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Posted: Mon 13:10, 19 Aug 2013 Post subject: Cooking and Cocktails-spun3 |
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Cooking and Cocktails,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
Hello Orange Blog Hoppers! You should have just joined me via Peg Rounds' blog. I've been using this blog to take notes on what I learn and to encourage myself to continue by taking fun photos of what I make. I find cooking and baking to be a creative endeavor and I am interested in making my food look cute and crafty (like my jam here). I'll be back to pure craft blogging one of these days but in the meantime,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], I'm having fun with cooking so I thought I'd share a taste (no pun intended) of what I am working on.
Recently I bought my first vanilla bean which got me started wondering what else I could do with a vanilla bean besides make a small jar of jam with it. Turns out, lots. So, a few exhaustive hours of research on the internet and I am now the proud owner of 25 Bourbon vanilla beans from Madagascar. In order to keep my supplies stocked for my new baking hobby, I thought it would be fun to make my own vanilla extract and I was surprised by how fast and easy it is- and I feel a little like a mad scientist while making it which is always a plus in my book. Although I will have to wait a minimum of 8 weeks before my vanilla extract is done (and the suspense will probably almost kill me),[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], I am looking forward to updating my blog to share how the finished product works out as well as share how I end up embellishing the bottle. I'm thinking I might even get a few smaller bottles out of this first batch which I can use to create smaller gift bottles of homemade vanilla extract for my friends. I'm hoping that with a few bits of ribbon and custom label, these will be beautiful and delicious.
If you'd like to make your own vanilla extract, the first task is to find good quality, inexpensive vanilla beans. My original 2 beans cost about 11 dollars in my local grocery store spice aisle. I found this great bottle of 360 Vodka at my local Trader Joes. I chose it because the bottle has a nice stopper and the bottle itself is pretty (kind of like how I choose wine- it's all about the pretty labels). Because the bottle is 750 ml,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], I had to resort to a cooking conversion chart to find out that it is approximately 3 cups of vodka and since I had already done research that suggested 3 vanilla beans per cup,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], I added 10 vanilla beans to the vodka. The only "work" that needs to be done is cutting the beans straight up the middle (leaving about 1" uncut at the top). Being the big Fiskars fan that I am, naturally I used one of my frequently used Fiskars tools- my kitchen shears. I use them every day, several times a day in my kitchen. I cut 10 beans,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], popped them in the vodka bottle (you can take advantage of the science of displacement to use the overflow of vodka left to make a mini cocktail- yay for science!). That's it. Done. And now wait. I'll let you know how it goes but I should have 3 cups of rich,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], dark vanilla extract for my holiday baking in a few months and for a pretty decent price, too.
*And those of you who are lucky enough to live by Mexico, yes- best vanilla extract at great prices. However you have to be careful of extract made from tonka beans apparently. It's a common practice in Mexico and the tonka beans are banned by our FDA (here's a note on the FDA's website).
So that's it. These are the kind of things I blog about. I get on obsessive kicks about a lot of things and I ramble about them. But if you were nice enough to stop by and now you are thinking that you wouldn't mind trying out making your own vanilla or maybe cooking something new you hadn't thought of before, I think you're going to need a pair of your own Fiskars Kitchen Shears. They really are pretty great. Before you head off to the next blog on your Orange Blog Hop,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], leave me a comment here- have you made vanilla before? What is your favorite recipe site? What tips do you have for a beginning cook/baker? At the end of the hop,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], I'll draw a name to win a pair of Fiskars Kitchen Shears (so make sure you fill in your name and Fiskateer number or email address).
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