Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with homemade

how to set prices at a bake sale fundraiser? [difficulty level: vegan]

divined by radio — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:54:13 -0800

I've been organizing and running a vegan bake sale in my city twice a year for the past three years. It's a pretty manageable affair; over the course of five bake sales, I've raised just over $5,000, met some wonderful people, and had a lot of fun. While I am lucky enough to have an incredible standing venue and an amazing group of regular volunteer bakers, I keep getting stuck on one thing: PRICING. I've run into problems with every approach I've tried to use so far! Can you help me figure out a solid, reasonable pricing method for homemade vegan baked goods that will be 'sold' at a fundraising event? What I've tried so far:
+ For my first bake sale, I went with a "pay whatever you want" tactic that resulted in at least a half-dozen people saying they couldn't pay anything and then walking away with a handful of cookies. Alternately, some folks would throw some coins into my donation jar and then start grabbing as much as they could carry with two hands even though I insist upon doling out the goods with latex gloves and tongs.
+ For my second bake sale, I went with hardline prices that were lowballed to resemble 'regular' bake sale prices ($0.50-1 for cookies, $1-2 for bars, $2-3 for cupcakes, $3-5 for special/fancy stuff). Most everyone paid the lowest price listed and not a penny more; unfortunately those prices did not match what was spent on ingredients (in raw dollar value, not counting time or effort; vegan butter, for example, is 3-4x the cost of dairy butter).
+ For the others, I've been printing out a few "suggested donations" lists and placing them strategically next to the baked goods. As a guideline, I noted the prices of locally available vegan baked goods (which are rather high; we are not a city well-known for our vegan-friendliness, so supply will always fail to meet demand) and subtracted $1-2 for each item. EX: Small-batch single vegan cookies are usually $2-4 each at the store, so at the bake sale, they're $1-2 even though they're almost always fancier/more exotic than the store-bought kind -- think chocolate chip vs. double-chocolate peanut butter chip with caramel and chopped walnuts.
This approach has been met with a surprising amount of umbrage. Last time, I actually had a fully grown adult throw a cookie across the table at me and tell me in less-than-genteel terms that paying an entire dollar for just one cookie was basically unconscionable. She also called me "stupid girl" to my face... and she did not even buy anything. It was intense! I had no idea delicious baked goods could make anyone so upset.

More on the woes of using a "suggested pricing" approach:
It has continued to result in a number of people telling me that they cannot afford to pay anything at all while loading up an actual Tupperware container full of whatever they please. They usually show up right when the bake sale opens to do this, so they can have the best selection, or even start picking stuff out as I'm loading everything into the venue from my car. A few people will hand me $2-3 and then meander around the tables picking up more and more as they go along, presumably thinking that if they distract me by continuing to speak, I will not realize what they are doing.
When asked to stop, they just remind me that it is technically illegal to require a monetary exchange when it comes to the 'sale' of homemade baked goods, even after I point out that they are basically taking money away from a non-profit, volunteer-run fundraiser just because they want to eat some tasty treats without paying for them. I've also had to deal with situations like when a friend who makes incredibly intricate, hand-frosted cakes (sold in stores for $20-25, marked at $15+ for the bake sale) donated a few of them and a woman tossed a crumpled $5 bill at me as she silently walked away with one. Huh?!
Altogether, it's made me feel a bit demoralized -- my volunteers and I are paying for ingredients out of pocket, and spending anywhere from a few hours to multiple days baking/making stuff in the hopes that it will result in more funds being raised for charities and causes we believe in, but I keep getting scolded by would-be 'customers' no matter how I try to shift or adapt the pricing schemes. Anything above unreservedly free seems to be viewed with great suspicion by anyone who is not vegan. Do 'regular' bake sales work that way?

Historically, the attendees are about 60% vegans who traveled to the venue specifically for the bake sale and 40% non-vegans who just happen to be there -- usually seniors or families with very young kids -- because the bake sales are held in the lobby of a beautiful non-profit nature center/preserve smack dab in a densely populated, fairly frou-frou urban area immediately adjacent to the biggest college campus in the city.
I've found that many vegans are willing to done basically any amount they can afford for anything they can get their hands on, because vegan baked goods are fairly hard to come by here and I am always raising money for animal-related NPOs, while a sizable percentage of non-vegans are willing to do nowt save complain about the prices, ask me how I can live without cheese, and refuse to give any more than whatever change they have in their pockets. There are always a few donor angels that throw $20 and sometimes even $50 or $100 bills into the donation jar without a second thought, which is usually how it all evens out in the end, but I wish I didn't have to lean so hard on the generosity of those special few.

