Operation Vanilla Extract, Part 1

This weekend, I bought 3 1.75 liter bottles of vodka, and used them all.  Uncharacteristic, you say?  You'd be right.  Although I got some really funny looks at the grocery store (who are they to judge?) I made 24 jars of vanilla extract.  Yep that's right, homemade vanilla extract.

Vanilla extract is ridiculously expensive.  $7 for a very tiny bottle....ugh.  I was so excited when I came across this idea on Pinterest.  All you need is some cheap vodka and vanilla beans.

But vanilla beans are super duper expensive too, right?  Wrong!  I found a site, Beanilla.com, which somehow is selling a pound of Tahitian vanilla bean pods for $48.  That is like, a massive amount of vanilla beans.  You won't use them all for your vanilla extract project...try them in custards, ice cream bases, cookies....the little seeds (insides of the beans you scrape out) will change your life!

All you do is find yourself some tightly sealing jars and add 3 split vanilla beans per 1 cup vodka, cover, and shake.  Store in a dark, dry place for 2 months, shaking occasionally.

It will turn super dark and vanilla-y...I'll show you in a month or so.

You could also use bourbon or rum, but I thought I'd go for a less flavored liquor on my first try.  I bought 3 bottles of vodka...probably more than I'd buy in my whole life.  And yes, there is a heavy percent of alcohol in your grocery store-vanilla extract.  It's not a big deal and is ok for kids/pregnant people because you are adding a teaspoon to a huge bowl of cookie dough (ie, we're not going to drink it straight over ice).  Same rules, same measurements as the store bought stuff.

Look how the color changed after just 24 hours!

I'm making enough for everyone on my Christmas list (think you might be lucky enough to get one?  :)  I'll post again about how it's going...maybe we'll make some FANTASTIC ice cream or cookies at the end of this adventure.