Oft-Reviled, Green Peppers Get Seat at Table

Try it before worrying that you'll die of a cheese craving

(NEWSER) - Instead of a trendy juice cleanse to start the New Year, Heather Wood Rudúlph went with a different detox diet: going vegan for a month. She shares seven lessons she learned from the experience in Sirens Magazine :

• She can cook: And so can you. Forced to stop making your staple chicken casserole over and over, you discover the joys of “culinary creativity.”
• Skip the colonic and eat veggies instead: “Eating massive portions of leafy vegetables and whole grains” led to “that ‘clean’ feeling" within just a couple of days.
• You never know what you’re going to miss: In Rudúlph’s case, she craved fish and yogurt but never meat, other dairy, or eggs.

Feeling adventurous? Try cat stew.

(NEWSER) - If you think chef Daniel Angerer’s breast milk cheese is a bad idea, check out these nine questionable culinary creations, from The Frisky :

• Cat stew: An Italian chef called "cat, soaked for three days in the running water of a stream" a "delicacy."
• Squirrel canapés: A hotel in England makes squirrel pancakes out of animals caught on the grounds—the chef says they taste like rabbit.

64-ounce takeaway bottles offer cheaper alternative to bar-hopping

(NEWSER) - Looking to host your Super Bowl party with beer that’s a bit more interesting than Coors Light? Look no further than the current beer trend sweeping New York: Growlers. The 64-ounce glass containers allow for fresher, cheaper, more interesting beer in the comfort of your own living room—and everyone, including parents with kids in tow, is jumping on the bandwagon, reports the New York Times . More»

Don't just cook with it; mix a drink with it

(NEWSER) - After decades relegated to a spot in the cooking aisle, sherry is making a comeback. The Spanish fortified wine is becoming a trendy cocktail ingredient, especially in Los Angeles, the Times reports. The drinks can get pretty swanky—one involves gold dust; another, reportedly loved by Frank Sinatra, flamed orange oil. “You see a lot of going back to classic cocktail ingredients,” says one restaurateur whose establishment aims to recapture “Old Hollywood swell-egance.” More»

One new highbrow bottle, with 27% alcohol, costs $150

(NEWSER) - Beer with a high alcohol content is in the spotlight after two breweries announced supercharged creations—Boston Beer Company's Utopias, with 27% alcohol, and BrewDog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin, with 32%. Are they good for the average guzzler? Salon gets details from expert Brooks Hamaker:

• They don’t come cheap: Utopias will set you back $150 a bottle.
• Yes, it is beer: Regardless of alcohol content, it’s made from barley, malt, hops, water, and yeast—but it’s not carbonated, "or at least not very well," because of its high sugar content.