I had no idea that I could possibly run into so much indignance at a fundraising event that comprises, in total, two tables, a couple hundred cookies and cupcakes, and yours truly, slinging cash, boxing and wrapping up treats, and handing out informational pamphlets on how to bake without dairy or eggs.
It's not a personality thing, I hope -- I remain extremely chatty, personable, and friendly for the duration, even after an entire day of being asked why I don't eat bacon, or why god made animals out of meat if we aren't supposed to eat them. I try to make my bake sales as pleasant and low-key as possible; there is no moralizing, guilt-tripping, or gruesome PETA literature because I'd rather win hearts with tasty food than by bashing folks over the head with traumatizing stuff like that. But a considerable number of people have continued to freak out over the prospect of paying a buck or two for a damned cookie at a bake sale.

Current issue:
Bake sale #6 is in less than two weeks! As always, I have my trusty website, Facebook event, baking and organizing supplies, recipes, and fantastic volunteers... but not my prices.

With these parameters in mind: AskMe, are there are any tried and true methods for bake sale pricing, in particular vegan bake sale pricing, or pricing for any other baked goods where the ingredients are simply more expensive than 'standard' ones (gluten-free might also be a good example)? Should I ask the volunteer bakers to decide/mark their own prices before they hand over their donations to me for selling? Is there any way I can increase or improve outreach to people who view the prices with such suspicion? What would you feel comfortable paying for fancy homemade baked goods? (Please assume the vegan baked goods I am slinging are at least equal in quality to non-vegan baked goods.)
Also, how do I respond when someone inevitably curses me out about pricing -- this has happened probably ~10 times? Is that just a side-effect of non-[x] clientele at an event specific to [x], or something to be expected anytime you're putting yourself out there in public? My favored approach of meeting ornery objections by calmly stating, "C'mon, it's just a bake sale -- we're actually raising funds for the building you're standing in right now!" has not gone over so well.

As always, thanks so much for any information, advice, or suggestions you might have!

Homemade Easter gifts. 3...2...1... GO

greenish — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:41:02 -0800

Homemade Easter gifts. Preferably edible - my friends and family are, like me, wretchedly gluttonous fiends but prefer the not super-processed or over-sweet stuff, so if it's got token fruit or something in then even better. I just realised there's like a week to go and I have no idea what to make these people. HALP.

Under-the-sink booze is my favorite kind of booze

atomicstone — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:41:23 -0800

Several months ago, the Washington Post had this article about homemade slivovitz. As fans of the stuff, my friends and I made a batch and recently drank it. It didn't taste much like the commercial slivovitz we drink, but did still taste awesome.
And now we need more recipes and/or sources for these super simple sort of liqueurs.
The recipes need not be super simple, but the "brewing" step needs to be no more complicated than "put in closet, turn upside down every x days".
And also, it should be hard to kill ourselves.
Recipe ideas?
Technical advice?
Websites we should be reading?

Should I bake my own bread?

jaguar — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:31:13 -0800

I absolutely hate baking. I really love good bread. No vendor in my area has good bread. Should I try making bread? My absolute ideal bread is "When Pigs Fly" bakery's Six-Grain and Pumpkin Seed bread. My runner-up would be a good, chewy sourdough. Are these reasonable goals for a non-baker? Any recipes or suggestions?

Soup Without Canned Broth

Ery — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 11:15:48 -0800

Do you have any recipes for soup that don't require broth or stock? Almost every recipe I can find for soup calls for canned or boxed stock or broth—chicken stock, beef broth, even "vegetable" broth, whatever that is (it seems oddly non-specific to me). I can't use any of these products because the flavor enhancers that are invariably added (MSG, yeast extract, hydrolyzed soy, etc.) trigger migraines for a susceptible individual. Any broth I cook with has to be homemade. No "Better Than Bouillon" or bouillon cubes, no canned or boxed soup. It doesn't matter if they are labeled all-natural or organic: I don't want it if it contains yeast extract.

