Love of beer has caused the drinking rate
to edge up slightly. Photo by Odelia | CSP.

Sixty-seven percent of U.S. adults drink alcohol, a slight increase over last year and the highest reading recorded since 1985 (by one percentage point). Thirty-three percent of the responders said they were total abstainers.

The survey asked the question, “Do you have occasion to use alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine, or beer, or are you a total abstainer?”

One of the most significant predictors of alcohol consumption is church attendance. Those who seldom or never attend church are substantially more likely to say they drink than frequent church-goers. Those who have no religious affiliation, Catholics and non-Christians are more likely to drink than Protestants. Those with the lowest education levels and lowest incomes are less likely to drink than others.

Still, the data indicate that many older Americans are not taking advantage of the prophylactic benefit of drinking; 59% of older Americans drink alcohol, substantially lower than the percentages among those who are younger.

The percentage of Americans who say they drink alcohol has been remarkably stable over the 71 years of the Gallup tracking study. The lowest level, 55%, was recorded in 1958. The high point for drinking came in 1976-1978, when 71% said they drank alcohol.

While the study did not address it, the composition of what is drunk may well have changed over the years. Comparatively few Americans drank wine before the California wine explosion of the 1970s, for example.

• See the survey results in chart form.
• Find articles and reviews of Beer, Wine and Spirits.

All you need is a sharp knife, fresh vegetables (tomatoes, bell peppers, onion), some chiles, seasonings (garlic, cilantro, salt) and lime juice. You can toss in corn, black beans or anything in your pantry, from canned pineapple to water chestnuts.

And you don’t even need tomatoes: Here’s a recipe for a summer salsa made with watermelon. It can be used with chips, as a side dish or as a salad on top of shredded lettuce.

Fresh salsa is crunchy and more refreshing than the jarred varieties, where the pasteurization process cooks the vegetables.

• Try making strawberry salsa, too.
• This sweet cherry and mango salsa goes great with grilled salmon.
• Go global with these ideas for salsa recipes with international flair—from Caribbean to Indian to Southeast Asian flavors.
• Check out the different types of salsa.

Make a fresh summer salsa. Photo courtesy
Watermelon.org.

• Learn the differences between chiles, and why they’re inaccurately called “peppers.”

Have a Margarita for just 5 calories on top
of the liquor calories. Photo by Katharine
Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

There’s a new contender on the market: The Original Skinny Margarita, made by Jordan’s Skinny Mixes. It’s joined by the Original Skinny Appletini and the Original Skinny Cosmopolitan.

The mixes are made with natural flavors and sweetened with sucralose (Splenda). The Margarita mix has five calories per four-ounce serving; the other varieties contain zero calories.

The five calories make a difference: The zero-calorie varieties were more “diet” tasting. It’s easier to make a lemon-flavored, almost-calorie-free Margarita mix than to duplicate the flavors of apple schnapps or cranberry juice.

There’s a need in the marketplace for sugar-free or low-glycemic agave-based cocktail mixes. A regular mix adds hundreds of calories, many of them sugar, to a cocktail. We applaud the introduction of these sugar-free cocktail mixes, and hope that a line of agave-sweetened mixes is forthcoming.

• Find more cocktail mixes and drink recipes in our Cocktails & Spirits Section.

More than two years ago, we tasted 32 tomato ketchups and found enormous differences. Some brands stood out as superior tastes, others didn’t make the grade. We’ve just tasted nine more ketchups—some bound for glory, some bound for the recycling bin.

Use a spoon to try the ketchup you’re using. Do you taste rich tomato flavor or corn syrup (sugar)?

Most commercial ketchups are made from tomato concentrate, distilled vinegar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and seasonings—salt and spices, such as onion powder.

What if your ketchup were made from tomato purée, cider vinegar, agave nectar or brown sugar and enough spice so that you can savor a complex layering of allspice, clove, cinnamon and onion? What if you could cut your sugar intake by half, and switch to low-glycemic agave sweetener instead of high fructose corn syrup?

Should you care about the quality of your
ketchup? If you care about your other food
and beverages, absolutely! Photo by Fotografia Basica | IST.

• Read the full review of our two featured ketchups, Montebello Kitchens and Sir Kensington’s. Both make regular and spicy ketchup (chipotle, curry).
• See the history of ketchup plus our original review of more than 50 ketchup brands, including non-tomato-based ketchup.

Is your recipe better than Junior’s Lemon
Coconut Cheesecake? Photo courtesy
Junior’s.

The company already has dozens of delicious cheesecake flavors, from Original Plain, Chocolate Swirl and best-selling Strawberry to Pumpkin, Red Velvet and Tiramisu. It sells approximately 5,000 cheesecakes a week, ranging in weight from the individual 5-ounce cheesecake to a hefty five-pounder.

If you’ve got an original recipe for the next great flavor, head over to JuniorsCheesecake.com to enter it.

The winner will receive a $1,800 prize and will have his or her cheesecake featured as a limited edition at Junior’s Restaurant. A portion of the proceeds from the winning cheesecake sales will be donated to charity.

• Find our own favorite cheesecake recipes in THE NIBBLE’s Gourmet Cakes Section.