marric - Here's how to make vanilla extract: Put 3 or 4 vanilla beans, that have been cut in 1" pieces, into a cup of unflavored vodka, cap, shake every day for three to six weeks, strain into an other bottle(s) with a tight fitting lid. Add more vodka to the beans in the jar and repeat up to 3 times. Multiply the amounts for larger quantities. To strain it I use a "permanent" coffee filter that has a very fine mesh that is not as messy as a plain coffee filter, but you can use one of those. I recommend using clothes pins or bag clips to hold a paper filter to the lip of the jar you are filling. If you are using a bottle with a small neck, put a coffee filter inside the funnel to decant, and dump the residue back into the original bottle. Since I bake every week for the farmers market, I have gone through 3 quarts of vanilla extract this last year and have another about ready (that's a gallon of vanilla extract a year!!!). I started out with 15 maybe 20 beans (bought on eBay) in a quart mason jar with large mouth lid and band and cheap Burnett's vodka. After the time is up, I strain it into pint mason jars and refill the quart jar with more vodka, shaking it for another 3 to 6 weeks. Note that there is no way to tell if it is done by tasting it or smelling it, only by color. The darker the better. The dollar savings per ounce is astounding, even if you make just a little amount each year. Nancy

I ONLY use my own homemade--bet it's been 10 years since I bought a bottle. As a matter of fact, I realized that my bottle is about half empty, so it's about time to start another. I split 15 good quality vanilla beans (I get mine from Penzey's--they're large, fresh, and of excellant quality). The, I pour about 1/2 cup out of a 750 ml bottle of decent (doesn't have to be the best, but not the cheapest, either) vodka. I put that extra into my old vanilla bottle. You need to take some out to make room for the beans. Drop the beans in, replace the cap and let it age in a cool dark place for about 3-4 months. If you drop the beans in stem-side up, you can usually 'catch' them with a clean crochet hook when you need one for a recipe.

Until the UK joined what was then the EEC and had greater exposure to/from the rest of Europe, it had in the minds of many the WORST food in Europe. Unless bland, greasy, overcooked food is your thing. Standard advice back in the 70s and 80s for finding restaurants in London was to go to Soho and look for a Chinese or Indian place or other foreign food and avoid local restaurants at all costs. I give the English credit for creating trifle (which isn't all that different from strawberry shortcake and many pastry concoctions common on the Continent) but not for execution. Same for the other areas of Britain. Food there has improved from the few decades of foreign influence but the local traditions are still hideous. Unless local favorites like jellied eel, steak and kidney (yes real kidneys) pie, haggis or baked beans on toast, among others, are your idea of good food. Have you ever heard this one: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In Heaven: The Cooks Are French, The Policemen Are English, The Mechanics Are German, The Lovers Are Italian And The Bankers Are Swiss. In Hell: The Cooks Are English, The Policemen Are German, The Mechanics Are French, The Lovers Are Swiss And The Bankers Are Italian. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Friends don't let friends use most English or British recipes and also not most food products.

Fact: Vanilla prices may drop but they will still be on the high side. 1. Vanilla comes from an orchid NATIVE TO MEXICO. 2. You MUST pollinate the orchid on the same day it blooms you only have ONE day 3. Any vanilla grown outside of Mexico MUST HAND POLLINATED, (gotta love those bees) 4. The largest producer of Vanilla, Madagascar, lost 30% of its crop in 2017. 5. Which equals to a loss of 25% of the world's production of Vanilla. 6. It takes 3-4 yrs to grow a Vanilla orchid that will bear fruit and 9 months after pollination to be mature. Then your process them thru a sweating. Fun Fact : At one point last year Vanilla was more expensive than Silver Sources and article explaining the situation on Vanilla Precious as Silver, Vanilla Brings Cash and Crime to Madagascar ... Will the 2018 Crop Bring Lower Vanilla Prices? Vanilla fever: Fear sours the sweet scent of Madagascar’s success The real price of Madagascar’s vanilla boom