Making my own stock or broth is a problem because the grocery stores no longer carry cheap bones. Getting to a real butcher or ethnic grocery that carries cheap bones is a big project and not an option right now. Things like turkey necks cost considerably more per pound at our grocery stores than whole chicken thighs do. I'm not going to pay more for the cheap cuts than I do for chicken thighs, that's dumb. However, when I have chicken thighs I make chicken soup. That leaves me with no broth left over to put into other soup recipes. How can I make meatball soup, roasted pumpkin soup, broccoli soup? All of the recipes I can find for soups like that call for canned or boxed broth. Do you have a really good recipe for vegetable broth, or a good recipe for a soup that doesn't require broth? I'm interested in both meat-based and vegetarian recipes.

Brunch: My Favorite Team Sport

jph — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:13:49 -0800

I am having a New Year's Day brunch and I'd like to serve some fancy things that aren't typically homemade here in the US. Last spring, NPR told me I could make my own gravlax and it was amazing. Since then, I've also fast-pickled carrots and beets with chipotle to critical acclaim. What other surprisingly easy recipes exist that would be great to do for a leisurely buffet brunch? Goat cheese looks pretty easy but how can I make it truly special?

I suspect the centerpiece of brunch is going to be an Eggs Benedict Command Center where people can customize their own version of the dish with many different options. Ideas for homemade components of that particular adventure are very much welcome.

Bonus points if your recipe can/should be prepared days (or even weeks) in advance!

I'm going nuts trying to figure out this homemade date candy recipe, hope me?

Unicorn on the cob — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:38:02 -0800

Candy-making wizards, help me save this date candy recipe that didn't set properly (or tell me I'm screwed and should start over from scratch). I made this recipe for date loaf candy on Sunday, and while the result tastes delicious, the humidity that day + non-digital candy thermometer = the mixture didn't harden/set properly, and now it's just a gooey, sticky mess rolled up in waxed paper.

Since I'm making this for a dessert contest at work, I need to have a solution by Thursday morning (that's two days from now).

I believe I have three options:

Option 1: Reheat the mixture to the proper temp and try again. My candy thermometer read 230 degrees F when I pulled it out, but the recipe calls for 234F; it was starting to roll/boil, and I was paranoid about scorching it so I probably pulled it off the burner too early. Is this feasible to try, or a Bad Idea?

Option 2: Try to salvage this tasty goo in another format. My gut says that reheating may ruin the taste/texture, so what if I instead stored it in the freezer until it was a bit more solid, then rolled it into small balls, which I could then coat with a layer of crushed walnuts, and then top each one off with a coating of semi-sweet chocolate? I have no idea if this will work, but it sounds reasonable.

Option 3: Give up and start a new batch from scratch using the remaining raw ingredients I have left over. I'm OK with this, but worried I'll end up with two giant tubes of goo and nothing to show for it in time for the contest.

I've made hard candy before successfully, but nothing like this; if you have other suggestions that aren't listed here, I'm all ears. Thanks, y'all!

Sweet travel tips

jorlyfish — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:45:37 -0800

I want to make homemade candy for holiday gifts but am traveling from a semi-humid place to a quite humid one. Help me avoid a sticky mess! +other travel-with-candy tips. I'm interested in taking up candy/confection making as a sort of weekend hobby sort of thing, as I have done with baking for a handful of years. I'd like to start testing out recipes to give as Christmas gifts to family and friends. I live in Providence, RI (humidity on a non-rainy day this time of year is around 60% or so) and am flying home to Houston, TX (where the humidity can be up in the 80-90% range, even in winter) for the holidays. I often get off the plane and can feel the humidity change as soon as I'm there. Making the candy in Houston is not desirable.. I only see my family once or twice a year, and I don't want to hide away in the kitchen for a few days to make all of this.

While Providence certainly isn't arid, I'm concerned about the shift in humidity and/or other travel factors making a mess of it. I have done some reading and know some candy can be particularly sensitive to humidity (mostly that you should not be making candy when there is a rainstorm outside, etc.), and I don't want people to open up a tin of goo, or to find goo in my suitcase. Is this a valid concern, or is the change not big enough to warrant me factoring it in when choosing recipes? If it is of concern, are there any types I should avoid - "no marshmallows", "no toffee", etc. would all be helpful.

I'd also like any tips on how to best travel with it. Should I carry it on? Keep it in tupperware til I'm in Houston where I can repackage it into a more gift-y tin/box?

