How to Make Vanilla Extract

Pure Vanilla Extract!


Okay so this stuff is super expensive and I'm trying to raise some children in America. So why not make my own!

Actually this batch I'm testing on friends and family (but don't tell them).  I am making Christmas gifts out of the extract I produce this time around. JUST in time for Christmas present planning.. You'll need 6 weeks minimum to make this delicious stuff... here is how;

First you'll need to invest in some vanilla beans.  I purchased mine from ebay, and to tell you truth I'm not sure where else you would purchase these without breaking the bank!
There are different Grades for beans and also different types of beans.
I got grade B

Vanilla Bean Grades

When a bean has completed its curing the bean goes through a grading process. The Bean is separated from others according to length, color, plumpness, appearance, shape, and moisture content. The more the quality a little bean holds, the more it is in demand and hence the higher market value.

Most all varieties of Beans have this grading;
A
Whole, uniform, fine, fatty, oily pods. Deep, dark, chocolate brown in color. No defects or blemishes. Great aroma, flexible with good moisture content, about 8 inches in length. The finest of all grades.
B
Similar in quality and characteristics to Prime grade beans, but slightly less plump.



Then there are grades below those... buut... nothing you want to mess with when it comes to a pure extract, you simple wont obtain the quality in flavor, you mineswell go buy vanilla flavor instead of pure vanilla.


Now, I went through this company on ebay

Now I actually purchased Tahitian Vanilla Beans (a whole pound) and I went for the cheaper Grade B. If I had another chance (perhaps next year) I WILL be purchasing Premium Madagascar Bourbon Grade for a little extra money. That being said what I purchased was not bad, but there were a lot of very thin dry beans which don't make for a GREAT Vanilla Lemonade .. YUM

Now believe it or not Vanilla Extract is alcohol... again when I have the luxury next time I will be ordering premium FAT little beans and to make things a little more interesting I will be using some top notch vodka to make mamma (that's me) my very own stash! That wouldn't be so bad in some cocktails!

POUR-SLICE-SCRAPE-SHAKE-WAIT
Let's begin

No exact measuring here guys and gals... pour and plop method

You will need:
1 large Mason Jar
3-5 cups of Vodka (nothing fancy-I went for the cheapest I could find)
7-10 Vanilla Beans (Best you can find for your money)
knife
Music

*Fill that jar with vodka 3/4 full (just until you get all the vanilla in, then you'll fill the rest of the way)
*Slice the vanilla beans in half.
*Scrape the vanilla beans of their gold (like below)

I used the back of my knife so I wouldn't take too much of the pod with the beans!

DUMP- all the pods and the beans into your jar and fill the remainder of the room left with Vodka. The longer you keep these beans in there the better this extract will be.

You will need to keep this in a dark and cool area, if you have dark colored glass jars EVEN better! Sunlight damages important chemicals made for those flavor notes that hit your tongue.. so keep these puppies locked down BUT don't forget about them either. I set myself a reminder to agitate or shake it a little every week! 

Give it a minimum of 6 weeks... Mine is almost there. I did this around 5 weeks ago, and it is super dark in color and looks amazing!  Everyone who gets some will be thrilled. I will post an update soon.

Let me know if you will be trying to make your own homemade vanilla! 

XOXO

Taxi Cab Sugar Cookies

Hey all...


Wanted to share a really cute order I received a week ago. Originally this client ordered Ice Hockey Ice skate cookies for her little guy's 4th Birthday a while back and she returned wanting a couple dozen Taxi Cab Cookies. I was up for the challenge. I hade a nice domed car shape and asked her if I could sketch something up before agreeing to the order so I had confidence it in first...She was excited!

Now I tend to make the ketch super embelished but when it comes to the cookie, sometimes less is MORE, and in this case less was more because they turned out super cute ... but I chose to leave behind the hub caps, black outlines and the front and rear lights.
The entire process for the icing can be tricky, its ALL about the order of colors and sections of the cookie in ANY case. In this design I piped my yellow outline around the entire body or frame if you will without flooding the inside. I then chose to plop on my tires, and they were soo cute without the hub caps... I should have snapped a picture with... it was a huge difference to me.  This design was a bit more cartoon'ish but I think they staff will love these!
Here is the outline... and shiny black CHUBBY tires... (I think they're cute!)

