Signal generators, oscilloscopes, and data acquisition (DAQ) systems are standard components of the modern experimental physics laboratory. The sound card, a built-in component in the ubiquitous personal computer, can be utilized for all three of these tasks and offers an attractive option for labs in developing countries such as ours--Pakistan--where affordability is always of prime concern. In this paper, we describe in a recipe fashion how the sound card is used for DAQ and signal generation.