfect. We sampled three soups at Vila Thai.

On Friday, R.C. was dying for Chinese food so we drove west of downtown Tucson to Dragon View. The quality of this place has changed a lot but it’s back to the plus column. I would’ve loved a cold Asian beer but they don’t have a liquor license now. The three of us shared spicy eggplant with garlic sauce, lightly sauted bok choy, Mongolian beef, and kung pao shrimp. The shrimp was the weakest dish and the beef the best. Brown rice, which is rare in a Chinese restaurant, was offered.

Today (Saturday) I went out to breakfast at Ghini’s French Caffe. I love their signature eggs - eggs Provencal. You can pick the egg prep and then it’s cooked to perfection, sprinkled with herbs du Provencal and served with roasted hot house tomatoes and choice of bread. Since they make their own bread you cannot go wrong. I chose the whole wheat but the baguette look better.

The rest of the day I barely ate although I finished some of the Chinese leftovers and one of the Thai soups.

My advice: eat out when you can in hot weather and depending on where you are — stay cool, stay dry, and stay away from fire.