Hand Crafted Vanilla for Gift Giving !!! ;)

     Do you realize that Christmas is only 9 months away !!!???  IT's time to get crackin' my friends !!!  :0  Just Kidding, ... kinda ...  One of the recipes I have shared earlier is Homemade Vanilla !!!  This stuff is worth its weight in GOLD !!!  I mean I LOVE this stuff !!! I will never go back to store bought Vanilla again !!!  So that being said, why wouldn't I want to share this with others, especially at the Holidays !?  I don't know about you, but receiving large trays of high calorie goodies is not my idea of a gift !!!  It's TORTURE !!!!  I used to be one of those gift givers, but I have realized over the years not to spend others calories, and especially at the Holidays when so many goodies are every where you turn.  Last year, I gave out a High Quality Unsweetened Dutch Processed Baking Cocoa ( and I didn't receive any complaints).  When I was at Michaels the other day I stumbled on these cute little bottles, AND they were on sale, so I bought all they had in stock !!!  So when you are out shopping around, keep an eye out on great deals on bottles with lids. The longer the Vanilla has to cure the better it will be. So why not get a jump start on Gift Giving so your gifts will be ready and waiting when the Holidays come around !!!  You wont be sorry  ;)

Ingredients~
Glass Bottle with Topper
Bourbon Whiskey ( I have used W.L. Weller and been happy with the results)
Fresh Mexican Vanilla Beans ( I HIGHLY recommend using Spice Merchant in Wichita, KS.  They have the best beans in town for the best price.  When I bought mine they were 1.25/bean~ other places have "bean" as much as 2.99/bean and dried out.  These are fresh and wonderful.  They carry two kinds of beans, make sure to ask for the MEXICAN Vanilla Bean)
Kitchen Shears
Labels
Marker
Stickers to Decorate if desired

     The equation for making Vanilla is one bean per 2 oz of Bourbon.  I used a cup bottle in this process and so I used 4 beans per bottle.  Before putting the beans in the bottle, cut the bean length wise then cut in half , so they will be opened but short enough to be covered by the liquid.  Cure for a minimum of 1 month, preferably 3 months is recommended.  But the longer the better.  I finished mine off with labels purchased from Michaels, and wrote on them with my Calligraphy  Pen and topped it off with a gold star sticker.  Feel free to add any embellishments you desire!  Just have fun and let the creativity flow !!!  Enjoy  ;)

     IF you don't want to go to the bother of making your own, I will be happy to sell my 8oz bottles for 20 dollars.  Contact me if you are interested ;)