just wanted to give an update on the vanilla…
the day after I made it it was already changing colour and everyday it has been getting darker… now… just 4 days after, it looks like this and the vanilla smell is starting to take over the alcohol smell…
I just know that it is going to be a treat…
and Katey, I had read that you can just replenish it with more alcohol if you leave the vanilla beans in it…
I am definitaly going to be trying brandy for that… or maybe more rum…
There are some days that are just satisfying…
This morning we were up at 6 but not sleepy… The boys had breakfast and I surfed the net a bit while I drank my coffee… then I started on the kitchen and the boys cleaned up the floors to make sweeping easier… then headed in their rooms and did their beds… without me asking…
At about 8:30, Xavier decided that they should go play outside so they brought all of their stuff into the kitchen so that I could help Khéna and Colin get dressed… and they headed out into the back yard and played..
and of course that meant that I could finish the kitchen, make my own bed, start a load of laundry and sweep and wash the floors without being interrupted…
They came in at about 10:15 and we sat down and did the magic trick that Annie shared on her blog and they all took a few turns each doing it and figuring out why and how it works and then did a few dissolving experiments… finishing with a baking soda and vinegar “explosion”…
It is now just after 11am and the house is clean, Khéna is napping on me and the older boys are playing downstairs and laughing… Supper tonight was made yesterday so all I have to do is heat it up this evening and I might make a bread to eat with it this afternoon…The day is not near to being finished but I just know that this mood will continue.. it is just one of those days…
and days like this just make the rough days all worth it…
If you bake a lot (like me)… and love vanilla (like me)…
Then you go through a lot of vanilla…
I know that I do…
So while I was Stumbling around last week I saw a recipe on how to make your own Vanilla extract… It was so easy that I just memorized how and today I bought the ingredients…
I can’t wait to see the results!
Vodka, vanilla beans and a bit of rum… (I used 6 beans for 2 cups)
pour the vodka into a mason jar…
add a bit of dark rum (if you have some) it adds a bit of sweet…
admire the vanilla beans…
split the vanilla beans…
look at the vanilla goodness….
halve them…
add the beans to the vodka…
and place in a dark cupboard and shake for about 30 seconds everyday for about 8 weeks… until ready….
Update: Here is what it looks like after a few weeks… and after 6-7 weeks I was able to start using it and haven’t looked back!
Also… I used Vanilla beans bought from my local grocery store which are highly over priced. I have found that there are better and much cheaper ways to buy Vanilla in bulk (I have bought through “organic-vanilla.com” based in the USA and “vanillafoodcompany.ca” based in Canada) so that this vanilla extract comes to not much more than the price of the alcohol used.
Simon has been wanting me to make some chocolate chip cookies… so when he asked me again today I got right to it…
I wanted to find a new cookie since though I love the ones I used to make I also like trying new one… the last ones I tried were too cakey.. so this time I went to foodgawker and typed in chocolate chip and ended up here…
Then we choose the first one that looked like the chocolate chip cookie that we have been craving…
To my surprise it ended being the Alton Brown Recipe for “the chewy” (recipe below)
So I made them… omg they are amazing!!!
The dough is just perfect… and you can see right away that they are going to be chewy…
After chilling the dough I scooped them out and then put them back in the fridge for a few minutes… then put them in the oven…
For so many years I have had an oven that we could not see into and I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to watch things bake…
The boys are discovering that pleasure for the first time…
A great chewy perfect chocolate chip cookie!!!
Ingredients
* 1 cup unsalted butter
* 2 1/4 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups chocolate chipsDirections
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift or mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
Pour the melted butter in a bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Chill the dough, then scoop onto baking sheets.(I used a 1/8 cup measuring cup)
They really get the thumbs up!
I have been cursing at our old range for a while now…
We bought it used and cheap almost 10 years ago… and though it was still usable it was making it harder and harder to cook things efficiently..
Last week when I went out for some last minute shopping I stopped and looked at the ranges and just fell in love with the oven size of one… then the sales lady showed me a new one that had just come in and would be on special for boxing day… big convection oven, warming drawer, ceramic flat top and of course… self cleaning…
She told me that I could just call her if I wanted to buy it so I didn’t have to go in… I have to admit that I was sold right there…
I talked to Simon about it and well… I called on the 26th at about 1pm and ordered it and it was delivered on Wednesday…
When I shared with Annie what I had purchased she brought up the concern of canning… but there won’t be a problem! I can in my stock pot (which has a flat bottom) with a canning rack and even in the manual there is no mention at all about canning… and some searching on the net showed that newer models don’t have the same problems as the older ones it seems…
I did though have to buy a new cast iron pan… the one that I used all the time had a rim so it was not flat on the bottom so I went and picked up a new one… It works beautifully… the stove top heats quickly and when you put the temp down it actually goes down… (the other one had plaques that took forever to heat up and then stayed hot… so to simmer you needed to start warming another element to the temp you needed and then switch the pan over)
Anyway… to date I love it… the first thing I did was bake bread in it… and I love that I can see through the door (the other you couldn’t see through the door at all)…
and because of the convection feature the bread browned all evenly all over and baked to perfection…
