homemade vanilla extract

Way back in January (I think) I announced I was going to get some vanilla beans and make my own vanilla extract. Well, it's been finished for some time, but I haven't gotten around to posting the results yet. So here goes I drained the extremely dark liquid and discarded the vanilla beans. The vanilla extract was extremely strong smelling, mostly of booze. The smell faded away after I left the jar open for about 5 minutes. I poured the extract into 2 canning jars I had purchased just for this experiment. I was a little hesitant to try it, I thought it would knock me on my butt. I figured I'd use it in a recipe instead of sampling it straight from the jar. In my opinion, it made a difference in the brownies and cake. But maybe it's just my imagination, because nobody said "holy Moses, this tastes like vanilla". But that's probably a good thing, I wouldn't want one flavor to overpower the rest. Would I do it again? Yes, and I plan too prior needing the vanilla. I considered doing it now so I will have lots of vanilla extract for holiday baking. I think I would use vodka the next time around. Not that I know using the vodka would be better, just to try out different ways to make vanilla. I want to see if the vodka vanilla works better than the rum vanilla. What would I do differently? I'd make sure I had jars/bottles ready to put the vanilla in. I'd make a note to myself to shake it up every day (I skipped it some days, I forgot). So I would say if you use as much vanilla as I do, making your vanilla is a great alternative.... Here's the basic recipe 5 whole vanilla beans 8 ounces of alcohol (bourbon, rum, vodka - anything that's about 35% alcohol) Take the vanilla beans and split them down the middle. Place vanilla beans in container. Add the booze, seal the bottle and keep it in a dark place for 8 weeks. Shake the bottle every day for a minute. After 8 weeks, the extraction process should be finished. The liquid will be dark. There's some disagreement on what happens to the vanilla beans. Some people re-yse them, making another batch. Others leave the beans in the extract and add a little booze to replace what they used cooking. I tossed mine because they looked mushy and were in small bits and pieces. (that's because I thought if I exposed more vanilla to the booze, it would become vanilla quicker & give a different flavor). So here it is, you can get cracking on those Christmas gifts;)

really slacking

sorry, folks, life got more busy or something. I did bake brownies this week, the "secret ingredient" was peanut butter chips. Interesting taste, good texture but I'm not sure I am that big a fan of peanut butter (yeah, I know, hard to believe)
So I baked a chocolate cheesecake (that didn't crack) and a "Cheeto" cake for Thanksgiving. I also made raspberry junket for my beloved. It comes in a box, it's sort of a cross between pudding and jello.
Than then was a Toys for Tots bake sale. I made a milky way cake and a pound cake. Actually, for some insane reason, I baked the first milky way cake at 450 degrees. The outside of the cake was as black as the bottom of my shoes. The inside was fine and devoured by my beloved. So I made a second milky way cake to take to the bake sale.
If there is another bake sale like this one, I will just donate the money to the cause. I felt everything was underpriced (cookies and cupcakes for a quarter, a slice of cake for a dollar). I think if you want to make money for a charity, you got to sell the stuff like you want to make money. I'm not saying charge a fortune, but seriously, a decorated cupcake for 25 cents?! That's not worth the effort, in my not so humble opinion.
But enough whining. I am trying toplan what I am baking for Christmas. Last year, because I burned up the oven, I baked only a few things. This year, I already have fruitcake (don't cry, I'm not giving you any) and a milky way cake. I am debating whether I want to take a cake into work, I guess it depends on how I feel at the moment. I also want to make some sugar cookies. I have always wanted to try to make a cookie tree, but haven't found the time or the nerve to do so. I have the ingredients, it's just making the time and the effort to do it. It would be cool.
That's it for now, nothing earth shaking, just been really busy at work...