Homemade Vanilla

Today I’m going to show you just how easy it is to make your own vanilla. Like sooo easy.

The hardest part is convincing yourself that walking into a liquor store is okay and that you aren’t going to go to hell because of it and that the chances of running into someone from church is probably not going to happen.  The second hardest thing was convincing the cashier that I was buying it to make vanilla. When I finally did get the nerve to walk into the liquor store I seriously announced my intent as soon as I walked in. “Hello, I need some vodka. I’m making vanilla.” But seriously, he so didn’t believe me and kept telling me all these mixed drinks I could make out of it. “I’m making vanilla people. VANILLA!”

But enough of my story. I got me some vodka and ordered some vanilla beans and made me some vanilla. Well I should say, making vanilla because it has to steep for a few months.

Here’s just how easy it is.

When you go to buy the vodka. Don’t get the cheap stuff, get a midrange vodka. I also like it in the glass bottle since it’s going to be steeping for a few months.

Also buy some good quality vanilla beans. This was a pack of about 30.

The next thing you do is empty a little over a 1/3 of a cup of vodka out of the bottle for displacement caused by the beans. Do what you want with it.

Next you’ll want to slice your vanilla beans in half so as to expose those luscious beans. I started just about an inch from the curly part at the top and sliced through the rest. Keep the top part attached.

Then you just plop your vanilla beans in the vodka. Give it a good shake and let it steep in a cool dark place for at least 4 months but up to 6 is best. If you think about it, giving it a good shake weekly would be great but if you forget it will turn out fine.

Now let’s do some math. First I’ll tell you how to figure out how many vanilla beans per cup of vodka you need.

1 liter = 4.23 cups

You need 4 beans per cup.

This bottle was 1.75 liters which is = to 7.25 cups.

That means I needed between 28 and 29 beans.

Now let’s do the cost.

To buy from the store, I bought a 2 oz. size bottle of Publix brand vanilla at $6.59.

If you multiply that by how many oz. are in this bottle of vodka it would cost you approximately $185.00 to buy this much vanilla.

Now I spent about $15.00 on the vodka and about $45.00 on the vanilla beans. So my cost to make this is $60.00. That’s like half the cost of buying it in the store.

And let me note that as I was researching vanilla beans today I have seen that the price has almost doubled since I bought mine which would make the beans about $80.00 and your cost about $95.00 total. Still a lot cheaper than buying it at the store. Plus they make great gifts. I buy those little 4 oz. brown bottles and fill them when it’s done. If I love ya and I mean really love ya, you might get a bottle from me.

So there you have it. You gonna give it a try? Have you already tried it? Let me know.

HUGS!

Kim

Because Life is Too Short Not to Use My Fiesta Ware!

I’m sure by the end of this post you are either going to completely relate to what I’m going through or you’re going to call someone in to intervene. I’m good with either. *smile*

Let me start off by saying, I know I have a problem. So admitting my problem is the first step in getting help right? Sure it is.

Can I back story for a sec? Thanks. You see back in our old house, back when ivy was really in, I decorated my kitchen in ivy and had ivy pot holders, an ivy tea kettle, containers and dishes. I LOVED the ivy dish set that my mom got me. It was huge and had everything from bowls to plates to cups to serving plates and serving bowls. I mean it was a nice set.

Somewhere in the middle of all that I fell in love with Fiesta Ware. My hubby blessed me with 4 sets that next Christmas and I quickly washed it and put it in my hutch. And then never ever used it. My excuse? Well there was 5 of us in the family so it just didn’t make sense for 4 of us to use it and then one of us not too. So years went by with it sitting in my hutch undisturbed.

We then moved off the beach and into our new home. My kitchen theme drastically changed from an ivy theme, to a coffee theme to my new retro, 50’s style theme. With that I figured I needed new plates. Red and white plates. Because red and white runs through my veins. So my wonderful hubby got me a set of Corelle red and white plates with the intention of me getting rid of my ivy plate set.

