Homemade Vanilla

Whenever I am in the kitchen I find myself in a state of relaxation, mixing ingredients together to create a tasty concoction to satisfy both my stomach and my soul. Fortunately or unfortunately for me I am rather picky and prefer to cook with high quality ingredients. I always try to buy free range, local, organic products when I can but this is very expensive. I don't make all that much money and I like to save what money I can for travelling so there isn't a whole lot left for splurging on fancy fixins. Therefore, I try to make a point to make any ingredients I can in order to be able to use high quality ingredients at minimal cost. .

I am British and therefore it is in my DNA to love baked goods of all kinds. A key ingredient in almost everything I bake is vanilla. It is easy to spend up to $20 on an 8 oz bottle of high quality Madagascan vanilla extract so I decided I needed to start making my own and tonight I am going to share with you a recipe shared with me by a dear friend who has been making her own pure vanilla extract for years.

Hope you enjoy!

The Odds & Ends
5 Madagascan Vanilla Beans
16 oz bottom shelf vodka (I use smirnoff)
A pretty bottle

Follow the three easy steps below, and allow to sit for several weeks.

Place the halved vanilla beans in the bottle. 

Cut the beans in half from top to bottom down the middle.

Pour vodka into the bottle.

The vodka will gradually darken over time as it is transformed into the vanilla extract. Once the vanilla beans become obscured by the freshly brewed vanilla extract your vanilla is ready to use! If you start running low, simply refill with vodka and allow it to re-brew!