The Frugal Gourmet: how to use, re-use, recycle and recondition your ktchen staples...

Venus007 · 01-01-2011, 06:15 PM

I make my own vanilla extract, it is very easy and you will make some of the finest vanilla you ever had. . . .

-Take a quantity of unflavored vodka (I use a 1/2 pint) you can do more or less
-3 vanilla beans split down the middle (again more or less as needed)

Put the vanilla beans in the 1/2 pint, put it in your pantry or some dark place and let it sit for about 2 months (shake it occasionally) until it turns a nice dark color and smells strongly of vanilla when you open and sniff.

You can add more vodka as you use it and you will virtually never be without vanilla again.

I keep an old regular vanilla bottle and fill it from the vanilla booze bottle for ease of handling.

Miss Scarlett · 01-01-2011, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venus007

I make my own vanilla extract, it is very easy and you will make some of the finest vanilla you ever had. . . .

-Take a quantity of unflavored vodka (I use a 1/2 pint) you can do more or less
-3 vanilla beans split down the middle (again more or less as needed)

Put the vanilla beans in the 1/2 pint, put it in your pantry or some dark place and let it sit for about 2 months (shake it occasionally) until it turns a nice dark color and smells strongly of vanilla when you open and sniff.

You can add more vodka as you use it and you will virtually never be without vanilla again.

I keep an old regular vanilla bottle and fill it from the vanilla booze bottle for ease of handling.

I started a bottle back in the 90s using a fifth of not too expensive 100 proof vodka and about 6 or split vanilla beans. It's amazing stuff.

Bit · 01-01-2011, 11:30 PM

Well, I procrastinated a while, but I finally got a turkey in the oven tonight. I made my own bread for the dressing--from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day recipe, SO easy--and broke it up a couple-three days ago, so it was good and dry. I sauteed the celery and spices with butter and then added broth from the last turkey (I had frozen the broth in peanut butter jars), to get the dressing moist enough. It smelled really good in the skillet; hope it tastes as good in the finished dressing! If it does, I'll just do that from now on.

iamkeri1 · 01-02-2011, 04:48 AM

I keep a plastic container (with lid) in my freezer. If I have any leftovers too small for a second meal, I throw them in the plastic container to make a future batch of "refrigerator soup." Into it goes corn, beans of any kind, spaghetti (with sauce) macaroni and cheese, meat scraps, mashed potatoes (IMO other kinds of potatoes get mealy when frozen) sloppy joe, etc. In short I add anything but processed meats like bologna or polish sausage - which seem to dominate every other taste. Then, usually when I have made a pot roast or baked chicken and have lots of good drippings, I use the pan I cooked it in to make soup. I also clean out the refrigerator and add to the soup pot everything that needs to get used up... half a tomato or onion, garlic cloves that are starting to dry up, cabbage, that last flower of broccolli or cauliflower, the zucchini I cooked last night. I cover everything with water and then add one 15-16 oz can of tomato sauce and seasonings (Bay leaf is a must for any soup I make) and cook for at least half an hour till everything is tender.

Delicioso!!!

Smooches,
Keri

Bit · 01-02-2011, 10:51 AM

I am soooo bummed to tell you that turkey and dressing without onions is just... flat.

Onions cause a kind of pernicious anemia in dogs, and I planned to use part of this turkey to make dog treats, so I left the onions out. Even using turkey broth in the dressing did no good... since, yanno, the turkey broth was also onion free.

Gryph sprinkled onion powder on his serving and says it made a big difference. Maybe I'll sautee some onions later and add them to the dressing, now that it's out of the bird.

Lady's still begging for turkey, even though she has GOT to be full at this point..... I guess keeping it onion-free is worth it.

Sorta.

Maybe.

01-01-2011, 06:15 PM	#1
Venus007 Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: Serene Highness ;} Relationship Status: Dreamily contemplating some outrage against conventional morality Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Houston area Posts: 1,362 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,417 Thanked 4,750 Times in 1,139 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	I make my own vanilla extract, it is very easy and you will make some of the finest vanilla you ever had. . . . -Take a quantity of unflavored vodka (I use a 1/2 pint) you can do more or less -3 vanilla beans split down the middle (again more or less as needed) Put the vanilla beans in the 1/2 pint, put it in your pantry or some dark place and let it sit for about 2 months (shake it occasionally) until it turns a nice dark color and smells strongly of vanilla when you open and sniff. You can add more vodka as you use it and you will virtually never be without vanilla again. I keep an old regular vanilla bottle and fill it from the vanilla booze bottle for ease of handling. __________________ . "I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. " Ayn Rand, Anthem "So you'll die happily for your sins. You'd rather die in guilt then live in love?" Timothy Leary

01-01-2011, 11:30 PM	#3
Bit Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Stonefemme Relationship Status: married to Gryph Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,177 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,126 Thanked 3,770 Times in 1,264 Posts Rep Power: 10778870	Well, I procrastinated a while, but I finally got a turkey in the oven tonight. I made my own bread for the dressing--from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day recipe, SO easy--and broke it up a couple-three days ago, so it was good and dry. I sauteed the celery and spices with butter and then added broth from the last turkey (I had frozen the broth in peanut butter jars), to get the dressing moist enough. It smelled really good in the skillet; hope it tastes as good in the finished dressing! If it does, I'll just do that from now on.

01-02-2011, 04:48 AM	#4
iamkeri1 Member How Do You Identify?: femme woman Preferred Pronoun?: she Relationship Status: solo Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Central Florida Posts: 905 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 302 Thanked 2,152 Times in 659 Posts Rep Power: 16642920	I keep a plastic container (with lid) in my freezer. If I have any leftovers too small for a second meal, I throw them in the plastic container to make a future batch of "refrigerator soup." Into it goes corn, beans of any kind, spaghetti (with sauce) macaroni and cheese, meat scraps, mashed potatoes (IMO other kinds of potatoes get mealy when frozen) sloppy joe, etc. In short I add anything but processed meats like bologna or polish sausage - which seem to dominate every other taste. Then, usually when I have made a pot roast or baked chicken and have lots of good drippings, I use the pan I cooked it in to make soup. I also clean out the refrigerator and add to the soup pot everything that needs to get used up... half a tomato or onion, garlic cloves that are starting to dry up, cabbage, that last flower of broccolli or cauliflower, the zucchini I cooked last night. I cover everything with water and then add one 15-16 oz can of tomato sauce and seasonings (Bay leaf is a must for any soup I make) and cook for at least half an hour till everything is tender. Delicioso!!! Smooches, Keri

01-02-2011, 10:51 AM	#5
Bit Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Stonefemme Relationship Status: married to Gryph Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,177 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,126 Thanked 3,770 Times in 1,264 Posts Rep Power: 10778870	I am soooo bummed to tell you that turkey and dressing without onions is just... flat. Onions cause a kind of pernicious anemia in dogs, and I planned to use part of this turkey to make dog treats, so I left the onions out. Even using turkey broth in the dressing did no good... since, yanno, the turkey broth was also onion free. Gryph sprinkled onion powder on his serving and says it made a big difference. Maybe I'll sautee some onions later and add them to the dressing, now that it's out of the bird. Lady's still begging for turkey, even though she has GOT to be full at this point..... I guess keeping it onion-free is worth it. Sorta. Maybe.