Make Sobriety a Goal at Super Bowl Parties, Says AAA Michigan

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 29, 2004 -- Coaches for the Panthers and the Patriots won't rely on only one formation to win Sunday's Super Bowl XXXVIII, and hosts shouldn't rely on only alcoholic beverages to make their Super Bowl party a success, suggests AAA Michigan.

To help add variety to party refreshments, and moderate guests' alcoholic intake, AAA has 14 recipes for tasty, nonalcoholic party drinks that are available in a free booklet or can be downloaded for free from AAA Michigan's Web site. The booklet also has recipes for three fancy party snacks from the "Joy of Cooking" series of cookbooks published by Simon & Schuster.

Chefs and beverage experts at AAA Diamond-rated restaurants and hotels in the Midwest created the recipes for The Great Pretenders Party Guide, a colorful booklet that is available at all AAA branch offices, free to the general public as well as AAA members.

People who don't have time before the Super Bowl to get to a AAA branch can download the recipes for free from the Auto Club's Web site, www.aaamich.com . After you access the site, click on Press Releases at the bottom of the page; scroll down the list of releases to AAA "Cooks" and click on Great Pretenders Party Guide.

AAA suggests that party hosts have one or two of the nonalcoholic drinks available throughout the party for guests who don't want to drink alcohol at all. As the party starts to wind down, alcohol service can be eliminated and some of the nonalcoholic recipes introduced as substitutes.

The new law in Michigan mandates that anyone with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 percent or more is legally under the influence. Serving some of the nonalcoholic recipes from The Great Pretenders Party Guide can help keep guests from reaching that dangerous BAC level.