Homemade Vanilla Extract

Easy-peasy. That's what this is.

But, and there is always a but, you gotta wait for it.  A couple of months but it's really, really worth it.

Grab a bunch of vanilla beans, make a slit lengthwise on the bean, and throw them in a bottle of vodka. That's the easy-peasy part I mentioned.  Then, put the bottle in a cool, dry place and forget about it.  That is the "but" part of this process... the waiting game.  Go check on it once in a while, give it a shake and put it back.  The longer you leave it, the more infused the vodka will get with vanilla and the richer the color will get.

When I get half way through the first bottle, I start another one and then I always have vanilla extract ready.

I think next time I will substitute the alcohol with rum or a whisky.

Tip:  Don't throw those vanilla beans out!  Scrape out the insides and use them to make a delicious dessert or Vanilla Bean Ice Cream as they still have a lot of flavour.

Or allow the beans to air dry and pop them into a container with white sugar.  Vanilla sugar is so heavenly scented and doing it yourself saves you plenty of pennies, since vanilla sugar can be somewhat costly at the grocery store.