Q: My girlfriend beats me at every sport, sometimes in front of my friends. And of course they're ragging on me. Should I ask her to go easy? Todd L. Phoenix, AX

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Q: I was in the shower and my girlfriend came in and used the bathroom. I'm not quite ready for that level of intimacy. How can I tell her? Rich P, Portland, OR

Q: I met a great girl, and we're making long-term plans. But she's 10 years younger than me. How can I make sure my buddies don't think less of me? Win H. NY, NY

 Setting up home bar can be a daunting task. Below are listed what a fully stocked home bar would have. Admittedly, this can be a substantial expenditure.  However, unless you entertain frequently, this should last a long, long time. Highlighted in red are what would be considered some of the bare necessities that should be on hand at all times.  By stocking these, you should be fairly well prepared for most of any of your drop-in visitors. 

However, if money is not an issue, purchasing most of this inventory at one time may get you a discount at your local liquor store and will have you prepared for most occasions.  It is nice to have some of the more exotic liquors available, just in case someone has a craving for a for something beyond the norm.

 

Spirits Brandy Gin White or Gold Rum Dark Rum Tequila Vodka (unflavored) Flavored Vodka (Orange, Lemon, Raspberry, etc...) Bourbon Whiskey Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey Single Malt Scotch Whisky Irish Whiskey Beer	Liqueur Triple Sec or Cointreau Apple Pucker Schnapps (for Appletinis) Kahlua Bailey's Irish Creme Southern Comfort Ameretto
Mixers Sweet & Sour Lime Juice (Fresh or Roses) Bloody Mary Mix Margarita Mix Fresh Juice (Orange, Cranberry, Pineapple, Pomengranate) Club Soda Tonic Ginger Ale Coca Cola & Diet Coke Sprite/7 Up Grenadine Cream or Half & Half Ice & Water	Garnishes Lime Wedges Lemon Weges Lemon Peell Twists Orange Slices Marascino Cherrys Olives (Regular or Stuffed) Cocktails Onions Margarita Salt Sugar

 Setting up home bar can be a daunting. Below are listed what a stocked home bar would look like. Admittedly this can be a huge investment.  But unless you entertain frequently, this should last you a long, long time. Highlighted in red are what would be considered some of the bare necessities.  By having these, you should be fairly well prepared for most of your visitors. 

However, if money is not an issue, purchasing most of this inventory may get you a discount at your local liquor store and will have you prepared for most occasions.  It is also nice to have some of the more exotic liquors available, just in case someone has a craving for a for something beyond the norm.

Spirits Brandy Gin White or Gold Rum Dark Rum Tequila Vodka (unflavored) Flavored Vodka (Orange, Lemon, Raspberry, etc...) Bourbon Whiskey Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey Single Malt Scotch Whisky Irish Whiskey Beer	Liqueur Triple Sec or Cointreau Apple Pucker Schnapps (for Appletinis) Kahlua Bailey's Irish Creme Southern Comfort Ameretto
Mixers Sweet & Sour Lime Juice (Fresh or Roses) Bloody Mary Mix Margarita Mix Fresh Juice (Orange, Cranberry, Pineapple, Pomengranate) Club Soda Tonic Ginger Ale Coca Cola Grenadine Cream or Half & Half	Garnishes Lime Wedges Lemon Weges Lemon Peell Twists Orange Slices Marascino Cherrys Olives (Regular or Stuffed) Cocktails Onions Margarita Salt Sugar

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  A hip flask can be a great way of bringing your favorite bevereage, premade martini, Johnny Walker Scotch or E & J Brandy  to a party, sporting event or any time you are moving about and don't want to be burdened with a clunky breakable bottle. I carry one from time to time because it  can be a great way of limiting the amount of spirits consumed at any given function. The contents can be measured out before having the first cocktail of the night and once it's empty, I know exactly how much I've had to drink and  I'm done for the night. This also tells me that it might be time to have water or a cup of coffee.  Flasks are also very personal and can either be kept in a purse, back or front pocket or jacket. It also says to would be moochers that what's in your flask is all you have and it's yours not to be shared. It's also nice to be able to bring along something special that you wouldn't expect your host to have like a bit of Baileys Irish Cream to put in your coffee.

Typically, flasks are very durable being constructed out of various types of metal so there is no worry about glass breakage. However, some flasks do have glass linings and those flasks must be handled with care. Flasks can be a great accessory and a topic of conversation. Olives and Twists offer a great line of flasks some that have funny zingers on them. They're great gifts for birtdays, graduations, holiday gifts, etc.

Olives and Twists is pleased to announce a new line of Collapsable, Durable, Reusable, Non-metalic Flasks. Want to save $$$$ on your cruise? Bring your liquor in Rum Runner Cruise Kit. It beats paying $ 12 a drink for your alcohol!

History
The hip flask began to appear in the form recognised today in the 18th century, initially used by members of the gentry. However, less compact versions had been in production for several centuries. Notably, in the Middle Ages, there are several accounts of gutted fruit being used to store liquor. During the 18th century, women boarding docked British warships would smuggle gin into the ship via makeshift flasks, created from pig's bladders and hidden inside their petticoats. Following the act of prohibition in 1920s America, the state of Indiana banned the sale of cocktail shakers and hip flasks.