...okay wait... so... FUNNY story, the picture above is all heaven glow like because I had cling wrap around my phone...hehehe.  One of the many ways I keep contamination out of the Bakery! So here is a more clear shot :)

That's better!!
After I was done with the last tire I was able to start at the first cookie because the order was SO large there was TIME to sit and dry between each step...
The next step I took was to create the chrome bumpers and the windows. I tried to use a silver luster dust on the chrome pieces but just couldnt get the results I was looking for. I need a better silver and a darker gray for those bottoms. After making my windows and bumpers I proceeded to flood with yellow in the obvious spots :)

Then the "checkered" look for the center... you know the black and white stripe..  I struggled to create this look without making it look terrible and sloppy..  but finally chose to use a a flat tip and a brand new paint brush! So with a thick white royal icing I used a flat tip and quickly piped across the  taxi (once the yellow was dry) after the white was dry I used a thinned out black and painted squares across the white stripe.

This picture shown is a dried and shrink wrapped cookie. The client whom purchased asked me to put a tag of some sort that read "Thank You For Fueling Our School" .. super cute! LOVE this idea for Teacher Appreciation Day!  This would even be super cute on a school bus!!!!!!  I made extra Taxi Cabs to bring to the office staff at our school! The few times my little guy has been in there they have taken care of him! So not to leave them out of Teacher Appreciation, I think they will get a kick out of them!
Here is the tag;

I was thinking of starting some YouTube lovin... just another one of my ADD moments I suppose... :)

Anyhow, please appreciate the people who spend tons of time with our little ones...even they need motivation!

THANK YOU TEACHERS AND SCHOOL STAFF!!

FAVOR BOXES WITH A SOCCER FLAIR

Thought I would share that there are people out there reading this!!   hehe, we have 11 worshipers... I mean "followers" .. wait is this a cult? NO way!  I won't make you drink any special koolaide, and I wont ask you to live with me and my "other followers" :)
I only ask you read these posts from time to time in hopes you like my ideas and share your own experiences or become inspired by the things I snap pictures of and talk about.
It has been a busy month of February and I am sort of glad it is over with. I want to share with you the favor boxes I made for my son's 7th Birthday extravaganza at Chuck E. Cheeses (James just HAD to have his party there, and I think if you can afford it, every kid should have it there once in their lifetime).
Now I say extravaganza because it sure hurt the wallet like one!  But only the best for my little guys!
So soccer was the theme at this party so I decided to fall back on the good 'ol kraft boxes I purchased from U-line, or was it Nashville wraps?  I can't remember but I will update on here when I do!
This is what I made.

Can I just tell you the parents were very excited about these... I think they wanted their own too :)  The cookies were my first attempt at "soccer balls" so I think I need a bit more practice AND more time to try these guys out, but for last minute and just a platter cookie, I think they turned out pretty nice.
What I think was very clever about these boxes is that I put a pink ribbon on top of the boxes that had girly colored goodies inside! That way I wouldn't have to look inside each one once the kids were leaving to make sure there weren't disappointing boys because they got pink punch balls or parachute ninjas!
NOW- these don't have to be Soccer, they can be all pink, they can be princess themed, football themed ANYTHING you and your little one set your minds to! Contact me if you want your own labels designed. Anyhow... 
Here is the ingredient list

4x5x6 recycled kraft boxes  (from ULINE ...i think)
20 yards of soccer ribbon (I may need more for a future project)
a hole punch (regular sized)
I used the Sentimentals cartridge for my cricut expression for my scallops in black (cut at 2 inches)
I also created a sheet of "thank you" circles with soccer ball borders  (EMAIL me if you want a copy)
I used the "center point" on my cricut to cut out the images
what I think would work BETTER is a 2 inch circle punch!! HELLO, why didnt I think about that sooner... well its pretty expensive, so I went with the obvious choice until I can add that to my collection!
Black curling ribbon I got at my local party store Boswell's this place is local for me, so I don't have to pay shipping. So my advice is to just get a nice large spool of it (you pay soo much for a tiny spool why not get a big one since you'll need it soon enough)
My trusty ATG gun WHICH I LOVE!
..and finally a patient hand!

