Vanilla Extract
A few weeks ago I read about homemade vanilla extract, and thought to myself: "Self, that's a good idea!" So I scrounged around to find an empty jelly jar, as well as the better part of a bottle of vodka in the freezer. Great, all I still needed were vanilla beans. Several folks recommended buying in bulk online, but I wasn't ready to commit so soon. I figured I would get a handful of beans from the local spice store and try a small amount first. If it worked well, I would consider getting a larger amount at a better price. But for now, we'll start small. :-)
1 cup vodka (I used Skyye brand)
2 vanilla beans (Madagascar), cut to fit in the jar and sliced lengthwise
I mixed everything together and placed in the back of a cabinet about three weeks ago, so we're roughly halfway through the process. Of course, the longer it steeps the more intense the extract will be, but I'm using 6 weeks as my baseline. With a little luck, it should be ready just in time for some last-minute holiday baking.
Here's what it looked like after just two days.
The label you see in the picture is courtesy of the fine folks at "Of Course You Can! Sweet Preservation", which I also use to label my canning jars. It's a great help for me to see exactly when and what I canned (or in this case, when I started the project), and they are even easier to remove than even the "removable" labels that often come with packages of canning jars. To download this or one of their other lovely templates, simply go to: SweetPreservation.com/Labels-Crafts.
Thanks for reading!
