Last night I made up three jars of vanilla extract. I came up with an idea of what to add with them for sort of a cool gift, so I am going to work on that tonight maybe. I think the products smells so lovely, that maybe you would want to make a cocktail out of it instead of using it for baking. You could also pour it over vanilla bean ice cream (especially homemade!).

Boiled the jars. Most recipes say you don’t need to, but I freak with worry about germs and bacteria.

This recipe called for light rum with the beans.

Slice the beans in half, and stuff them in the jars. I put nine beans per jar.

Pour in the rum, seal the jars and that’s it. You’re supposed to shake them daily for the first week, then once a week or more after that. It’s supposed to sit and steep for six months before you use it. Then, you can either strain it or just remove the beans and leave the seeds.