DIY Vanilla Extract

DIY Vanilla Extract - Why spend $8 for imitation vanilla if you could make your own for $2 and that cheap vodka in your freezer?

Ingredients
1 - 2 vanilla beans

1/4-1/3c. vodka (that bottle of Mr. Boston you've hopefully outgrown in your freezer will do just fine)

Open your vanilla bean by slicing it the long way with a sharp blade. Scrape the seeds (the black pasty stuff) out of the been and use for something else. Insert the bean into your jar with your vodka. Let sit 3 weeks at least. Over the 3 weeks the liquid should begin to turn brown and when you open the lid you should smell a strong vanilla scent. The convenience of make-your-own vanilla is not only that you will make a pure vanilla (no added sugars or preservatives) for a smaller price, but you can continue to add more vodka and/or beans to your bottle to replenish your supply. I have so far made two cycles of vanilla and it appears to work just as well as any other vanilla I've ever used.

• The word vanilla comes from the Spanish word "vaina" meaning pod or sheath
• Vanilla pods as we know them are the seeds of orchids from the genus Vanilla originating in Mexico (Mesoamerica).
• Vanilla plants and pods were cultivated by Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people and thought to be introduced to Europe in the 1520s by the Spanish conquestedor Hernan Cortes
• Cultivation in other parts of the world proved difficult due to the symbiotic relationship between the vanilla orchid and its natural pollinator the Melipona bee until 1841 when it was determined that the plants could be hand pollinated.
• Vanilla is second only to saffron in expense due to its intensive production process.
• Most common vanilla is artificial, meaning that it is flavored with vanillin (derived from lignin) instead of from the actual fruit of the plant.