Home-made tatami air fresheners?

evil_esto — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 02:11:49 -0800

Can I make aromatic oils that will diffuse through tatami sticks myself? I have store-bought air-fresheners that are little bottles of perfumed oil with what I believe are tatami sticks semi-immersed in the oil. The oil diffuses through the sticks and releases the aroma in to the air.

I find them aesthetically pleasing and also a very subtle and non-gaggy air deodorizer. I've had them in my bathroom and they work well and last a long time. Now I've put some in my living room too. Annoyingly now my supermarket has failed to re-stock them.

As I have some time up my sleeve, I was wondering if I could make perfumed oil myself, using essential oils and something else to dilute it I suppose?

What sort of oil or other agent should I use to dilute the essential oil so that it diffuses through the tatami sticks? Will this work?

The Nitty-Gritty of Grainy Mustard

gilrain — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:40:07 -0800

I want to fall into the world of homemade mustard, as parodied in this Onion article. I've spent today looking for dedicated mustard making sites, forums, communities, and have come up relatively dry. I'm not used to dipping my toes into a new hobby and not immediately being able to immerse myself in, usually, a number of solid, dedicated blogs, a good forum community, and so forth. For mustard making, I've found a handful of contradictory, poorly-informed, or downright inaccurate blog posts, a few Chowhound threads, and not a whole lot else.

Are there any dedicated communities for mustard making? I realize it's a pretty simple project, without the intricacies of, say, home brewing, but even just finding a well informed and detailed overview is hard. This is the best I've found, and it still leaves me with a lot of questions.

To put my question simply: where can I learn, in detail, about mustard making and its technical variables?

Hello Pasta!

xicana63 — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:24:36 -0800

Pasta from scratch and recipes that compliment it? Hi there! So I've been learning to cook Italian food. I finally have a pretty good spaghetti sauce and am loving it. I'm excited to learn more so I decided to learn to make pasta from scratch. Great! I've looked at many recipes online and I've found a few to try, but in my searching I also found that for certain recipes its better to use box pasta because it won't soak up certain sauces (like garlic oil spaghetti). So my question :

TL:DR Can you direct me to your best pasta from scratch recipes and recipes that really highlight the pasta? (Also stovetop recipes are the best, as I don't have an oven!)

Hope this makes sense! Thanks!

Babies Galore!

Liesl — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:38:54 -0800

What kind of thoughtful yet not-time-expensive gift can I make my sister for her new baby? My older sister just announced she is having a baby in October! Awesome! I am having a baby (my second) in October too! Awesome!

What kind of gift do you suggest I can give her? We are a homemade kind of family rather than a purchased item type. For example, she and my mom collaborated on a baby quilt for my first, and my other sister needlepointed a birth announcement. I knit, sew, embroider and am generally handy with fabric, so it would probably be something along those lines.

But I want to be realistic about what I'm actually going to get done over the summer, given that I already have an active toddler and little space to spread out, and another one on the way. I already owe this sister a pair of socks from about two years ago that I haven't gotten to. And I still owe my sister-in-law a baby present, and the kid is two months already. Not to mention the residual guilt over the fact that I haven't knitted any clothing for my existing kid yet, just toys.

Do you have a go-to knitting pattern that doesn't take too much time? It is possible to make multiple of that item without getting bored to death? Are there other craft domains that I haven't thought of?

Suggestions for holiday noms

methroach — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:25:00 -0800

Please give me your suggestions for homemade holiday snacks that I can make and give to my co-workers. (Sorry, kind of long.) I am part of a small team and would like to give the other two members on the team some homemade goodies.

Some requirements:

- both are weight-conscious and have expressed concerns about fattening foods
- one is diabetic but he can have artificial sweeteners
- the diabetic is not crazy about sweets anyway, but he eats them in moderation
- my other coworker loves sweets, especially chocolate
- both take public transit, so transportable goodies are preferred

Other notes:

- I don't mind making completely different things for each of them
- aside from the diabetic's restrictions, they pretty much eat anything
- foods that don't have traditional holiday connotations are great
- savoury snacks are great
- anything that has a health benefit is good, e.g., I am thinking of making something with matcha (maybe)
- ready-to-eat is best, no mixes please

Bonus:

Scalable recipes that I can make partway ahead of time would be great! e.g., dough that I can make and freeze for a week or two and then bake the night before, and/or things that keep well for a week or two.

