Why did you buy THAT?!

I get a lot of ribbing from my family when I go to Idaho.  One of the reasons I get teased is because I always buy a big bottle of vodka (they tease me for plenty more, believe me!).  Now, those of you who know me, know that I don't drink anything stronger than Diet Coke.  Maybe, sometimes, I'll even have unsweetened iced tea.  Yes, UN-sweetened!

So, Why did you buy THAT?!

Because I make vanilla extract with it!

The next question is usually, "Why buy it in Idaho?  Why not back home?"

Do you live in the Bible Belt?  If you do, and you don't drink, you probably don't want fellow church members seeing you leave a liquor store with a bottle in a brown bag.

That's why I buy that big bottle in Idaho, and trek it all the way back home.

When we started the Feingold diet for ADHD/ADD, one of the things to leave our house was artificial flavorings.  Guess what the affordable vanilla extract is?  Artificial!  So I learned how to make our own, and it's much better than the artificial stuff and much cheaper to make than buy the real thing in those dinky, pricey bottles at the grocery store.

Here's how to make your own:

Take about 15 vanilla beans per BIG bottle.

Slit them down the middle and shove into the bottle.  Yes, that's Luci helping.  It's her first time using a real kitchen knife and she felt so proud.  She was nervous, though, and only slit one bean; I did the rest.

Here's the newest bottle next to my last one.  There is still a long ways to go on that half-full bottle.  It can only get better, steeping longer.

Making a label is a must.  I always record the date and how many beans added to the bottle.

Here is a link to what vanilla beans look like growing.  I get my beans from amazon.com.  It is cheap.  You can use the cheapest vodka you like, and if gluten is an issue, look for gluten-free vodka.