Monday, August 31, 2009

Vanilla

Well we spent 6 days in the PICU with ds2. He has finally been diagnosed with asthma. He ended up in the hospsital with rsv which I am sure he contracted during our 3 hour dr.'s office visit for physicals for all three kiddos. DD also contracted it. Since we got home I have been dealing with 2 sick kiddos who need breathing treatments every four hours around the clock. Needless to say it has been a very long 2 weeks.

Today I was able to actually function though and the boys helped me make vanilla extract. I ordered the vanilla beans from www.organic-vanilla.com for about $7 with shipping and dh got cheap vodka (I am told the cheaper the better) in a glass bottle $6.99. I have enough beans to make another bottle too.
You simply split 4-6 beans and put them in the bottle (750ml).
Then shake occassionally and let sit for 3-4 months.
Finally strain through cheesecloth as you pour into bottles of your choosing.
I will pick up bottles when I find them cheap. Though I hear Michael's sells them for about $1 each with corks.
It ends up being about $0.60/ounce plus the cost of packaging.
I am going to give this to SIL, MIL, Grandma and my Sister

I also took cutting from a Christmas Cactus that was getting too large for FIL's desk at work and potted them up as gifts using old pots and a $4 bag of cactus soil.

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