Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Check out the new John Carter trailer!


Below are some stills from the upcoming John Carter!



Here is the new John Carter trailer! What do you think? John Carter opens March 9, 2012!

"Like" JOHN CARTER on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JohnCarterMovie

4 tickets to the Ducks Hockey Game on 12/2/2011


Here is a giveaway from a friend of mine who is a DJ in the Orange County area! He really wants people to listen to his demo and leave him a comment about his music! The winner needs to be someone from the Orange County area so I can leave the tickets with them for the game which is on Friday December 2nd! Good luck!



And the winner of Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY for PS3 is...

Chris!
csico82@gmail.com

you have 48 hours to email me with your mailing address to sasakitime@gmail.com in order to claim your prize!

Witness: Inspiring true story of Nisei soldiers

Thanks dad for sharing this with me so I can share with others! If you get a chance please watch all of them and of special importance to me is the last segment featuring the father of my best friend from high school and college.

Witness American Heroes Part 1: Nisei Soldiers



Witness American Heroes Part 2: Nisei Soldiers



Witness American Heroes Part 3: Nisei Soldiers



Witness American Heroes Part 4: Nisei Soldiers




An incredible group of Japanese-American soldiers in World War II changed the world and touched many lives with their dignity and honor.

The 100th and 442nd Regimental Combat Teams were some of the greatest units in U.S. military history, yet so few in America have ever heard of them.
While they were on the battlefield, their families were incarcerated in internment camps simply because of prejudice.
The bravery and patriotism of the Nisei soldiers earned them the Congressional Gold Medal.
(Copyright ©2011 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Get a (6-inch) Subway for only $2 in December!


Wednesday, the nation's largest sandwich chain will announce plans for a $2, six-inch sub sandwich promotion for the month of December. The deal is good only on its popular meatball and cold-cut subs.
In a still-struggling economy, the chain that set the industry standard with $5 foot-long subs is throwing down yet another gauntlet that's certain to raise industry eyebrows and lure deal-seeking customers. Several other major fast food chains also dabbled this year with $2 meals — including Taco Bell, Chipotle and some regional KFCs.

Burger King debuts thicker fries amid competition





(Reuters) - Burger King Corp, the second largest hamburger chain, has changed its french fry recipe for the first time since 1998 as competition from upstarts and traditional fast-food rivals mounts.
Burger King said it made the new fries thicker, reduced sodium and added a coating that makes them crisper and keeps them hotter longer.
The fries, now a bit wider in diameter than a No. 2 pencil, will be available in its more than 7,000 North American Burger King restaurants by December 5. Prices remain the same.
"We're always trying to have the best menu possible. French fries are a big seller for us and we want to make sure we're always improving," said Leo Leon, vice president of innovation.
Leon said Burger King tested the new fries against other options: "This, by far, was the winner."
Burger King's move comes a little over a year after rival Wendy's introduced thinner "natural cut" fries that leave on some skin and are sprinkled with sea salt.
McDonald's Corp's french fries often take the top spot in customer surveys, but independents like Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Smashburger and In-N-Out Burger have been dialing up the pressure.
"The competition to have good quality french fries is heating up," said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at consulting firm Technomic, who recently tried the new Burger King fries.
"Making them thicker certainly makes them easier to eat, and since many of them are consumed in the car with one hand on the steering wheel, that's probably not a bad idea," Tristano said.
Burger King said the new fries have 20 percent less sodium than their predecessors.
The smallest, $1 portion has 330 mg of sodium and 240 calories. The fries are cooked in trans fat-free vegetable oil and do not contain animal products, Burger King said.
On December 16 Burger King is promoting its new fries by giving away $1 "value" portions for free. The new fries will be available outside the United States in 2012.
The trend in french fries is toward more "natural" offerings. That includes fries that are or appear to be made from fresh-cut potatoes and topped with "artisan" toppings like sea salt.
"The term natural seems to resonate (with diners) even though there isn't a great definition of natural," Tristano said.
In-N-Out cuts its french fries in its restaurants every day and cooks them in cholesterol-free vegetable oil.
Five Guys cooks its fries in peanut oil and gives customers the option of having them "cajun style."
Smashburger seasons its regular fries with sea salt. It also offers fries made from potatoes or sweet potatoes that are "toasted with rosemary, olive oil and garlic."
McDonald's lately has attempted to reinforce its position as the top french fry seller by promoting its fries, Tristano said.
Investment firm 3G Capital last year bought Burger King and took it private in a $3.3 billion deal. Burger King has 12,400 restaurants around the world.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein)

BREAKING: Universal Studios Hollywood to announce Wizarding World of Harry Potter next week?