This is where it gets interesting. Are you still with me? I loved the bowls with my new set but not so much the plates. I liked the size of the the plates of the ivy set for every day and I like the bowls of the ivy set for salads but not so much for cereal or soup. So what do you think happened? Yeah, I ended up keeping both sets.

Let me show you exhibit A. See all those plates? That’s both sets of Corelle dishes. Yes we do have guests over quite a bit but on a daily basis there is only 4 of us now.

Time passed and my hubby started inquiring about the Fiesta sets he had purchased me and I told him that I really needed 4 more sets to make it practical to use. So what did he do 2 Christmas’ ago? Yup, you guessed it, he bought me 4 more sets. I didn’t even bother washing them this time I just put them in my hutch and walked away.  For another 2 years. *hangs head in shame*

That is until today. Today I washed and dried every piece of Fiesta ware I owned and made room in my cupboard for them. We even used them today. I love them. Here’s the proof.

  

But I’m still having trouble letting any of the other plate sets go. Did I mention that each set came with matching coffee cups, so I have a total of 24 coffee mugs that I don’t use because I like to use my “special” coffee mugs.

I also have a silverware problem. He didn’t buy me 4 more sets of silverware to go with the other 4 sets of dishes. But we won’t go there.

It’s alright to laugh at me. I laugh at myself all the time. I’ve got issues people. Deep rooted plate associated issues.

Help me out here. What’s a gal to do?

Starting Thanksgiving Prep!

Even though I’m already excited about Christmas I don’t high step over Thanksgiving like it isn’t there. I’m pretty sure my family wouldn’t allow it since I host it every year.

Something exciting happened the other day and those of you who follow me on my FB page probably already know that I won a copy of the Pioneer Woman’s newest cookbook A Year of Holidays from one of my favorite blogs, Reluctant Entertainer. To say I was excited is an understatement. I haven’t won anything in a long time and I was glad to break the streak with this wonderful book.

Winning this book got me to thinkin’. Why not do a Pioneer Woman’s Thanksgiving dinner this year? I quickly thought back, “Heck yeah!” Though there will still be the need to make a couple of traditional family dishes, I do plan on using the book to make the rest. I’m all about embracing new things. And puppies. I love embracing puppies. In reality, I’ll probably need to embrace a gym when it’s all said and done.

So in the next week or so I’ll have my official Thanksgiving menu up and ready to go. And because I know the Pioneer Woman has a lot of her recipes on her blog, I’ll link what I can to the appointed recipe. 

Do you host Thanksgiving or do you go somewhere?

Are you up for changing things around each year or do you stick to the same recipes each year?

Have a wonderful day my friends.

OXOX,

Kim

P.S. Don’t forget about the Sparkle Box Giveaway. It would also make a wonderful gift for someone.

*The links to Amazon are affiliate links and I receive a small percentage if you purchase through it.*

Taking Iced Coffee to the Next Level!

Iced coffee is nothing new these days. In fact I went through a time when I was a little too obsessed about it. But 3 or 5 sweetened condensed milk cans and 10-lbs later, I realized I should probably cut back a little, so I stopped drinking it completely because of the sugar thing. And the love handle thing.

But because it’s Summer and because I really really wanted me some iced coffee I had to give this homemade sweetened condensed milk recipe a try using my coconut sugar. That makes it a “little” bit better for you. You’ll notice the coloring is dark, that’s due to the coconut sugar.

But the cool thing is that it’s only 4 ingredients.

• 1 cup powdered milk ( I used Organic Valley Nonfat Dry Milk)
• 2/3 cup coconut sugar or regular sugar
• 3 TBS. melted butter
• 1/3 cup boiling water

Just put everything in your food processor or blender and blend until fully combined. That’s it.

It was SO super easy and just the right consistency if you are going to use it right away. However after it’s been in the fridge for awhile it thickens quite a bit and does not easily stir into your cold coffee. But I have a solution for that.