So I punched a hole with a standard punch in the opposite sides of the boxes (for the side ribbon/handle)

So this picture above shows the two front holes, this is for the tag, for the HANDLES you need to punch a hole on the left side (towards the back of the box) and then on the right side you need to punch a hole on the front side (the same end as the tags/front). This will allow for a spill free, kid wobbling running around party experience.

The soccer ribbon is thick enough that when you tie a knot on the inside of the box it will not come out of that hole you punched unless you pulled so hard you ripped the box...
Now we take a look at the tag portion on the front side of the box. I punched 2 holes side by side about a 1/4 inch from each other and off set it to the side off the center of the box, it just looked better that way!
Then I took 2 cuts of 12 inches of that black curling ribbon and threaded them both through the inside of the box to the outside. Then I slipped all 4 sides of the ribbon through the tag which I also punched a hole into after using my ATG tape gun to adhere the tags together.

I took both sides of the ribbon and tied one knot onto the tag, then I took one ribbon from each side (leaving 2 pieces of the ribbon dangle) and tied a bow. THERE, the tag is snug, and it looks darling!

I loved making these knowing that kids will enjoy them for a long time. Who doesnt want a cool box to tote things around of theirs! My son still has his and he carries all kinds of random things in it when he wants to tote them along somewhere.
Please email me for a FREE copy of the soccer Thank You labels to print out on your own computer. I just ask you become a cult member... I mean... follower and I will gladly HOOK YOU UP, as my son would say.
ALSO, for the pink ribbon (the girly boxes) I just punched 2 holes into the top/lid and threaded a hot pink ribbon through and tied a knot, just to poke out.

A QUICK LIST OF GOODIES I PUT INTO OUR FAVOR BOXES

slinging frogs (party store)
primary colored party bubbles (Walmart)
punch balls (party store)
globe key ring (james insisted!/party store)
ninjas on parachutes (party store)
NOT PICTURED- CAKE POPS!!!! from ArtsyAlcie (James' aunt!) 
and those lick ball thingies that you catch back into the net things (real technical i know..)
..OH and don't forget the infamous silly bands (we put in star wars themed from walmart)

some more pics

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ARTSYALCIE WHO MADE THE CAKE POPS THAT WENT INSIDE THESE BOXES AND SOME ADDED EXTRA FOR THE TABLE FOR THE PARENTS TO ENJOY!!

HAPPY CRAFTING EVERYONE!!!
   please leave a comment, I want to know what themed parties you are throwing in your near future!!!

Rainbow Cupcakes - Happy Birthday James!

Tomorrow my darling young son is turning 7!
Where has the time gone?? Why not celebrate with this...

I'll show you how, it's super simple!

Last year for his birthday in Kindergarten we made some yummy cupcakes that he just had to give to his friends this year again!  I think they may have made him a bit more cool at the time and who doesn't want their kids to be cool!?
I think I found this idea about a year or two ago in a magazine and since then I will catch a glimpse here and there online. 
So I thought I would share my process with you all just in case you want to make some for St Patties Day, a birthday or just because. Now- WARNING... these aren't Sprinkles Cupcakes, they aren't "to die for" they are just very cool, and fun... I wouldn't make these ever to show off at a meeting unless it was for a cub scouts meeting...just saying that they are more cute than they are tasty :) NOT saying they aren't moist sugary cupcakes, cause they are... but once you dowse food coloring into all that cake mix, it tastes well, like food colored cake mix! I have nothing against cake mix, there have been some amazing things conjured from it (i.e. ArtsyAlcie YUM!!!!) and the occasional german chocolate mix and frosting... WAIT I'm veering from the point...My point is these are GREAT kids please'rs, kids will be talking about them for months!!!!