Will this logo soon be saying Universal Studios Hollywood as well?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that NBC Universal is set to announce next week that it plans to bring the wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Universal Studios Hollywood! This is either in the no-brainer file or the totally surprised file! I will keep you posted on this as further information is available!

Muppets to star in interactive game aboard Disney Fantasy


The Muppets will board Disney Cruise Line when the new Disney Fantasy cruise ship debuts in March.

The Jim Henson creations, now owned by Walt Disney Co., will be featured in an interactive game called "The Case of the Stolen Show" on the Fantasy. The background story will involve the characters' props being missing -- including Kermit's banjo, Animal's drum sticks, Fozzie's squirting flower and more

Clues will be given through pieces of the ship's Enchanted Art, a Muppets message board and a "Muppet-sized stateroom door," according to a Disney Cruise Line media release. The goal is to discover the thief before the Muppets' show begins. Enchanted Art pieces are actually framed LED screens that produce special effects throughout the ship. Game players will hold a game card in front of select piece and use a map to locate the M.I.A. props.

More than 20 Muppets will appear in the game, including Miss Piggy, Gonzo, the Swedish Chef, and Pepe the King Prawn.


"The Case of the Stolen Show" is self-paced and designed for guests ages 9 and older. It has several different endings and randomized sequences so the experience will be repeat-able for passengers.

The new ship, the fourth in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, is currently under construction in Germany. It will sail out of Port Canaveral with seven-night cruises to the western and eastern Caribbean next year.

DBevil@tribune.com and 407-420-5477

Scene-by-scene preview: Transformers ride at Universal Studios



The new Transformers ride has been generating positive early reviews from theme park enthusiasts and hard-core fans of the shape-shifting robots during a soft-opening preview at Universal Studios Singapore.

Set to officially debut on Saturday, the five-minute Transformers motion-simulator dark ride, with high-definition 3-D images and special effects, will feature an original story line starring the heroic Autobots and villainous Decepticons -- anthropomorphic robots capable of changing into cars, trucks and planes.

A similar version of the Transformers ride is set to open at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in spring 2012.

Spoiler alert: What follows is a scene-by-scene preview of the new Transformers ride based on online rider reports from Singapore.

During the queue pre-show, riders are recruited to join the Autobots in an alien robot showdown with the Decepticons.

The queue winds through the NEST military base, with video screens explaining the ride's back story, and past an AllSpark containment chamber that houses a glowing module containing the source of life for all Transformers.

At the loading station, riders climb into a blue Autobot vehicle known as Evac, which explains the mission: Protect the AllSpark from the Decepticons.

Scene 1: A mechanical Decepticon tiger named Ravage grabs the AllSpark, leaps onto Evac's hood and claws at the passengers. Evac escapes by driving erratically.

Scene 2: Bumblebee, an Autobot that can transform into a Volkswagen Beetle, rescues Evac from the motorcycle-bot Sideways and entrusts the riders to protect the AllSpark. Evac flees the scene by crashing through a wall and plowing through city traffic.

Scene 3: Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, attacks Evac before the Autobots' leader, Optimus Prime, comes to the rescue. During the battle, Evac's riders narrowly escape Grindor's spinning helicopter blades.

Scene 4: Evac drives evasively as Megatron gives chase. The evil robot eventually captures Evac, who struggles and manages to break free.

Scene 5: Riders feel the heat of a tremendous explosion after Megatron fires a missile at Evac, who maneuvers to avoid the oncoming shell. Evac escapes through a hole blown in the side of a building by the missile.

Scene 6: Evac gets sucked into a whirling vortex generated by Devastator, a Decepticon created by combining several robots.

Scene 7: Sideswipe, a Lamborghini Autobot, saves Evac and the pair race through city streets battling Decepticons along the way. During the high-speed chase, Evac fires a weapon at Bonecrusher, a bulldozer Decepticon.

Scene 8: Evac manages to escape a second encounter with Devastator only to be grabbed by Starscream's grappling hook. The F-15 fighter jet Decepticon flings Evac through the air, sending the hero robot crashing into a building.

