Dining Guide: Casual Fridays

Meow Mixer

A pet-supply company in Japan has begun selling wine made especially for cats. The beverage was made in response to a growing demand from customers who wanted to celebrate events such as Christmas and birthdays with their furry friends. The drink does not contain any alcohol — it is a blend of Cabernet grape juice, vitamin C and catnip. If you desire to share a cocktail with your kitty, you need to act fast: Only 1,000 bottles were made. Pairing wine with your cat’s meal is sure to make for a Fancy Feast. 

Oreo addict

A study performed at Connecticut College has shown that the consumption of high-fat, high-sugar food triggers a neurological response similar to cocaine and morphine. Joseph Schroeder, an associate professor of psychology, and his students conducted the study with rats. They created a habitat with two rooms and placed an Oreo in one room and a rice cake in the other. They then recorded how much time a rat spent in each room and found that the rats spent more time in the room with the Oreo. The same experiment was repeated with the rat being offered either an injection of cocaine or an injection of saline. It was found that the rat had an equivalent preference for the room with the Oreo as the room with the cocaine injection. Perhaps this explains Cookie Monster’s longstanding struggle with the confections.

Snake charmer

In China, it is a common practice to preserve live snakes, preferably venomous, in wine to create a drink that is believed to cure different ailments. A woman from Shuanghcheng made her own snake wine with a live snake hoping to cure her rheumatism. Three months after putting the snake in a bottle of alcohol, she attempted to add more liquid to the bottle and was bitten by the snake. This story gives a new meaning to the phrase, “pick your poison.”

Beer gut

In September, after being in a drunken state for five years, a man was diagnosed with gut fermentation syndrome, or auto-brewery syndrome. Essentially, because of an overgrowth of yeast in the intestines, the food the man ate was turned into alcohol. The man’s condition was realized when he was admitted to the emergency room after blowing a 0.37 on a breathalyzer after having consumed no alcohol. After taking a series of antifungal medications, the man no longer fermented what he ate. Regardless, we may have discovered the newest sustainable brewery.

Kangaroo Jack

In Melbourne, Australia, an injured kangaroo managed to find its way into an airport pharmacy. The kangaroo, which had been hit by a car outside the airport, was taken under the care of a veterinarian and is recovering at a wildlife shelter. “Cyrus,” as the kangaroo was nicknamed, ended up in the terminal for Qantas Airlines. That car must’ve hit Cyrus like a wreckingball.