"Vanillika"

Thanks to a wonderful friend, I learned a homemaking skill that is so yummy,

I will never buy store bought again!! 

I made a bunch for Christmas gifts this year :) 

Only two ingredients and some patience! 

1st you need a 5th of good Vodka.

This is the one I was told is the best for vanilla.

I always just remember the red and gold label since I can't say the name! LOL

Yes... it was a little strange to go to the liquor store, but I knew I was not looking to break any commandments with this bottle of proof... LOL... so I worked past my "taboo" discomfort and found what I needed! 

They are really nice there

and they put your bottle of hooch in a brown paper sack!

(surprised? LOL)

Awesome!

Keep the bag.

And you need 5-6 vanilla beans.

I found these at the Sunflower Market.

(UPDATE: I also bought a bag of about 12 from Amazon.com for about $15 - great quality!)

(you could keep the glass vanilla bean bottles to put your finished product in if you would like!)

First you dump out about 3 T. of the vodka

 (so the beans will fit in the jar).

Take each bean pod and slice them all down along one side to open it up to the beans.

Then drop the whole pod into the bottle of vodka.

Repeat with all your beans.

Put the cap back on...

and place the bottle back in the brown paper sack you got from the liquor store.

*wink*

We wrote "Vanillika" on ours to make it look a little less "suspicious"!

bwahahahaha!

Keep in a cool place...

we just kept it on countertop so we would see it and remember the next step:

SHAKE

 your bottle daily, if you can,

for ONE MONTH.

(see? I told you it would take patience)

Everyone in my little family would shake it when they saw it (and thought about it!)

Cooperation at its best! :D

After a month look how lovely!

You are half way there!

YEA!!

Next, dump the entire contents from your vodka bottle into a glass bowl.

(I used a Pyrex bowl as it had a pouring spout, but you could use a funnel if you needed to)

Take each bean pod and pull it open.

Scrape out the mushy beans inside them and put (aka: scrape) the goo back into the vodka bottle.

(this phase made my hands smell divine! :D)

Discard your empty vanilla bean pods.

Pour the lovely brown alcohol back into your 5th bottle over the top of the goo.

Replace the lid, shake well and put it back into the brown paper sack.

Shake

for DAILY for at least another MONTH.

I left mine for about 6 weeks, each cycle, just because we were so busy.

The longer it sits the better the flavor...

;)

Now here is where you can make your own decision:

The recipe I was taught said to strain the liquid through cheese cloth or clean nylon stockings to remove the vanilla bean goo.

I usually don't.

I did strain it for the gifts I was giving, but for my own vanilla I just left the bean goo in there!

It makes really pretty vanilla icecream with little flecks of brown, and the flavor keeps getting stonger and stronger the longer you leave it in the vodka, so I use less and less vanilla each time I bake because you don't need as much :)

It's entirely up to you! 

And so there you have it!

Leave it in the bottle or put into small glass bottles.

Store in a cool, dry, mostly dark place.

(I wrapped my vodka bottle with a damp kitchen towel for about 15 minutes and the label peeled right off)

A whole fifth of vanilla!

Not watered down

or full of strange additives/flavorings!!

AWESOME!

The total cost was:

Vodka $21.00

Beans x6 $6

_____________

$ 27.00

Now I don't know about you... but:

though it seems like a lot up front

this bottle could last up to 2-3 years

(if you don't use vanilla like I do! )

LOL

And for the peace of mind to know exactly what was in it,

plus the simple joy of knowing I made it myself was worth it!

It is DIVINE!!

ENJOY!!

(p.s. they do have the vodka in a smaller bottle - but not being liquor bottle lingo savvy I would think it would be called a 10th? (lol) - so you could just use less beans and that bottle was only $15 or so.)