I've been playing around with eggnog recipes. The one from ATK cooks the custard base to 170f and then add nutmeg, vanilla extract, and liqueur before cooling for 3 or so hours. The extract often separates and remains in little globules, even after cooling in the frig for several hours. Thoughts?

Vodka is well and fine, but try Cherry Brandy Vanilla and use it in conjunction with chocolate - homemade chocolate pudding, chocolate snack cake, etc. I've also made coconut rum vanilla, spiced rum vanilla, peach brandy vanilla, etc. They are all fun choices for their undertone flavors. Many combinations work great with fruit dishes. Helpful hint: Anywhere you have vanilla as a stand-alone flavor (vanilla pudding or ice cream), remove one long soaked vanilla bean from the bottle. Strip the luscious dark brown, thick, vanilla liquid from the bean by holding onto the top of the bean and with your thumb and index finger "milk" the liquid from the bean. You can replace the bean back into the bottle and "milk" it several more times. This is absolutely the BEST stuff... -Grainlady

I have done that -- several times. I dumped the beans out to strain off the last bit of liquid and add it to another jar. Looking at the beans closer, about 2/3-3/4 of them looked like they'd seen their better days, so I decided to retire them. I didn't want to use them for food, but I could still use a couple to make some salt scrub and see how I like it. If I decide to make any for holiday gifts, I'll start with some of my new beans. I'm still interested in knowing if there other ideas for them. I have a couple of other jars brewing nd will eventually get to a similar point with them. This post was edited by lascatx on Sun, Sep 14, 14 at 18:57

Thanks, y’all. I’ve tried making my own vanilla extract before, and I was terribly disappointed with the results. I used Trader Joe’s beans and good vodka. I can remember how long I steeped it before tasting, but it was several months. Mostly, it tasted like vodka with a vanilla undertone. After about two years, it had enough vanilla flavor for me to use it, but I was still underwhelmed.