Christmas in July – Homemade Vanilla Extract

With just under 5 months until Christmas, it might be time to start thinking about gifts for your friends and family. That’s what I was doing about a year ago. I am definitely a big planner and had decided early in 2009 to make as many Christmas gifts as I could. Some of these gifts required quite a bit of time and some were easy to throw together. This week I’ll be sharing the gifts that I gave our family and friends last year.

The first gift came about due to a sale on Amazon. There was a great deal on 1/2 lb of vanilla beans. I started with two bottles of vodka and the vanilla beans. Once the beans were split (but not scraped) and placed in the vodka, the bottles just had to sit in a cool dark place. Every couple of weeks Hubby would pull the vodka out of the closet and shake the crap out of it. A couple months later the vanilla extract was ready to go!

I ordered some bottles online and made some labels for the bottles to finish off the look. I also placed two vanilla beans into each bottle.

I love that the vanilla extract tastes so good, has the specks of fresh vanilla beans, and will essentially never run out. If the vanilla starts running low, you can just top it off with some more vodka. As you use vanilla beans, just throw the pods in the bottle to replenish the vanilla flavor.

One Year Ago: Goat Cheese Potato Salad and Salmon with Yellow Pepper and Cilantro Pesto
Two Years Ago: Champagne Cupcakes

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6 Responses to “Cheez It Duoz”

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    Shannon — September 16, 2013 at 11:51 am

    love the idea of combining these two flavors! Way to keep each bite interesting 🙂 And perfect for football watching.

    • beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:16 pm

      I foresee a lot of these crackers coming out of my oven this football season…

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    Tracy | Pale Yellow — September 16, 2013 at 7:55 pm

    Making your own cheez-it’s looks so fun and not too difficult! I love how easy it is to customize your own flavors. I’m thinking white cheddar and ranch!

    • beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:16 pm

      White cheddar and ranch sounds like a great combination. I agree, they’re so simple and I love customizing them.

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    Candace @ Cabot — September 21, 2013 at 6:19 am

    These homemade Cheez It Duoz look so good, great for upcoming holidays parties and tailgating, too! Can’t wait to try them!

    • beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:19 pm

      They’re seriously so good and super addictive. Definitely perfect for football watching/tailgating!

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