"light" news and stories

Going nationwide last July, Miller Chill quickly became ubiquitous at stores. This summer, Anheuser-Busch tried targeting the flourishing lime-flavored beer market as well, launching Bud Light Lime in April with $35 million in advertising. Since then, the macro-brew's been bragging about its success crediting the roll-out for an increase in 2nd quarter profits and summer market share.

Enough jabber-jargon... Do I want to drink it??

Personally, my taste buds sour at the mere thought of giving a Bud Light spin-off the full taster's treatment, but just for kicks, let's do BLL proper!

BLL's packaging alerts me it's a "premium light beer with 100% natural lime flavor." Also prominently displayed: "contains alcohol." Sold. After cleansing my palate of a Fudgsicle (hey, it's hot out!), I pour a small amount of BLL into a taster glass. The nose is very typical of Bud Light (subtle malt, ricey) and shows distinct notes of -- ta da! -- lime.

The flavor does not offend as much as I had expected.

After a long, hard workout, women just want to settle down to a nice refreshing salad and a glass of vodka. That's the scene that one vodka manufacturer in Russia is trying to sell to the upwardly mobile ladies of the country. The vodka, which comes in lime, vanilla, almond and original flavors, is being heavily marketed to women, in an attempt to convince them that they deserve a vodka designed especially for them.

This is concerning Russian doctors, as alcoholism is rampant in Russian. There are 2.5 million registered alcoholics in the country, but experts estimate that the real number of alcoholics in that country is closer to 10 percent of the nation's population. So far, sales of the Ladies Vodka have been brisk, but what does that mean for the health of that country's women? I guess when it comes to sales and marketing, the bottom line is always more important than the health line.

[via The Morning News]

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It's been a while since I've cooed over a set of salt and pepper shakers, so it's about time.

The Mini Lantern Salt and Pepper Shakers don't actually effect an "Ohmigod, how cute!" but they do get points for being totally functional, doing double duty as shakers as well as lights for the table. Each shaker has three white LED bulbs with built-in reflectors for even more brightness.

Because you always want to be prepared for a power outage just as you're about to reach for that salt shaker.

The set of shakers is available from HomeWetBar for $24.99

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Friends, we're bringing all kinds of snacks, foods, and desserts to the table for Super Bowl, but let's be real about something. Most of these foods are meaty, carb-y, and definitely go against every New Year's Resolution you made a month ago. Steak chili? Sour cream based dips? Potato chips? Deep-fried everything? Yeah!

But, well, yeah.

Though the Super Bowl may be but one day, and not even an entire day, but an afternoon, some of us do want to stick with healthy options, or have some dietary restrictions, like reader hayduke who left us a comment today asking for suggestions for Super Bowl food ideas with the following guiding principles (we don't like to call them "restrictions"):

• Sister is vegetarian
• Sister also eats gluten-free
• Dad needs to lose 20 pounds, so something "light"

Hayduke has a few things already lined up, but would like some more ideas (as would we!) If you have recipes or ideas to share, leave them in the comments!

Potato chips are, as a general rule, fried, greasy and unfortunately addictive, as illustrated by the longtime Lay's slogan "bet you can't eat just one. All these traits make them the bane of many health food activists' existences, but those same activists might go a little easier on the popular snack food if they knew you can easily make a non-fried, fat free version that is just as crispy as the "real" thing at home All you need is a microwave.

This Japanese potato chip maker allows you to make chips in the microwave. All you need to do is slice up a potato into fine rounds and place in the stand, then microwave until crisp.

It sounds implausible, but microwaving chips really does work. I've done it myself with great success thanks to the recipe for Uncle Bill's Microwave Potato Chips, which doesn't require a potato chip stand to work. The chips actually do crisp up well, especially if you take care to slice them thinly and evenly. In the photo above, the chips that I made are on the left, while the chips made with the chip-maker (not made by me) are on the right. I cut my potatoes freehand with a sharp knife, but using a mandoline will produce results even faster and guarantee consistency. Make sure to season your chips with salt and pepper or seasoning salt before microwaving them, as it is difficult to get the salt to adhere to already crisp chips.