Anonymous and BF make a porno

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:01:41 -0800

Advice/best practices for homemade sexytime photos and videos? Boyfriend and I (hetero couple) are interested in making homemade sexy pictures and maybe videos. I'm in my late thirties, he's early forties, so we didn't grow up with sexting or amateur porn. We're both okay with porn (he says he likes amateur stuff best). We're both intrigued, but finding it hard to get comfortable. He's taken a few pictures of me/us that I think are dead sexy, and a few more that look like forensic evidence, not sexy. Neither of us really likes to have our photo taken with clothes ON, FFS. So... basically, how do people actually DO this? Do they keep a camera on the nightstand at all times? Is the taking of the photos the foreplay, the main event, or do people get off to them later? (alone? together?) Is the idea that you document something that you'd be doing anyway, or is it like "hey let's have a sexy photoshoot and see what else happens!?"Sorry I'm so clueless. I know a lot of this boils down to "do what turns YOU on" and communication, but I want to take the temperature of the room, so to speak.

Oh and this question isn't about trust issues, or computer security, or "OMG what if you DTMFA and he puts them on the internet!!" I know those are legit points but that's not what I'm seeking advice about, this is about making it comfortable and fun. Thanks

What do I do with a 20lb bag of raw unrendered mixed pork fat?

Blasdelb — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:45:50 -0800

Say hypothetically, that you had half of a pigs worth of unrendered and raw pork fat trimmings in your freezer, apparently about 20 lbs, that your butcher handed you when they returned the rest of your, now disassembled, half pig. What would you do with it? The obvious first step is to render at least most of it into lard, but what can you do with that much lard other than throw out and replace all of your artificially hydrogenated vegetable shortening?

Some technical challenges include:
-The fact that it is all in one bag and is likely unseparated fatback and lard leaf.
-The cooking will happen in Shelton, WA, thus ideally ingredients should be findable in a small town with a significant Hispanic population, though trips to Seattle can be made.
-The belly fat is currently curing into bacon
-It is Shelton, and the chefs even live on and operate a small shellfish farm, but the poor wretches have developed a distaste for seafood in its ubiquity.

Assume that there is already a detailed understanding of mammalian fat metabolism as well as an educated decision regarding the effects of lard consumption on human health and the soul.

Can't count on Santa Paws to bring good treats...

firei — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:06:36 -0800

I'm looking for tried and true recipes for dog treats. I want to show my neph-dogs some love this holiday season with some homemade treats or biscuits, but I'm not sure I trust random googling. Any recommendations for doggie cookbooks or recipes that your pups have enjoyed? (I would also accept cat treat recipes!)

What thin material to use for homemade insoles?

Not Supplied — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 21:30:56 -0800

I want to make home-made insoles for my Vivo Barefoot boots. What material could I use that's non-cushioned and thin? The replacements in the store are expensive and they sold me the wrong ones, so looking to make my own.

Insoles you can buy are not broad enough, so thinking of getting a sheet of material and cutting them out.

The only function the insole has to do is stop the bottom of the shoe getting worn...it should be thin and not have much cushioning.

I would prefer a readily available material as it can be hard to locate things in a foreign country. I have access to a kind of haberdashery market.

I was thinking of leather...but it might be too wrinkly and ruck up..?

Any ideas?

Selling a Brand Name Product at Farmers Markets/Co-ops

phoenixphoenix — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:04:41 -0800

I'm trying to help a friend who wants to sell a self-made food product along with another name brand food product at farmers markets, co-ops, etc. What are the legal and /or regulatory questions they need to be ask themselves and where do they go for the answers. Hypothetical scenarios in the extended explanation. Hypothetical setups:

#1) Imagine they wanted to add Tabasco to homemade sauerkraut. Do they need to credit Tabasco on the label or list the ingredients of Tabasco along with their ingredients, or can they get by with a generic "hot sauce"? Is there an issue with using Tabasco's name on the ingredients?

#2) Imagine they wanted to sell Tabasco not in, but alongside the sauerkraut in a single sealed package. Are there licensing issues to worry about?

And for the sake of this conversation, while the brand NAME is not crucial to the product, the ingredients of the branded product are.

What other issues should be considered?

I know legal advice ain't free but they're just looking to put together the right questions. Thanks in advance for your help!