Scene 9: Optimus Prime and Megatron battle in a showdown between the alien robot leaders.

Scene 10: Autobot helicopters fire on Starscream, giving Evac a brief respite.

Scene 11: In the finale, Optimus Prime and Megatron continue their fight on top of a skyscraper. Falling from the building, Megatron pulls Evac over the edge with him and they hurtle headfirst toward street below. At the last possible moment, Bumblebee leaps up and catches Evac.

Scene 12: With Megatron defeated, Optimus Prime congratulates Evac and the rider recruits on a mission accomplished. With the ride over, Evac heads to the unloading station where the passengers disembark. 

Upcoming on 12/6 at Red Robin: Free Jim Beam Burger if your name is Jim


On December 6 at participating Red Robin restaurants, anyone named Jim (or Jimbo, Jimmy, or James) gets a Jim Beam Bacon Swiss Burger for a free as part of its Jim Day Celebration. (RSVP on Red Robin's Facebook page.) You'll need to bring in an ID to to validate your "Jimhood." 

Arby's coupon: Buy a small drink, get a free Classic Roast Beef Sandwich

 
Arby's offers a free Classic Roast Beef Sandwich with the purchase of a small drink when you sign up for its Arby's Extras program. Offer good only at participating Arby's restaurants and limit one per customer. Coupon expires seven days after it's sent.

Note that the coupon may take up to 24 hours to be sent to your email inbox.

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Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition for PS3 Giveaway!


Here is your chance to win Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition for the PS3! The contest begins at 7am pst and ends at 8pm pst! Good Luck! The winner will be announced shortly after the contest ends!



Wendy's To Become the Second-Largest Burger Chain?


In August, Burger King got rid its longtime mascot, a bizarre king wearing a golden crown. The coup d'etat replaced the king with a more domestic emblem, a mom. The timing, it now seems, was fortuitous -- Burger King must have known it could soon lose its royal standing as the second-biggest burger chain in America.
For now, Burger King still has its plum spot on the totem pole -- but according to Nancy Luna of the OC Register, a competitor is nipping at its heels.
Luna argues that Wendy's, the perennial runner-up to BK and McDonald's, could soon surpass Burger King in total revenue to become the third-biggest burger chain in America.
Her intel came from business analyst Mark Kalinowski, who argues Wendy's has done a better job differentiating itself from market leader McDonald's than Burger King has. Wendy's has launched a number of new menu items in recent months, including natural-cut french fries with sea salt and "Dave's Hot-n-Juicy Cheeseburger." Burger King has mirrored Wendy's, with new fries and a new burger, but its moves have come later and been less dramatic than Wendy's.
Four of the 10 biggest fast food chains in the country, by revenue, have menus oriented around burgers; together, they sell tens of billions of dollars worth of food every year. The number two fast food chain overall, though, is Subway.

T.G.I. Friday's printable coupon: $5 off $15 or more

T.G.I. Friday's takes $5 off orders of $15 or more via this printable coupon. This discount is valid on dine-in orders only and excludes alcoholic beverages and specials. Limit one coupon per table. Coupon expires January 31.

Mimi's Cafe printable coupon: Free entree w/ another entree + 2 beverages


At participating Mimi's Cafe locations, buy one lunch or dinner entrée plus two beverages and get a second lunch or dinner (of equal or lesser value) for free when you use this printable coupon. This coupon is not valid with other offers or on holidays. Limit one coupon per table per visit. Deal ends December 1.

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Monday, November 28, 2011

The no-kids-allowed movement is spreading



What's the matter with kids today and why doesn't anyone want them around? In June, Malaysia Airlines banned babies from many of their first class cabins, prompting other major airlines to consider similar policies.

Lately, complaints about screaming kids are being taken seriously, not only by airlines, but by hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, and even grocery stores.

Read more about restaurants around the country banning kids.

Earlier this month, McDain's, a Pittsburgh area restaurant that banned kids under 6 became a mascot for the no-kids-zone movement.

According to a Pittsburgh local news poll, more than half of area residents were in favor of the ban. And now big business is paying attention.

"Brat bans could well be the next frontier in destination and leisure-product marketing," writes Robert Klara in an article on the child-free trend in AdWeek.

Klara points to Leavethembehind.com, a travel website for kid-free vacations, with a massive list of yoga retreats, luxury resorts and bargain hotels around the world that ban children.