First make sure you cold brew some coffee. I used a 1/2 lb of good strong ground coffee and 4 quarts of cold water. Just mix it together in a bowl and let set over night or at least 8 hours. When ready use a mesh colander with cheese cloth laid in it and strain into your containers. This made a little more than a half gallon. Put in the fridge until cold.

Liquid Gold! YUM!

When ready put your desired amount of coffee in a blender. Now add your ultra thick homemade sweetened condensed milk (and half and half if you’re naughty like me) to the blender and turn it on high for about 30 seconds. Start with a teaspoon. Test for sweetness. If it’s not sweet enough add more SCM. If it’s too your liking you can do one of two things here. You can either put ice in your mug and pour your delicious concoction over your ice and drink it OR you can add the ice to your concoction and blend it for a more frappucino drink. I’ve done it both ways and like it both ways. I guess it’s just a preference thing.

Frothy Frappucino Goodness!

  or Creamy Smoothness!

The decision is all yours, but I really don’t think you can go wrong here.

Let me know if you try it.

Have a lovely day my friends.

OXOX,

Kim

 

And Then She Bought Some Vodka!

Yeah that’s right, I bought me some Vodka. Actually the story leading up to this is kind of amusing and I know you want to hear it, so I’ll go ahead and tell it. 

For YEARS, and I mean YEARS, I’ve wanted to make my own Vanilla Extract. I’ve heard people rave about how wonderful it is, but one thing stood between me and making it. Vodka! I just couldn’t bring myself to buy it. I would talk about it but I never did it.

Anyway, fast forward to today. I needed to go to BJ’s so I decided to put on my big girl panties and buy me some vodka while I was there. Cause they’ve got a liquor store there and stuff. Which made it convenient. The fact that it was miles from my house wasn’t to bad either. (Less chance of running into someone.)

Usually when I go to BJ’s my bestest goes with me. This trip was no different except I forgot to tell her of my intent. So as we were making our way across the parking lot I got all excited and announced to her (and probably anyone within ear shot) that I was finally going to buy vodka today.

She just laughed at my excitement because she’s the one that I’ve been talking about this with all these years. AND because she’s my bestest she had to go with me and “hold my hand” sort of speak. She’s good like that.

So I walk in, cool, calm and collected. Immediately the salesman asked if he could help us find anything and I blurted out, “I need some cheap vodka! I’m making vanilla extract!” (Cause he needed to know that). I made my selection and proceeded to check out. Meanwhile he proceeds to tell me all the drinks you can make with vodka. Yeah, ummm,I’m making vanilla extract remember? I’m not sure he believed me but none the less, I now have some vanilla extract brewing in my cabinet.

Here’s the proof! Not that you NEEDED proof but here it is just the same. *smile*

 

I’ll keep you posted on it’s development.

Have you ever made your own vanilla extract and if so how do you like it?

Have a lovely day my friends.

OXOX,

Kim

Easy Shredded Chicken!

Some of you may or may not have already seen this little time saver, so this is for the have nots.
If you’re like me, in the past you shredded your chicken using to forks and and pulling it apart slowly and dreadfully. Well hold onto your hats girls because shredded chicken just got easy. That is if you have a stand mixer.
First of all you want to cook your chicken thoroughly. Then while it’s still hot, cut it in half and put it in your stand mixer. Probably no more than 4 pieces (8 halves) at a time. You don’t want your chicken flying out of your bowl. Trust me on this one. Start out on slow and work your way up to medium high speed.
Watch the video to see just how quick and easy this is. It took all of 34 seconds.

Have you seen or tried this tip before?
Have a lovely day.
OXOX,
Kim

Kim’s Cafe is Now Open!

You don’t know this (because I can’t tell you everything) but I’ve been on a search for some new drinking cups for quite sometime. I’m pretty sure that these ones came over on the ark and they were starting to show their age. Not to mention they were made WAY before the concern about BPA  contamination and I’m sure they’ve taken at least a whole week off my life because of it. *wink*

This is just a few of the many that I had. I liked the fact that there were like 8 different colors as I could assign a color to each person. But they are now in the recycle bin. Let’s just say they had run their race and should have retired years ago.

