Fallen Souffle

One of my favorite chefs/cooks/entertainers is Ina Garten, she does the Barefoot Contessa show on Food Network. I want to be Ina, but much slimer. She lives in the Hamptons in her beautiful house with her white picket fence and massive garden and she cooks and entertains while her husband, who she only sees on the weekend, slaves away at work. Ok well I could do without the husband being away, I adore Evan way too much for that But in general she has a great life and I think why I like her so much is that her recipes are pretty simple but they have amazing ingredients in them. She had turned me on the cooking with what’s fresh.

One of her taglines is to use “really good vanilla” when she bakes. When Evan and I were on our honeymoon we stopped in Grenada, “The Spice Island” and I insisted on getting a bottle of vanilla. It is the best stuff every and it was like $3 a bottle. When I can home I visited the Spice Lady at the NCState fairgrounds and she told me how simple is was to make. Simple AND cheap, my two favorite things! My Mom started brewing some about a month ago and I just started a batch for Christmas gifts recently and I wanted to pass the “secret” on to everyone so they can get their bottle ready in time for Christmas baking.

Pure Vanilla Extract

1 bottle (375 ml) of cheap vodka
4 whole vanilla beans

I like to soak the label off the bottle before I start, because who wants to give their Aunt Sue a bottle of brown Aristocrap? You can also add a pretty label after you are done!

Split the vanilla beans in half and drop them into the bottle of vodka. Seal the cap tightly and store in a dark place for atleast 2 months. That’s it! Who knew it could be so easy!

Vanilla beans are becoming more widely available, if you are in Raleigh, I would suggest going to the fairgrounds to buy from the Spice Lady. I also think they are available in a Whole Foods/Fresh Market type place, and they usually run about a buck a piece. So for a total of $8 you have a substantial amount of vanilla that could easily cost you twice as much in the store.

The good news is that when you use about half the bottle just refill it with plain bottle to create more extract!

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