I, like many others, am a huge fan of a good cup of joe, but I wasn’t always a fan. Unfortunately, for most of my life, I hated anything that was bitter. I absolutely despised many things green (steamed broccoli, mustard greens, spinach … ) because it always tasted really bitter to me. I didn’t find out until later in my life that I have a different genetic configuration for my taste perception than that of my parents. This allowed my parents to enjoy a side of broccoli while I choked the horribly bitter things down during dinner. Ah, but I digress.

Let’s get back to the topic at hand. Coffee was one of those things that just tasted too bitter for me to enjoy. The only way I enjoyed a coffee beverage was driving to Starbucks and ordering a Mocha Frappuccino. That is until I discovered that heat was the reason the coffee was bitter, and cold brewing coffee was a bitter-less alternative. Cold brewing is a way of extracting all the goodness out of the coffee bean without the acidic components that cause the bitterness. What you get is the best tasting cup of coffee that you will ever have.

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One of the items I use everyday, sometimes, twice, thrice that I make myself is my own mouthwash. I make my mouthwash up with equal portions of water and that of Hydrogen Peroxide (3% Topical Solution). The cost? Not dollars, but pennies. You do save.

HOWEVER, rather than provide you with formulas to make products so as to save money and stretch that dollar — we will do that — please forget the now, and let’s return to then. Blog4Brains.com will, in the interest of nostalgia, provide you these easy-to-prepare concoctions that may no longer be needed, nor are they similar to any store-bought products that reside on today’s retail shelves. Some products you can make may still be useful, but maybe only for you. They are selected in the quest for some laughter and for some serious application for our Blog4Brains.com readers.

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So your little girl is going off to college? Everyone wants to celebrate. There are 3 kinds of BBQ’ed meat, 5 kinds of dessert, 10 bags of chips, salad of all kinds and to drink … 3 kinds of light beer? Come on. You can’t get anymore creative than light beer?

If one googles for “graduation party” then at once, before you even press enter, google suggests below that entry: graduation party ideas, invitations, supplies, themes, decorations, menu, food, and games. Where’s the refreshments, drinks to toast with? And please, not everyone drinks alcohol. No suggestions for something different to drink up? Aw, come on!

Blog4Brains.com has drink recipes for you, either solo you, just the two of you, just a special dinner or family celebration or a graduation party of many friends. The following recipes are all for nonalcoholic drinks guaranteed to more than satisfy. They are selected from the famous “Tops, the Home-Makers Friend Cook Book” by George Dorcheff, published 1952 and out-of-print. I highly recommend the first recipe called “Grape-Ale Punch” because I have made this one myself for three parties and one wedding reception.

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Today is not too early to think about gift-giving for this Christmas. Why? Because if you have your list of what gifts to give resolved early, that, and its money problems, are off your mind and, hence, less stress for you.

But, what if you don’t have any money for Ma’s xmas gift? And nothing for Pa’s? For brother’s? For sister’s? Or anything for uncles and aunts?

And, what about your girl/boy friend? Oh, what to give? What to give? I can only count pocket change this year, you say. Hey, no problem. Give an IOU Christmas gift. IOU gifts cost nothing in dollars and cents. What is an IOU gift?

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I remember when I was a little kid that my Dad, along with all the other fathers in the neighborhood, would buy live fowl and would do the slaughtering themselves. Chicken, turkeys, ducks.

There was this one Thanksgiving approaching when one of my Uncle Alex’s sons was bitten by what we would call today, the intrapreneurial spirit. He bought and brought home from a farmer about a hundred live turkeys. He put them in his father’s backyard, and the yard didn’t need to be fence up; it already had a wire mesh fence all around. It really became a big backyard turkey coop. My cousin must have spent his calculated and imagined fortune from the coming sale of those turkeys many times over and over in his head.

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The new face of America, and the world is proud of us once again.

More photos from around with world … and check out the Asian market reacting to the Obama victory!

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