Homemade Vanilla Extract

December 2010 Food & Wine magazine arrived in late November and when I was reading it, I found this awesome gift idea for my girl friends.  Well Christmas 2010 came and went and I had nothing.  In 2011, I wasn't going to let this happen!

So at the beginning of November I ordered the bottles from the container store. Then bought a large bottle of vodka.  Then in late November I finally found vanilla beans.  I bought mine at Whole Foods and they were 5 bucks a piece, but when we were recently at a brew shop (the one we visited in this post), I found 8 vanilla beans for $8.  Wow, did I over pay!  Well I have no idea the difference in quality, but I think it is worth a try to save $4 a bean!

Then time to assemble.  I took the bean, cut it in half (lengthwise), because I was on a budget. Placed the bean in the bottle, then filled the bottle to the top with vodka, put the cork in, and placed them in a cool dark place for 6 weeks. I tied a festive gift tag to the bottle.  I've already tried mine and it is fabulous, even better than store bought!