Vanilla Bean Update

My homemade vanilla.

For those of you who have been reading the blog for a while, you will recall that several months ago I embarked on what can only be called "The Great Vanilla Experiment".   I decided to make my own homemade vanilla using just vanilla beans and booze (and a wing and a prayer).

Prior to this experiment, I brought my vanilla at the supermarket or at Penzey's -- just like everyone else.  And I didn't buy that crappy vanilla extract either.  I bought the good stuff from Madagascar.   I used that fancy vanilla like water, never really considering that it was a pretty costly ingredient to just splash into everything and anything.

But never mind about my vanilla habits.  Back to the experiment.

So I got this idea to make my own vanilla.  It was easy and simplicity is always a huge draw for me.  I bought a lot of vanilla beans (the good ones  from Madagascar) and a bottle of vodka.  (Ted was in charge of the vodka purchase since he's the resident bartender around here.)  I split the beans, stuck them in a jar and filled it to the brim with the booze.

And then I waited.

And I waited some more.

And then I tasted it.  It still tasted pretty much like alcohol so I waited some more.

Well, ladies (and a couple of gentlemen), today was the day.  I checked on the vanilla this morning.  I did the sniff test and it smelled like vanilla.  And then I tasted it and it tasted like vanilla.  And then I did a taste test with the fancy vanilla I had in the pantry and do you know what?  My homemade vanilla had actually turned into actual bona fide  vanilla!  It tasted just like vanilla!

Do you sense my excitement because I'm pretty much jumping up and down about this.

I'm a vanilla maker!  Is there an actually profession called vanilla maker because I'm pretty sure I could get that job.

So, now armed with a quart of homemade vanilla, I can splash vanilla into anything I want.  I can add to my original quart and keep it going forever.  I can be the Queen of Homemade Vanilla.

All this from an experiment.