Vodka + Pregnancy

Feeling sorry for yourself that you can’t partake in an alcoholic cocktail because you’re knocked up?

Want to do something with the vodka in your pantry that is taunting you?

You’re in luck!

DIY Vanilla Extract

The following is a short tutorial on how to make your DIY vanilla extract.

It’s a short tutorial because it’s just that easy.

It’s easy! It’s fast! And it’s a whole lot cheaper than buying it in the store.

Step 1:  Assemble your ingredients: vodka, vanilla beans, a knife, and a glass container to hold the finished product.

Step 2:  Slice your vanilla beans in half, length wise.

Step 3:  Put cut vanilla beans in glass container.

Step 4:Pour vodka in the glass container all the way to the top.

That’s it!

I hear conflicting reports on how long you need to let it sit until it’s done – 6 weeks, 1 month, 6 months… So you’ll just have to wing it and see how it goes. I used a 16 ounce bottle for 3 vanilla beans. I think most people use more vanilla beans for that large of a container, but that’s all I had. Maybe I’ll have to let mine sit for 6 months?

The coolest thing about this vanilla extract is you can keep topping off the bottle with more vodka after you use it. Basically, this will last forever!

Have fun!

DIY Vanilla Extract UPDATE

UPDATE:  Since this post went live, I have made a lot more DIY vanilla extract. For the Christmas before my second daughter was born, I made a large lot of DIY vanilla extract for presents. Homemade vanilla is such a great gift! Everybody loved it. Here are a few tips I learned since then.

1. Buy vanilla beans on Amazon. You can get WAY MORE for your money than at a local health food store. Sure, you’ll probably end up with more vanilla beans than you actually need. But if you can get a group of friends to make DIY vanilla extract with you, this actually will make a lot of sense.
2. In the tutorial above I used an empty GT Kombucha bottle. I actually now prefer and recommend using smaller glass bottles. It wasn’t easy to pour the vanilla out of the large bottles.
3. It takes a minimum of a month for the vanilla to be ready. The longer the better though.