Have you heard the one about the woman you went into the liquor store and asked for a gallon of vodka?  Oh.  Wait.  That was me.  🙂  And you should have seen the looks on their faces!  Apparently, vodka is not sold by the gallon, it’s sold by the liter.  So, then I had to try to figure out how many liters make a gallon.  We finally decided that 2 1.75 liter bottles would be about a gallon.

I am sure you are all fascinated by that bit of information and are now asking yourselves, “Why in the world would anyone need a whole gallon of vodka?”  And the answer to that question is, “To turn it into a whole gallon of vanilla extract, of course!”

This little vanilla adventure started when I saw a blog post about making your own vanilla.  Since I had recently thrown mine out (after I discovered the stuff I had contained high fructose corn syrup), I wanted to give it a try.  So I got a few vanilla beans and a small bottle of vodka.  I stuck the beans in the bottle and waited.  After about 6 weeks I was enjoying using my very own homemade vanilla extract.  No artificial anything, and no HFCS!

I decided that homemade vanilla would be a great Christmas gift for my friends and family that bake.  And that, my friends, is where that whole gallon of vodka comes in.  I ordered my Premium Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla Beans from this great website called OliveNation.  They have lots of other great stuff, as well as free shipping on their vanilla beans.  Saving money on shipping is always a plus!

It takes anywhere from 4 to 6 months to make a gallon of extract.  At 4 months you can begin to use it and at 6 months it is double strength.  And as a bonus, after I made the extract I dried the beans and used them to make vanilla sugar and vanilla cinnamon sugar.  I use dehydrated sugar cane juice, but any kind of sugar will work.

Vanilla Cinnamon Sugar and Vanilla Sugar

And then I made these fun labels to go on the tops.

Here are the directions for making a gallon of vanilla extract.  You can, of course, make smaller amounts, but your story won’t be nearly as funny.  🙂

Homemade Vanilla Extract

1 gallon of vodka

80 ish organic vanilla beans (approx 3/4 pound)

gallon sized glass jar with lid

The first step is to split the vanilla beans lengthwise to within about an inch from one end.

Then you put the beans in the jar and add the vodka.

Put the lid on the jar and shake it well.  Now put the jar in a cool, dark place.  About once a month or so you need to shake the jar again.  After 4 months it should look like this.

I kinda rushed things for Christmas, but next time I will let it sit for the full 6 months so it will be double strength.  When you are ready to bottle it, strain it through a coffee filter or cheesecloth into a large pot.

I used a coffee filter this time, but next time I will use the cheesecloth.  The beans have some oil in them and that seemed to clog up the filter I used.  All that’s left is to put it in the bottles.  I put a vanilla bean in each bottle before adding the extract.  That way, the recipients can add a little more vodka to the bottle as they use it.

I found these amber bottles for the vanilla at Mountain Rose Herbs.  And made some more fun labels :).

Perfect for gift giving.  The vanilla sugars also make great gifts.  I like to use the plain in my hot tea and maybe I’ll sprinkle the cinnamon over my soaked oatmeal.  I think it would also be good on grapefruit.

What would you use the sugars for?  Leave a comment below (click on the balloony thing at the top) and I’ll enter your name into a drawing to win a 4 oz bottle of vanilla and one jar of each of the sugars.  I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, December 19th.

Can’t wait to hear your ideas!

This post was shared at Homemade Ginger’s Christmas Craft Link-Up, Simple Lives Thursday, Fat Tuesday, Tutorial Tuesday and Frugal Tuesday Tip.