Ode to a Vanilla Bean

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." J.R.R Tolkien

I often do things on a whim.  Note: This would be a great name for a bicycle.  Marketing tag line - "I did it on a Whim!"  Oops.  Too much coffee this morning.

At any rate, I was recently shopping at one of my favorite grocery stores when I happened to notice that they had real live vanilla beans for sale.  There just seems to be something romantic about making things as difficult as possible while preparing food so I decided to purchase a vanilla bean or two in order to make my almond milk, which is a blessing for those of us with lactose intolerance.

Vanilla Beans & Vanilla Seeds

At any rate, if you look back at my blog entry for September 8 you'll see an actual recipe for almond milk where I give the option of using a vanilla bean or a splash of vanilla extract.  I take all of that back.  I happen to have a bottle of pure vanilla extract, which one would conclude is purely the extract of the vanilla bean,  Think again, Sparky.  The list of ingredients includes vanilla bean extractives in water, alcohol (35%) and corn syrup.  First of all, with that alcohol content it should be illegal to sell vanilla extract to minors. 

Almond Milk & Vanilla Bean

Second, after enjoying one batch of almond milk made with vanilla extract and then making a batch using a real vanilla bean there is simply no comparison.  OK, I can compare.  The vanilla extract batch had a chemical taste.  Perhaps it was the alcohol.  While the almond milk made with a vanilla bean had a rich vanilla/almond flavor instead of a chemical tinge to it.  And it is so simple to use a vanilla bean.  You simply slit it down its length and scrape out the vanilla beans that are so numerous that they're more like a paste.

One last note.  For my latest batch of almond milk I did not soak the almonds overnight and the flavor was not as intense.  Or maybe I'm simply losing my sense of taste after chugging a bottle of vanilla extract.  All in the name of science!

Loveya
The Mom