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US Janet[_2_]

On Tue, 13 Apr 2021 10:52:45 +0100, Janet > wrote:

>In article >, says...
>>
>> On 2021-04-12 5:33 p.m., Graham wrote:
>> > On 2021-04-12 2:50 p.m., US Janet wrote:
>> >>
>> >
>> >>
>> >> A couple people have been gifting me large bottles of vanilla when
>> >> then travel to Mexico.* I now have about a quart of the stuff and I
>> >> don't make sweets any longer.
>> >>
>> >> End of Ramble
>> >> Janet US
>> >>
>> >
>> > Go to your local artisinal baker and trade it for bread.
>>
>> You would want to make sure you got a lot of bread in return.
>>
>> Years ago a neighbour went on a Caribbean cruise and brought us some
>> vanilla extract from Grenada. That stuff was amazing. I was talking
>> with the chef/owner of a local restaurant and commented on the vanilla
>> taste in his desserts. It turned out that he got his vanilla extract
>> from the Dominican Republic. His wife was Dominican and they went down
>> frequently and always brought back lots. On his next trip he brought me
>> back a 500ml bottle of it. That lasted me a good long time. The down
>> side was that I could never find another source of vanilla that good.
>> Now I have to pay a small fortune for an inferior product.
>
> I make my own with vanilla pods and alcohol (usually brandy but my
>current one is in vodka, I've also used sherry+rum. Just what we have
>that's already open).
>
> Get a small clean glass bottle with a screwtop lid. Those 200ml
>bottles from hotel minibars are ideal.
>
> Slit two vanilla pods lengthways, leave the seeds in. If your bottle
>is too short cut them in half lengthways to fit them in. Stuff all the
>pods in the bottle. Fill the bottle with alcohol to the top, making sure
>the pods are immersed. Put the lid on and shake it. Store in a cool dark
>place, and turn the bottle once a week. It's ready in 6 months.
>
> Janet UK
I've always had a couple of bottles (fifths, the liquor bottles) of
vanilla going. One bottle goes toward my annual Christmas batch of
Kahlua, the other bottle 'rests' for another year of two to make the
next batch of Kahlua. I've always used brandy to make vanilla.
I put two vanilla beans in a bottle to start. At Christmas I add
another two to the empty bottle and continue so for a number of
years.
Janet US