Jungle Bird and Extinct Tiger Inspire Prize-Winning Drink Recipes In AAA Michigan Contest

12 October 2000
Jungle Bird and Extinct Tiger Inspire Prize-Winning Drink Recipes In AAA Michigan Contest
    DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 12 Looking for something a little
different in beverages to serve at your next party?  How about pouring some
Toucan Tropical Twister or some Saber-Toothed Tiger Punch?  Your guests will
probably like the tastes, and they definitely will not be alcohol-impaired as
they drive home.
    Drinks with those names were the winner and runner-up, respectively,
Thursday in AAA Michigan's Zero-Proof Mix-Off for nonalcoholic drink recipes
held at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak.
    Al Lach of Dearborn took first prize with his Toucan Tropical Twister, a
mixture of nonalcoholic Bacardi pina-colada mixer, 7-up soda, crushed
pineapple, pineapple juice and maraschino cherries blended with ice and
garnished with pineapple chunks and cherries.  The recipe earned Lach $500.
    Karen Worthy of Salem Township won the $250 second prize by blending Dole
orange guava juice, unsweetened pineapple juice, apricot nectar juice,
sweetened lime juice and cream of coconut with crushed ice.  She called her
creation Saber-Toothed Tiger Juice, and to carry out the theme she garnished
each glass with a pineapple wedge cut in the shape of a tiger tooth.
    The mix-off was the third held statewide this week as part of the Auto
Club's 22nd-annual "First A Friend, Then A Host" program aimed at helping curb
drunk driving by providing party hosts with nonalcoholic drink options.  This
year's mix-off theme was "Nature's Creatures, Large and Small."  All recipes
had to be named after some creature from the animal kingdom.  The Detroit Zoo
was selected as the mix-off venue in keeping with the animal theme.
    Honorable mention finalists in the mix-off were Nora Hudson of Detroit,
serving her Purple Elephant; Marv Renko of Milford and his Chunky Monkey's
Coffee-Toffee Cooler; and Laura Walker of Tecumseh, who served Fishy Float, a
drink created by the Tecumseh High School girls' swim team.  Each of the
honorable mentions earned $50.
    All five recipes, plus 10 others from mix-offs held earlier this week in
Traverse City and Grand Rapids, will be printed in The Great Pretenders Party
Guide, a booklet AAA Michigan will publish in December and distribute free
statewide.
    Judges for the mix-off were Ron Kagan, director of the Detroit Zoo; Kate
Lawson, food writer for The Detroit News; and Capt. Tad Sturdivant, commander
of the Michigan State Police Northville Post.