"Call me a grinch, a misanthrope, a DINK (dual-income-no-kids), or the anti-cute-police, but I hate (hate a thousand times over) ill-behaved children/infants/screaming banshees in upscale restaurants (ok, anywhere, really, but I don't want any death threats)," writes Charlotte Savino on Travel and Leisure's blog. She lists a slew of a popular destination restaurants with kid-free areas and policies for travelers looking for quiet vacation dining.

Traveling is one thing, but what about in kids' own hometowns? Should kids been banned from local movie theaters, like they were at a recent adults-only Harry Potter screening? In Texas, one cinema chain has even flipped the model, banning kids under six altogether, except on specified "baby days".

Even running errands with toddlers may be changing. This summer Whole Foods stores in Missouri are offering child-free shopping hours. Kids are allowed inside but childcare service is available for parents who want to shop kid-free. (Whole Foods contacted Shine to clarify that the company does not have a kid's ban. The store's child-free shopping hours are "about giving parents a break, not about clearing out the kids for those who want a child-free zone," says a spokesperson for the grocery chain.)

Meanwhile in Florida, a controversy brews over whether kids can be banned from a condominium's outdoor area. That's right, some people don't even want kids outdoors.

When did kids become the equivalent of second-hand smoke? Blame a wave of childless adults with money to spare. "Empty nesters continue to wield a huge swath of discretionary spending dollars, and population dips in first-world countries mean more childless couples than ever," writes AdWeek's Klara.

Catering to the child-free community may be good for business but is it good for parents? It could help narrow choices and make kid-friendly environments even kid-friendlier. And let's be honest, babies won't miss flying first class. They won't even remember it. But their moms and dads will.

Most parents with young children have self-imposed limits on spending and leisure. This new movement imposes limits set by the public. And the public isn't as child-friendly as it used to be. As businesses respond to their new breed of 'first-class' clientele, are parents in danger of becoming second-class citizens?

U.K. Eatery Under Fire For Baby Fee; Restaurant Apologizes for Charging $5 Baby Tax



Natasha Young's six-week-old son wasn't ordering off the menu at Cosmo's Restaurant in Croyden. But his mom still had to pay about $5 just to keep him on her lap at the table at England's largest eatery. Another new mom, Ana Sheridan, was told the same thing when she brought her 6-month-old daughter to the same restaurant.

"I was astonished as we explained she was exclusively breastfed and would be sitting on our laps, therefore not consuming any food or occupying an extra seat. They said it was their new policy. That was all," Sheridan told London's Evening Standard.

After an uproar over Cosmo's baby tax policy erupted in parenting forums around the Web, the restaurant posted a public apology to both women on their website for the "mistreatment by our staff."

In the same message, management also clarified their baby fee was only supposed to apply to toddlers who are actually eating the restaurant's food, not those who are swaddled in blankets, clamoring for breast-milk. "COSMO would like to assure customers that this is an isolated incident," writes Cosmo's management. "
We will be retraining all employees at Croydon as a matter of urgency."

Maybe it was all a misunderstanding, but through this incident, a larger message was broadcast: Parents with young kids aren't going to take being penalized any longer. The recent trend in kid-free zones and bans on toddlers in restaurants has sparked a backlash. Many parents feel marginalized, even bullied when they take their toddlers out to a restaurant. While they may have gotten used to fellow patrons complaining about their crying babies, being charged extra for the privilege is the last straw.

Earlier this year, at a restaurant in the town of Bath, a group of moms were charged about $3 each for bringing in baby food as opposed to ordering off the children's menu. One message-board mom called the idea of a baby corkage fee "disgusting." Another wrote: "They don't charge for breastfeeding but it's probably only a matter of time!" Two weeks after the story erupted, the Bath restaurant withdrew of its baby fee and donated the profits made off of the surcharge to charity.

It was a victory for long-scorned parents and a battle cry to other establishments considering similar policies.
So when word got out of Cosmo's baby charge a few months later, tempers really flared. "Shocking and shame on the management," writes one commenter on the Evening Standard's article. "You might as well charge a pregnant women for taking up extra space."

But not every parent sees it the same way. The Guardian's Hilary Osbourne defends Cosmo's staff for charging customers a baby fee. "As a parent, I know that once babies start weaning they can make a mess, and I can see why restaurants might want to charge for having to clean up after someone who is probably eating something their parents brought from home," she writes.
Guess it all boils down to what kind of 'mess' restaurants are will to clean up: a table full of baby food or a chorus of hungry parents, fed-up with being penalized every time they bring their child out to eat. Suddenly, that table isn't looking so messy.