Using up poor homemade wine

BobAndJoy — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:07:27 -0800

We have quite a bit of homemade wine (esp. rhubarb and hawthorn) that is too 'rough' to drink, but we don't want to throw it away. Does anyone have ideas as to what we could do with it? I use it in cooking, but can only use a little otherwise it spoils the flavour!

In Soviet Russia, they make this crazy drink out of bull balls...

buckaroo_benzai — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:52:31 -0800

What kind of crazy and obscure drinks can I brew at home? So the other day I gave a business associate a bottle of homemade kombucha and in return he traded me a bottle of Nocino. I'd never heard of such a concoction but oh boy it was mmm mmm good!

This got me thinking: besides wine, beer, mead, ginger ale, and kombucha, what are some other drinks I can make at home? The more obscure and culturally significant the better.

I live just north of San Francisco so I have access to pretty much everything.

Thanks!

Homemade Ice Cream: What do I need to know and where should I start?

royalsong — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:26:17 -0800

I bought an ice cream maker! (The well praised Cuisinart) Now what? Looking for tips, recipes, and all around homemade ice cream 101. I've washed it out and stuck the bowl in the lowest part of my freezer. I'm headed to the store later today to pick up ingredients. I want to make everything this machine can make. Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, all of it.

What ingredients do I need to keep on hand if I wanted ice cream in a moments notice? Most of our frozen delight cravings come randomly, so while we will occasionally plan to make ice cream.. it will mostly be a spontaneous event. I'd like to have "the basics" in order to do this. Especially for ice cream, what are the basic ingredients?

What is the best ice cream base you've tasted? Is it possible to make this base up ahead of time and just add flavoring before pouring it into the maker? Extra points if it has very few ingredients.

I'm scared about the raw eggs aspect of ice cream making. I know the chances of eggs containing salmonella are really low, but I don't fancy my luck. I know some eggs come pasteurized, are there any national (USA) brands? Will pasteurized eggs work for frozen treats? Is there something I could completely substitute in place of the eggs?

I know there are books out there, but I am extraordinarily bad at following cookbooks. I don't want a book. I'd happily take any blogs, tutorial videos, or informational websites about ice cream making though.

I'd also love to hear your experiences making homemade ice cream. What worked? What didn't work? What advice would you give to an excited but inexperienced cook?

(I know there are a ton of crazy wacky flavors out there, but I'm only interested in the more traditional flavors for now. After I'm a HICMM [Homemade Ice Cream Making Master], you might see another askMe from me about the wacky ones!)

Fan-made genre online games

TheSecretDecoderRing — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:40:41 -0800

Can you recommend any good/amusing/simple fan-made online games based on genre franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Lost, '80s Transformers/GI Joe, etc? I'm thinking of run-and-shoot sidescrollers (like this Great Gatsby game), puzzle stuff like the old LucasArts Desktop Adventures, quick mini-games like the Wario Ware series, or even parodies of old '80s games that just have the sprites swapped out.

Homemade Cointreau?

klangklangston — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:18:12 -0800

DIY Liqueur: Cointreau. I've finally run through the bottle left by a fellow MeFite. How do I make a rough approximation? I've searched around a little, and the "recipes" all involve stringing and hanging oranges. Why that technique? Also: Any other liqueurs that are easy to make at home, especially fruity ones? Any caveats to consider?

Any good, cheap suppliers of straight ethanol (as that seems a lot better in the long run than bottom-shelf vodka)? Especially in the Los Angeles area?

Rinsing my hair with beer?!

geegollygosh — Thu, 26 May 2011 11:35:56 -0800

Give me your best homemade beauty concoctions! I've got a lot of time on my hands this month. I've always had fun experimenting with making skin/hair/whatever else beauty concoctions. What are your favorite homemade beauty recipes?

I'm not looking for anything in particular, but I am young, female, and have very curly dry-ish hair. I'm not looking to buy a ton of supplies outside what I have around the house, but I can buy some.

Rizzy fed wine

pseudostrabismus — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:32:30 -0800

Someone gave me a bottle of homemade red wine. It was filled right to the top of a screw-top bottle. It's a little fizzy, and light in colour (not as light as a rosé- just not as deeply coloured as most red wines I'm used to). I had a little sip and it doesn't taste too bad. Why is it fizzy? More importantly, should I drink it?