Just like anything of value, time and effort are always part of the equation, but let's be honest, NOT THIS MUCH TIME! Years later I'm finally posting the second half of the Vanilla Extract procedures, and it should really take only 4-6 weeks. I'll blame moving back and forth across the country three times and having a baby as my excuse. I finally noticed that the post was missing when I started building my
new facebook page.
This post covers how to package your vanilla extract for gift making. This is obviously not a requirement, but a useful to reward for your patience and hard work. You can bottle your extract with or without the beans, but it's a nice sign that it's home made and special, plus it will continue to steep more flavor.
Here is
part one if you missed it. To see the materials I used, see my
Amazon Store.
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| Only one day after steeping! Already quite a bit of color |
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| One month later! Another two weeks would have been ideal, a month is good enough |
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| Pour out the liquid gold, and shake out the beans |
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| To fill the jars without too much mess I used a metal piping tip (not pictured) |
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| I cut the beans in half so they'd fit into the jars |
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| Clearly you don't need a fancy label, but it's a pretty nice gift, so show it some respect. |
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| Ready to go! |
I packed quite a number of these into some checked luggage to take home with me, and I just closed the bottles very tightly, enrobed in some bubble wrap, and placed into two layers of zip top bags.
This is an awesome gift for the upcoming holidays, so don't be like me, and get started with enough time to make it. Mark your calendars now and find supplies
here.
