In the beginning of July, I (pregnant belly and all) purchased a large quantity of vodka so that we could make this gift. We ordered the vanilla beans through Olive Nation. My children now have a very rosy view of vodka..."that's what they use to make vanilla, Mom!"
We sliced the beans lengthwise and put them into a gallon sized glass jug. Then we poured the vodka over the top and let them sit in our dark back closet until just a few days before Christmas.
We poured the vanilla extract into a coffee filter set in a strainer to remove all the chunks and vanilla particles.
We then funneled the vanilla into dark amber bottles that I purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs and added a label made from paper and tape! I drew a picture of a vanilla flower and two pods then used my copier to shrink it to the right size and duplicate the label.
The finished product!
We also took a trip to Mora to where my Mom's cousin runs Sapsucker Farms--a certified organic farm. We purchased Minnesota wild flower honey and organic maple syrup and put the three items together for a spiffy little Christmas gift.
1 comments:
Cute post! I had no idea that that was how vanilla extract was made. It was sweet that you all could do this together and it shows how much time went into it. Love the "rosy" line. And, your label turned out great too! It's so vintage!
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