So I started with these

1 box betty crocker white cake mix (white only because we are trying for some solid colors)
1 tub of cream cheese frosting (get the kind you like)
green "sprinkles" from wilton
1/3 cup applesauce (YES, applesauce!)
3 egg whites
1 1/4 cup water
7 cups
7 small spoons
large mixing bowl
wooden spoon or whisk
Gel food coloring (you can use what you have on hand)
****
red
blue
green
yellow
pink (not necessary for the full rainbow affect)

...and NO OIL!
"BUT why no oil Jessica"? Because we used applesauce sillies!   HELLO, this cuts down on fat MUCHO. It calls for 1/3 cup oil, but we substitute with applesauce for that moisture leaving an oil free cake, MAMMA likes and has been doing it for years!!!  You can use that in most of your baking recipes!!!!
I wouldn't leave the oil out of a chewy brownie recipe though, some things you just can't mess with :)

SO, get that cake mix in the bowl, seperate those eggs, measure out that water and applesauce.

Good, now we are ready to mix WAIT--- Turn that oven onto 325...
..then just dump all the liquid ingredients into the dry mix. There is no science to mixes, they are made to be fool proof, although when it gets into the oven it's all up to the baking gods and your timer!

Don't mix TOO much only because we are going to be mixing colors into the batter soon and we dont want this batter to be beaten or mixed to death!
Once your batter is smooth and incorporated you want to pour about 1 cup into each of those 7 glasses.
I use gel coloring only because I have a big stock of it for my cookie business. But you can use what you have on hand. I love gel because it gives you a bright color without having to use half the bottle or more than a tablespoon and doesn't add further liquids! But these portions are small so you dont really need too much to brighten the batter up.

So start your coloring; red, blue, yellow and green are their own colors, but for purple you need to mix 1 drop blue to 1 drop red (you may need to add 1 more of each but play around with it one drop at a time). Orange you need 2 drops yellow, 1 drop red. Mix those in until they are a solid color.

I used white cupcake liners and I used 2 liners for each cup to prevent browning (browning takes away from the beautiful colors we are working so hard to achieve). The alternative to using 2 liners is to get those foil liners, those would be perfect but since I only have white in stock, thats just what I did and it worked wonderfuly!
After all your colors are mixed and you have lined your cupcake pan you want to start with purple.
PURPLE: take your purple and put about a spoonful in each cup, and make sure the bottom is completly covered (this can get tricky), I used a butter knife and swirled it into the bottom of the liners and you can try shaking the pan a little in a swirly motion.
BLUE: same process about a spoonful or two, on the next layers you will need to sort of lay the batter on top of the last layer so it doesnt just plop into the bottom of the purple layer. Be gentile.
GREEN: be gentile
YELLOW,
ORANGE,
PINK,
RED.
Keep in mind you wont be able to get a perfect layer of each, so dont spend too much time on trying to spread each layer, give a little shake (to your pan, not your backside) and move forward to the next color.


I set my oven to 325 degrees. I don't have a fancy convection or anything, just a standard 60's model GAS of all things, but Petunia has been good to me (yes, I have named my oven).

Put those cupcakes into the oven when it comes to temp and I left mine in there for about 14 minutes but I would check after 10 just to make sure everything is copacetic..probe one with a toothpick, and the toothpick should come out with a crumb or two.

how cute are those!?
Here is a picture of the side of the paper, you can see through them...it's a rainbow!!

the kids are going to LOVE these!!!
When they were cooled I just spread a thin layer of my cream cheese frosting to avoid sugar blow ups on the playground (I think Mrs. Bauer will appreciate that!), then just sprinkled the green "sparkles" thats just the color I happened to have.

..and I love how the cakes stain the white papers:)

So with the time saving luxary of a box mix, why not spend that extra 30 minutes to make a special treat for yourself or children so they will never forget their Birthdays and get those brownie points with their classmates!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!  MOMMY LOVES YOU!!!!

XOXO

..questions or comments please post below!!