We knew that alcohol was good for you! First, we hear red wine is good for the heart. And now a study says that beer is actually good for our bones, preventing osteoporosis.

Silicon plays a major role in bone formation. Beer has been claimed to be one of the most important sources of silicon in the Western diet.

The study subjects were all women, presumably because osteoporosis is more common in women and not because this phenomenon is only true for women. So ladies and gents, drink up!

Beer Could Stop Bones Going Brittle (@Telegraph UK)

Photo Credit Telegraph UK

Sangria is designed for hot summer weather.

The Spanish wine punch is designed to cool and refresh. Just the word sangria makes me feel happy and relaxed.

But in addition to being delicious, it can also be quite cheap. It’s a great way to enjoy fresh fruit that’s a little past its prime but still good.

Savvy Housekeeping has a white wine sangria recipe that allows you to enjoy a summer cocktail treat while keeping an eye on expenses:

I punched the numbers this morning and discovered that this sangria only cost me $3.70 a pitcher, or $.62 a glass. Compare that to a bottle of white wine ($11 or so, or $2.20 a glass) or a margarita (roughly $4.50 a glass using decent tequila, I’m guessing).

A Frugal Cocktail (White Wine Sangria recipe @ Savvy Housekeeping)
Photo credit: Savvy Housekeeping

more cocktails…

• Paloma (drinkoftheweek.com)
• 4th of July Watermelon Cocktail (drinkoftheweek.com)
• The Bee’s Teas Gin Cocktail (drinkoftheweek.com)

Got what it takes to be a winemaker? Want to create your own national wine label? Then audition for the Public Television series “The Winemakers” for a chance to go to Rhone, France and prove yourself.

Auditions will be held July 27 in San Francisco and August 3 in New York. If you can’t make it to either of those, you can upload a two-minute video audition which will be judged by popular vote.

THE WINEMAKERS will plunge a diverse group of twelve men and women head first into one of the most uniquely challenging and rewarding professions in the world: the business of making wine.

Over the course of six half-hour episodes, this real-life cast of characters will experience every aspect of the wine industry from the ground up — with one goal in mind — to win the chance to launch their own wine brand.

The Winemakers

Starbucks is opening a Seattle location that will serve beer and wine — with more to come. If the experiment goes well, the concept could be tested in other cities.

The test move to sell alcohol is clearly an attempt to fight off growing competition from McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, says Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm. “

What an amazing idea! “A Good Appetite” came up with this tasty-sounding recipe for Oatmeal Stout and Heath Bar Ice Cream.

I’ll have to try to make this one myself.

The ice cream base has a slight bitter flavor but also a bit of a toffee flavor from the stout. The sweetness of the Heath bar is a good foil to that bitterness while the toffee in it helps bring out more of that toffee flavor. The texture of the ice cream is beautifully creamy making a good base for the crunch of the Heath Bar.

Oatmeal Stout and Heath Bar Ice Cream recipe (@ A Good Appetite, via Craftzine)

In honor of its 250th anniversary, Guinness is offering you the chance to win “remarkable experiences” — like a trip into outer space or to a traveling, underwater bar in Norway or Black Eyed Peas concert at a secret venue.

Personally, I’d go for the space travel — which would be on Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the world’s first spaceline. But a submarine bar and hanging out with the Black Eyed Peas are also pretty tempting.

To enter, visit “The Guinness Experience.”

Are you going camping or hiking? Are you going to space?

If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” then Trek’n Eat has the product for you: powdered wine.

This red wine can be easily toted in its lightweight dry form. Add water and you have wine with 8.2% alcohol content.

You adventurous types out there will have to let me know how it is. I’m sticking with the non-dehydrated stuff.

Trek’nEat Red Wine (via Liqurious)