And another thing I used to do about once a year was to make a big batch of Kahlua. Or home made coffee liquer. Pretty easy,pretty cheap,and a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon if the weather is crappy.
If I remember correctly,you start by making simple syrup,which is just equal parts sugar and water by volume,boiled until the sugar dissolves.
So start with a cup of water and a cup of sugar and boil this until the sugar is dissolved.
Then throw in 3/4 cup of instant coffee crystals. The cheap store brand works fine. This needs to cool for a little while,and after that happend,add 1 1/2 cups of cheap vodka. And throw in some vanilla extract,almond extract,or whatever sounds good.
Go to the local craft store,or equivalent,and get some of those decorator bottles with the fancy cam-lock tops.
Wash the bottles to get rid of the chinese slave labor germs,and fill them up with the home grown brew. ( forgot-try a couple of shots of the stuff when it gets to room temperature to make sure you haven't screwed up something irredeemably,but don't lose any sleep if you did)
Depending on how big a batch you made,you ought to have about a year's worth of the goop. Don't worry about drinking it. The REAL reason you do this is to have a supply of emergency gifts for the surprise housewarming parties,that birthday party you find out about Friday when you get home from work and Herself tells you all about it,etc. Weddings for people you either don't like all that much,or don't know from Adam's housecat,that kind of thing.
