Make Your Own Vanilla Extract. Merry Christmas!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. As I've written before, every year we give a little Christmas Eve party and I give out some kind of homemade goodie at the end of the evening. This year I wanted to do the fun DIY thing of making your own vanilla extract. I go through so much vanilla extract and the good stuff is so expensive. I love the idea of making your own from good vanilla beans and then just adding vodka to it to keep it going - after all, that's all vanilla extract is, really - alcohol and vanilla beans.
I got some wonderful Bourbon vanilla beans from Beanilla. If you would like to read the differences between the various kinds of vanilla beans, Garrett over at Vanilla Garlic has an informative post about that. I ordered the fun little labels from My Own Labels, a great company where you can get custom labels for lots of things, including homemade food items, cds, bottles, etc. Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread. Want to know what’s in my fridge?
A whole lot of ’what the heck am I going to do with that’? Maraschino cherries. Basil pesto. Expired buttermilk. Kale… lots of kale. You should be thankful I didn’t reach into my fridge for this recipe. My kind of bridal. Goodness.
It’s finally happening. The wedding is upon us, friends. Or rather, it will be, in just under seven weeks. Things are slowly picking up speed. Plans are taking shape. When Brandon and I got engaged, we knew that we wanted a summer wedding, but that was about it. Slowly but surely, week by week, we’ve schemed and daydreamed, crafting a celebration that feels like us. Now, I know, I know. I stumbled upon this particular banana specimen a while ago, when Kickpleat, keeper of the blog Everybody Likes Sandwiches, first posted it.
I’ve adapted the recipe a bit since I first started making it, reducing the sugar and cinnamon a touch, but otherwise, I’ve left it as Kickpleat intended. Something tells me that July 29 will be here in no time, so long as the banana supply holds up. Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar This lovely stuff comes together in less than an hour, including baking time. Oh, and while we’re here, let’s talk about frozen bananas.
Miscellaneous. Cookies&Brownies&Cupcakes. Cakes. Pies.