Now the new cups had to meet a certain criteria. They had to still be plastic (because I have children), they had to be BPA free (because that stuff is bad for ya) they had to be a decent size but not to big (because who wants to carry around a HUGE glass just for a cup of water).

 

Believe it or not it’s been a tough thing to find and I almost settled for some mammoth 24oz tumblers from Sam’s for $20.00 for 8. That is until I walked past their restaurant section. There I found these.

I know that I’ve probably crossed the line to tacky but these actually have a lot of things going for them. #1- They were only $17.00 for 24 cups.  #2-They are BPA free and stain and odor resistant. #3- They are red and match my kitchen which already has a retro type feel so they should be great. Right? Right?

The only downfall is that they are ALL red. I’m going to have to come up with some way to identify each glass for my family. Got any ideas? So you want to come to Kim’s cafe and have an iced tea or lemonade? Do you think I’m completely off my rocker?

HAVE A LOVELY DAY!

Bacon + Fresh Green Beans= Happy Taste Buds!

I know that veggies are best for you and more nutritious when eaten raw. And I do eat them raw, a lot. BUT when you want your veggies cooked and you want to make them happy then look no further than bacon.

A little bacon makes my green beans happy!

Here’s what you do.

First get ya some of that good bacon without the nitrates and junk in it. I spend a little more money on the good kind because we really don’t eat a lot of bacon, but when we do I don’t want it to be full of junk.

Second, lay the whole thing of bacon out flat and cut off a 1/4 of it. Then cut it into bite size pieces in a skillet and cook until crispy.

Mmmmm…..bacon!

Next, take your cooked bacon and drain it on a paper towel until ready to use.

What your left with is what I like to call “liquid gold”. Just go a head and leave that in your pan.  If it’s any more than a TBS, I usually take a little out. Now at this point you can add a chopped onion and sauté’ it until done and THEN add the green beans, but I didn’t do that on this occasion and it was just fine. Trust me.

Don’t these green beans look good? Good but not happy.

Take those fresh green beans and throw them in the skillet with the bacon grease and a 1/3 cup of water and simmer covered for 20-25 minutes.

They should look just about like this when done. Go ahead and salt and pepper to taste. I even throw in a little garlic powder.

Now is the time to make those green beans happy. Take your cooked bacon and toss it in with your green beans and heat through.

Now THESE are happy green beans.

   

Enjoy!

You can either use the “print friendly” at the bottom of this post or click the link below.

Bacon Green Bean Recipe

Recipe/Cooking Blog/Merge Update

Thank you all who took the time to answer my question about my merging my cooking blog. I believe it was unanimous and I am slowly categorizing my recipes in the recipe index at the top of my blog.

What does this mean?

1. Better photos.  A lot of these recipes go way back and they either have a really bad photo or none at all. I’m going to slowly try to correct the old photos while trying to present better photos with the new recipes.

2. Printer Friendly Option. I’ve recently added a printer friendly button to my posts. It is located at the bottom of each post. It makes printing and saving recipes so much easier. The cool thing about that feature is that you can delete the commentary or even the picture if you would like, before you print it.

3. More gluten free options. We didn’t know a couple of members of our family were sensitive to gluten until a year ago, so a lot of my recipes are not gluten free, but I will be converting some and posting some new ones that will be.

4. If you are a follower of this blog you won’t ever miss a new recipe. I know some of you didn’t even know I had a cooking blog and said it would be easier if I just maintained it all in one spot, so that’s what I’m going to do.

So be patient with me as I make my way through my recipes. But go ahead and check out a few that I have already to go. You’ll find them under the Recipe Index tab at the top of my blog.

Have a WONDERFUL day and stay tuned for my yummy green bean recipe.

Honey-Apple Tea

I just got done having myself a glass of this super yummy iced tea and I knew I had to share the recipe with you. I’m good like that. (Don’t worry, I asked for permission.)