Items in '12 Days of Christmas' now top $100K

Cost of items in '12 Days of Christmas' tops a total of $100,000 for first time




PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The price of partridges, pear trees and turtle doves has spiked, pushing the cost of every item mentioned in the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" above $100,000 for the first time.
Holding mostly steady this year: maids-a-milking, ladies dancing, lords-a-leaping and gold rings.
The 364 items repeated across all the song's verses would cost $101,119, an increase of 4.4 percent over last year, according to the annual Christmas Price Index compiled by PNC Wealth Management. The broader government Consumer Price Index increased by 3.9 percent over the same period.
Those with the money to spend would end up with 12 drummers drumming, 22 pipers piping, 30 lords-a-leaping, 36 ladies dancing, 40 maids-a-milking, 42 swans-a-swimming, 42 geese-a-laying, 40 gold rings, 36 calling birds, 30 French hens, 22 turtle doves, and 12 partridges in pear trees. (The price does not include bird maintenance.)
But buying just one set of each verse in the song will cost $24,263 this year — a moderate 3.5 percent rise.
Eleven pipers piping will set you back $2,427, but that's a relative bargain compared to seven swans-a-swimming, which cost $6,300. That's a 12.5 percent rise over last year.
Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investment for PNC Wealth Management, said the core rate of increase is less than half the 9.2 percent jump last year.
"The story in general is wages are still a very sluggish part of this economy," said Dunigan, who noted that the price of eight maids-a-milking at minimum wage was $58 — the same as in 2009.
Five gold rings even declined a bit, Dunigan said, to $645, from $650 last year.
But last-minute shoppers who turn to the Internet may be in for some surprises. The core list that costs about $24,000 in stores will come to $39,860 online — a whopping 16.1 percent increase over Internet prices last year. Dunigan said the high cost of shipping live birds explains some of the difference.
Six items didn't go up in cost this year: French hens, calling birds, gold rings, maids-a-milking, ladies dancing and lords-a-leaping. Pipers piping and drummers drumming rose 3 percent. The partridge is still the cheapest item, at $15, and swans the most expensive.
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. checks jewelry stores, dance companies, pet stores and other sources to compile the list. Some of its sources this year include the National Aviary in Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Ballet Company.
___
Online:
http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com

20 Unusual Uses for Coffee


By Stephanie Rogers

Can you imagine life without coffee? We'd all stumble around like drones for hours every morning, lost without our precious fix. We love coffee for its flavor, its aroma and of course its pick-me-up, but there are at least 20 more compelling reasons to stay stocked up. These tips will give you surprising and unusual uses for fresh coffee beans or grounds that have gone stale, the pounds of used grounds you toss out every week and the dregs at the bottom of your cup.

Kill fridge odor
Wouldn't you rather smell coffee than two-week-old leftovers, half-rotten produce and spoiled milk? If your fridge is a nightmare of foul odors, place a bowl of fresh, unused coffee grounds inside and leave it for a day or two. The coffee will absorb the odors and you'll crave a cup whenever you open the door. This odor-killing trick works for practically anything else as well - just place the item in a sealed plastic bag along with an open can of coffee grounds and bye-bye stank.

Reduce cellulite
Pricey cellulite creams almost always have one major ingredient in common: caffeine, which supposedly enhances fat metabolism, reducing the appearance of these fatty pockets under the skin. To make your own coffee cellulite treatment at home, mix warm used coffee grounds with coconut oil and rub it onto your skin in circular motions for a few minutes before rinsing.

Erase smells on your hands
Garlic, salmon, cilantro - there are some things that smell delicious when cooking, but aren't so pleasant hours later when they linger on your hands. Get rid of them by rubbing a handful of used coffee grounds on your hands and rinsing with warm water.

Make rich compost
There's a reason so many gardeners swear by adding used coffee grounds to compost. The grounds are rich in phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and copper, they release nitrogen into the soil as they degrade and they're a little bit acidic, which is great for certain soils. If you compost on a large scale, you can get used grounds for free at your local coffee hot spot or mom-and-pop cafe.

