Healthy Cocktails?

It's finally Friday, and if my body could talk (vocal chords aside), it would say, "Get this girl a drink!" Preferably, a sparkling red wine—my new favorite.

While a little bit of any kind of alcohol can be good for you, "health" isn't exactly one of the words most of us think of when we hear "cocktail." However, in recent years, health-conscious concoctions have become pretty trendy.

Personally, I'm more of a wine drinker and think the idea of trying to make cocktails into health drinks is pretty silly, but I did go to bartending school, so I can see the fun in coming up with new recipes. Maybe if I ever get around to having that dinner party I've been wanting to have, I'll whip something up. Here are a couple ideas from Women's Health.

Cheers!

Champagne is the New Red Wine

Good news! According to a recent British Study, a glass of champagne delivers as many health benefits as red wine and chocolate.

Researcher Dr. Jeremy Spencer of Reading University found that it contains the same polyphenol antioxidants, which help promote heart health by slowing down the removal of nitric oxide from the blood, thus lowering blood pressure. Cheaper alternatives to champagne such as cava and Prosecco also contain these antioxidants.

Says Dr. Spencer, "We have found that a couple of glasses a day has a beneficial effect on the walls of blood vessels – which suggests champagne has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease."

I'm not sure if the guidelines are different in the UK, but here, women are advised to stick to one drink a day and men to two, but hey, I'm always happy to have a reason to drink champagne. I don't drink very often, so when I do, I like it to be something really good!

Wine Tasting in South Jersey

A couple weekends ago, one of my friends from high school, who went to the College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ, piled a bunch of us into her car and drove down to the Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington.

I'd never known that New Jersey had any vineyards, but hey, you learn something new every day. There's something kind of humorous about it, and while this place definitely delivered on that Jersey charm level, it was also pretty nice.

For five dollars, we got to try 6 different wines. My favorite was the white merlot, personally. The guy helping us out was pretty drunk. His mode of operation seemed to be "one pour for you, two for me."

Afterwards, though, he gave us a tour of the place. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day, perfect for strolling around the grounds. It was interesting to hear about the fermentation and bottling process and see the machines they use to do it. Apparently, the three "magic words" of running a vineyard are "money, alcohol, and quality."

For a small facility, they produce a lot of wine. It made me even more excited for this International Nutrition Course I'm hoping to be to take in Italy next year...

Busted Punks

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the holiday weekend "down the shore" (as we say in Jersey) with my family. On Saturday, my mom and I stopped at the liquor store to get supplies for kir royals.

As we were paying, I noticed a big collage on the wall behind the counter—a collage of fake IDs that had been confiscated over the years. The title?

BUSTED PUNKS

It was just too awesome. I wish I had a picture.

Sober in the Animal House

A recent post on Tara Parker-Pope's New York Times blog, Well, featured an essay by Dartmouth sophomore Owen Jennings. Because of a liver disease, Jennings does not drink alcohol, which is somewhat ironic, given that he lives in the frat house that the movie Animal House was based upon. 

I found his piece very insightful, especially in that he refers to alcohol as "the only drug that everyone is expected to use," a drug which can have very damaging effects in large doses. Yet it is assumed that all college students drink, basically because they can (in most cases). 

From Jennings' sober position, the drinking habits of his friends seem "mindless."  He suggests, "The question shouldn’t be, 'Why aren’t you drunk?' Rather, we need to start asking, 'Why are you drunk?'"

While I appreciate articles about how to drink responsibly and fit alcohol into a healthy diet (here's a cute post from a Self intern), it is also important to keep the notion of balance in mind. There's a line that gets crossed from one's drinking being, like, too many extra calories to a serious problem. 

And it's not just college kids—when I was in college, most of my friends were a bit older (mid-twenties to early-thirties). What my college friends would call a night was like milk to these guys. Whatever happened to slowly savoring a drink?

While I like a good glass of wine or the occasional cocktail, the few times I've attempted to keep up with the group did not end well...Being four-foot-eleven definitely limits your options in that respect. What the "experts" tell you about sipping water in between drinks and not drinking on an empty stomach is true. 

Just last night, I watched the HBO Addiction project, which provided another perspective on drug and alcohol use. In addition to introducing the viewer to individuals with engrossing, often heartbreaking stories, it explores some of the new ways in which addiction is being treated. Definitely worth watching.

Beer Butt Chicken

Wednesday's randomness: Check. 

While reading one of my favorite blogs this afternoon, I clicked on a link to an article the author recently posted on DadCentric.com about making Beer Butt Chicken at the home of his wife's Midwife. The pictures he posted say it all. Here are a couple gems. 

If Chris ate meat and if either one of us drank beer (or owned a grill besides our George Forman, for that matter), I'd try this. Maybe. I don't know, though I can be kind of squeamish about handling raw meat. Either way, I don't think I'd slaughter my own chicken. 

I'm trying to think of any vegetarian equivalent to this, but I can't think of any, barring ToFurkey...