Homemade Vanilla Extract

After 2 days of aging

A couple of years ago, our daughter, Mary, gave us some wonderful homemade vanilla extract. As luck would have it, I dropped the bottle and broke the cap. I never did find a replacement cap, or bottle, so all of the contents evaporated while sitting in a kitchen cabinet.

Needing to replace it, I went to our favorite local grocery store Coopeatenas and found they only carry artificial vanilla flavoring. Not one to settle for less than the best, I started searching the internet for different recipes and finally cobbled this one together.

I just happened to have plenty of vanilla beans stored in a vacuum sealed bag that I had shipped in our sea container when we moved to Costa Rica last year.

Ingredients:
8 whole vanilla beans
1¾ cups of cheap vodka
¾ cup of cheap dark rum

Directions:
Slice vanilla beans in half and then lengthwise. Using a funnel, or a very steady hand, pour the alcohol into a clean, empty bottle. Add the vanilla beans to the bottle and store it in a dark place for a couple of weeks. Once a day, shake the bottle to help speed up the extraction process.

As you use the vanilla in your favorite recipes, you can top off the bottle now and then with some additional vodka and dark rum in a 2:1 ratio. The beans will eventually break down and dissolve, so add more vanilla beans when necessary.

Note to self:  Buy small bottles and more vanilla beans.  May need to make lots more of this for future gift-giving.

Miscellaneous

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Bekah's Zucchini Bread

Our granddaughter Rebekah, raised her own money to go to summer camp this year by selling baked goods. Here is her delicious recipe for Zucchini bread

Ingredients:
2 cups Zucchini, peeled and grated
3 eggs beaten until foamy
2 cups sugar (or 1 cup Splenda & 1 cup sugar)
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
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3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Direction:
Mix the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl, then add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Pour into 2 greased and floured bread pans. Bake for 1 hour at 325°.

Snacks

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Tres Leches #2

There are many variations of this favorite cake recipe!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
9 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
9 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well after each addition. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until whites form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter using a rubber spatula. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

In a small bowl, stir together the 2 cups heavy cream, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. Pour the mixture over the cake until it wont absorb any more. You may have 1/3 to 1/4 left over. That's okay.

Combine the whipped cream and sugar, spread over soaked cake. Refrigerate cake until serving, Pour leftover milk mixture onto plates and swirl in jam if desired, before setting cake on the plates.

Dessert

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Brida Johnson's White Cake

"My neighbors, Madge & Bob, gave me this recipe. His mother used to make it every year for his birthday. The original recipe was probably written sometime in the 1930's. It originally called for a 1/2 shell of cold water to add to the egg whites. I had to follow up on this and it turned out to mean a 1/2 an egg shell filled with water! So I cracked and egg and came up with 2 tablespoons!"

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter (part shortening)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups cold water
1/2 cup coconut, shredded
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons cold water
4 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:
Preheat over to 350. Cream butter and sugar, add salt, vanilla and almond extract, then alternately add 3 cups of flour and the 1-1/4 cups of water, then the coconut. Beat egg whites and the tablespoon of water until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the batter and add the baking powder last. Yes, that's right, the baking powder is added last. That's the secret!

Bake at 350 for 35 or 40 minutes.

Dessert

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Tres Leches

Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 1 hours
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour, sifted
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk, 2% lowfat
11 ozs condensed milk, sweetened, canned
11 ozs evaporated milk, canned

Directions:
Preheat oven 350. Prepare & bake cake: Sift flour, baking powder, salt & set aside. Mix sugar & butter until fluffy, blend in eggs, 1 cup of milk & vanilla, then add flour mixture. Pour into 9" square pan & bake 40-45 min. When cake is cook, mix remaining 3 milks & pour over cake. Refrigerate 1 hour. Serve with fresh fruit & Cool Whip.

Dessert

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