good things come…

They (whoever they are) say that good things come to those who wait. Much as I am a fan of immediate gratification, especially concerning food, sometimes “they” are right.

I know perfectly well that pizza really should cool for a few minutes before I put hot cheese in my mouth, that I need to blow on my cup of tea or hot chocolate if I want to be able to taste it and not scald myself, and that some cookies really do need to cool on the baking sheet or they will crumble.

Still, this time I may have overdone the waiting thing.

I got curious about making vanilla extract. I got a bottle of home-made extract a few years ago in that blogger swap, and it is almost gone. It was so good, rich and strong, that I decided to see if I could replicate it. While the actual ingredients are quite simple, the one thing it requires in spades is, well, time!

Honestly though, if I’d known it was this simple I’d have done it long ago. Its even easier than making limoncello, although vanilla extract does take longer. Thing is, though, you can just put it away and (apparently) be (pleasantly) surprised down the road.

All It takes is vodka, vanilla beans, and patience!

I bought a smallish bottle of middle-of-the-road vodka, I had the vanilla beans, and I’m not in any hurry about this. I still have some of Ken’s wonderful extract left, and so far it has been too warm to do much baking this “winter”.

I split the vanilla beans, put them in the vodka, recapped the vodka and tucked it away in a cupboard. Now we wait… for months apparently!

While we’re waiting, I had a thought. I’ve mentioned friends and family to you occasionally, in context of (cough) stealing their recipes or cooking with them or enjoying something they’ve treated me to, and I thought maybe you’d like to meet some of them.

I’ve invited some of my friends to guest blog. They all agreed, and even seemed pleased to be asked. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? I’ve given them free rein, so I honestly have no idea what they will write about (except for next month’s – wait until you see/smell/taste it! mmmm…. shhhhh) I think this will be great fun and hope you’ll come along for the ride. While we’re enjoying their ideas I’ll keep an eye on that vodka/vanilla extract for us as well.

So, yours in patience until next time, and bon appetit!!

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