Antique hip flasks, particularly those made of silver, are now sought-after collector's items. The hip flask appears frequently in comedy, in part because it allows drinking in inappropriate situations where a bottle would not be found.

In the Royal Air Force, "hip-flask" is used as code for a revolver.

A hip flask can be a great way of bringing whatever it is that you want to consume to a party, sporting event or any time you are moving about. I carry one from time to time because it  can be a great way of limiting the amount of spirits consumed at any given function. The contents can be measured out before you start drinking and once it's empty I'm done for the night, etc. This also tells me that it might be time to have water or a cup of coffee. Typically, flasks are very durable being constructed out of various types of metal so you don't have to worry about glass breakage. However, some flasks do have glass linings and those flasks must be handled with care. Flasks can be a great accessory and a topic of conversation. Olives and Twists offer a great line of flasks some that have funny zingers on them. They're great gifts for birtdays, graduations, holiday gifts, etc.

Olives and Twists is pleased to announce that we will carry a new line of

The hip flask began to appear in the form recognised today

The hip flask began to appear in the form recognised today in the 18th century, initially used by members of the gentry. However, less compact versions had been in production for several centuries. Notably, in the Middle Ages, there are several accounts of gutted fruit being used to store liquor. During the 18th century, women boarding docked British warships would smuggle gin into the ship via makeshift flasks, created from pig's bladders and hidden inside their petticoats. Following the act of prohibition in 1920s America, the state of Indiana banned the sale of cocktail shakers and hip flasks.

Antique hip flasks, particularly those made of silver, are now sought-after collector's items. The hip flask appears frequently in comedy, in part because it allows drinking in inappropriate situations where a bottle would not be found.

In the Royal Air Force, "hip-flask" is used as code for a revolver.

  Over the last five years, the health benefits of moderate drinking have been widely celebrated in the headlines. To those who think everything enjoyable must be bad for you, this news might seem like a dream come true.

Of course, there are many caveats - and these studies don't indicate that teetotalers should take up drinking or that infrequent drinkers should start drinking more. The operative word here is drinking in moderation.

Studies show, for example, that health benefits only come with moderate drinking and are greatest for older men. And even moderate drinking is not recommended for women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, or for people who are under 21.

The strongest medical evidence exists for the link between moderate drinking and a reduced risk of heart disease.

Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, an internist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, was the lead author of a New England Journal of Medicine study examining the roles of drinking patterns and heart disease that found, after 12 year of follow-up, that men who consumed alcohol between three and seven days a week had fewer heart attacks than men who drank once a week.

Below, Mukamal discusses the risk and benefits of moderate drinking.

Do we know why moderate drinking lowers heart disease risk? We think that a lot of the benefits of alcohol are on the blood vessels and on blockages in the arteries to the heart and to the brain. This might be related to alcohol's effect on the good cholesterol, the HDL cholesterol.

In fact, alcohol affects HDL levels just about as strongly as any other lifestyle factor. People also think that alcohol may lower heart attack risk by acting as a blood thinner.

What are some of the other health benefits associated with moderate drinking? A wide variety of health effects have been attributed to moderate drinking. A lower risk of diabetes has been seen in women and men.

There actually have been experiments done in which alcohol was administered over a couple of months to people without diabetes. In those studies, most of which have been conducted in women interestingly, it looks like moderate drinking improves the body's sensitivity to insulin.

It may actually lower insulin levels altogether and may prevent diabetes through that mechanism.

More recently we've done some work on moderate drinking and dementia. We looked at a group of older adults in the United States - average age was in the mid-70s - and found a reduced risk.

There has been some more work in slightly younger populations from Europe, and those studies have fairly consistently suggested that older adults who were drinking moderately may have a lower risk of dementia. We're not exactly sure what the mechanisms may be behind that.

Some of it may very well be because drinking tends to occur in social settings and just the process of getting out and socializing may be an important way to prevent dementia.

There is also evidence that moderate drinking may prevent silent strokes or other subtle types of brain injury that we know over time can predispose to dementia. I think it's still an area where we need some more investigation.

Is the pattern of alcohol consumption important?

In most of the studies that look at this issue, people have been asked 'How much alcohol do you usually drink?' When that question is asked, people take an average. For example, I drink 10 drinks a month. But 10 drinks a month is very different for someone who has them all on one night vs. someone who has them on 10 different nights of the month.

That kind of detail surprisingly hasn't been available in most of the studies that have been devoted to this topic. In our study we tried to figure out the drinking pattern that's most closely tied to lower heart attack risk.

What we found in a study of about 38,000 men was that the key factor wasn't what men were drinking, or frankly even so much how much they were drinking at a time, but how frequently they were drinking alcohol.

We found that men who were drinking at least three to four days a week or more had lower heart attack risks than people who had one drink a week.

We also have some very strong studies showing that heart disease risk, while lower amongst moderate drinkers, can be substantially higher among people who drink to excess even occasionally.

They don't have to be drinking excessively every single night to potentially have a greater heart attack risk.

Many of the effects of moderate drinking, such as acting as a blood thinner, are only true at moderate levels of drinking. Those effects actually go away and reverse if people drink too much