Get shiny hair
Who doesn't want shiny, healthy-looking hair? Coffee is often recommended as a simple, natural treatment to make hair extra-glossy. Brew up an extra-strong pot, let it cool and apply it to your dry, clean hair. Leave it on for at least twenty minutes, then rinse. Keep it up once a week or so for best results.



Natural dye
The natural pigments in coffee make it a great natural dye for fabric, paper, Easter eggs - even your hair. Brush paper with strong brew and let it dry, or soak fabric items in hot coffee. The results won't be color-fast, and may bleed out onto other items, so it's best to use this on items that won't be washed very often if at all. Using coffee as a hair shine treatment, as previously mentioned, may temporarily lend a rich, dark tint to your hair.

Reduce fireplace mess
Want to clean your fireplace without causing a dust storm? Wait until the embers are cool, sprinkle damp coffee grounds all over the ashes , let them sit for about 15 minutes and then scoop out the whole mess into a metal ash can. The coffee grounds cling to the ashes, so they don't spew dust nearly as much as they would otherwise.

Pin cushion filler
Dried, used coffee grounds are the perfect filler for homemade pin cushions. Just wrap them in some scrap cloth, tie it off with a rubber band and place the cloth in an egg cup or other small container. The grounds will keep your pins from rusting, too.

Exfoliate skin
The same properties that reportedly enable coffee to reduce the appearance of cellulite can smooth and tighten your skin, and the texture of ground coffee will buff away dead skin cells, too. Make your own coffee-based scrub by combining a tablespoon of coffee grounds with half a tablespoon of olive oil and, optionally, a drop of your favorite essential oil.

Repel ants
Sprinkle dry, used coffee grounds in problem areas where you notice ants in your home or yard and they might just pick up and leave. To tackle huge ant mounds, pour an entire pot of brewed coffee right on the mound.


Fertilize plants
Acid-loving plants will thank you for sprinkling your used coffee grounds around their roots. Azaleas, blueberry shrubs and rhododendrons are just a few of the plants that flourish when treated with coffee thanks to all those nutrients. You can also dilute the leftover coffee in your mug and pour it right into your potted plants (as long as you don't use cream and sugar, of course!)

Keep cats out of your garden
To you, that little garden in your yard is a beautiful source of fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables, but to seemingly every cat in a five-mile radius, it's a giant, irresistible litter box. Just use the trick mentioned above, sprinkling used coffee grounds on the soil, and cats will want nothing to do with it.

Scrub all kinds of surfaces
Mildly abrasive and acidic, coffee grounds are great for scrubbing surfaces like countertops, cooking ranges and refrigerators. Use them alone or mix them with a little dish soap.

Auto air freshener
Next time you accidentally spill coffee grounds on the floor, don't just sweep them up and toss them in the trash. You can use them to make an all-natural DIY air freshener like this one at Instructables. Try to use an old ripped pair of pantyhose and spare string to make this an even more eco-friendly project.

Grow mushrooms
Used coffee grounds are an ideal medium to grow many kinds of mushrooms, including oyster mushrooms. You can actually purchase mushroom-growing kits from a company called Back to the Roots which includes reclaimed coffee grounds, mushroom roots and a mini spray bottle. The kit can produce up to 1.5 pounds of oyster mushrooms within 10 days.


Repel fleas
Rub used, damp coffee grounds through your pet's fur after bathing to repel fleas without questionable, likely-toxic chemical treatments. If nothing else, it will at least improve that post-bath wet-dog smell that gets all over your furniture.

Pretty vase fillers
Stale or dirty coffee beans are still a thing of beauty. Use them as vase fillers, or in cups or jars full of pens and pencils. Not only are they pretty, they continue to smell good for quite a while, too.

Start vermicomposting
Red wriggler worms, the sort used in vermicomposting systems, love coffee almost as much as we do. It's not really clear why, but if you want a thriving community of worms to devour all of your kitchen waste (and those nasty little things really are amazingly efficient), be sure to add used coffee grounds to their bedding on a regular basis.

Secret recipe ingredient
Just a little hint of coffee can be the ingredient that becomes your undisclosed "magic touch" in foods like chili, ice cream and chocolate cake. Use a little bit as a marinade for steaks and not only will it make them unbelievably tender, it'll also provide a hint of deep, smoky flavor.

Touch up furniture scratches
Scratches on wood furniture disappear almost instantly by simply rubbing in a little bit of instant coffee dampened into a paste with hot water. Repeat if necessary until the scratch matches the surrounding wood.