It is absolutely perfect for this sunny and breezy Spring day. I can also see serving this at BBQ’s this Summer.

I got the recipe off of the Gooseberry Patch calendar for this month. That’s what I love about their calendars. They are not only fun to look at but they offer up a great recipe each month.

 

 

 

 

This one is definitely a keeper. You’re gonna love it, trust me.

For the teabags I used a combination of green tea and green tea with mango. It was delicious. I also cut back on the honey just a smidge because I don’t like things to sweet and I knew the unsweetened apple juice was going to add its own bit of sweetness to it.

I think I found my Spring/Summer go to, cool down drink.

I hope you ENJOY!

Living “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” in Person!

All I could think about for the past 24 hours was how, what was happening, resembles this scene from the movie “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day”.

It all started EARLY Saturday morning and has lasted clear into Sunday. 24+ hours of wind and rain. Then our power went out this morning for a little bit. (But thank the Lord I had already had my coffee. LOL!) Usually they blow something like this out of proportion on the weather channel but I didn’t even hear about it. OY!

My point is, I’m ready for it to stop. Come back sunshine,  I miss you!

Here are some pictures from our backyard. Enjoy! LOL!

 

Here’s a little bit of our weather beaten garden. I really hope it makes it. You can’t even walk in it without sinking down at least 6 inches into muck. My hubby has worked so hard on it, I’d hate for it to be ruined.

Where you can’t “see” standing water, there is water there trust me. Everywhere I walked my feet went under water.

Oh well, it’s either feast or famine huh?

I’m done complaining, I guess. Hee! Hee!

Any one else get any of this?

Have a lovely day my friends!

Kitchen Cabinet Love!

Ever since we moved into our new home I haven’t really showed you any pictures of what we’ve accomplished so far. Which believe me has been a lot.

And actually you’re not going to get a full glimpse today. Only because I’m not completely done yet. BUT I did do a little something that I can show you that I thought came out cute.

Lately I’ve been having issues with the cabinet that I have my spices in. This particular cabinet has a big ol’ honkin’ door on it. A door that swings wide to the left and gets all in my face every time I reach for my spices. It’s irritating and I’ve had enough. Oh yeah, girlfriend is getting serious. HA!

With that said, I decided I would move my spices over to where my dishes are (on the left side of the stove) and put my dishes where the spices are. AND THEN I got the idea to just take those big ol’ honkin’ doors off completely and let my oh so impressive Corelle dishes make their grand appearance into the world.

I had already gotten started before I took pictures. But here are the doors in question with the spices already taken out of it and strewed all over the counter.

 

Here’s a peek inside but remember I had already started transferring dishes over so it’s not a complete “before” picture.

My spices used to take up the bottom two shelves on the left side. Just picture everything on the countertop above, shoved “neatly” into the cabinet. Got it? Okay, let’s move on.

 

This is the cabinet I took the dishes out of that will now house my spices. Are you with me so far?

 

Now my spices fit neatly into this cabinet and I don’t have such a big door in the way when I access them. Yes, I left the doors on this cabinet because, well, this just ain’t pretty to look at.

 

Now here is the after of the other cabinets.  I think it look so cute.

 

 

I came up with the idea of putting some of my favorite cookbooks in the cabinet all on my own. In fact I was on the phone with my BFF Kathy when I thought of it, so she can vouch for me. I was so excited and I think it’s not only practical but looks cute too!

 

 

So once again. The before and after, side by side.

Eventually I’ll do a whole kitchen reveal. I just have a few more things to do to call it “done”.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

Now Serving Wild Grape Jelly, Part 2

Let’s see, we left off yesterday with that glorious purple concoction.

The next thing we needed to do is add the magic ingredients. One box of Sure*Jell and the sugar.

 

 

You bring that to a boil.

Doesn’t that just look gorgeous?

Remember, I’m using Sandy’s method I talked about yesterday.

 

 

Voila! Super yummy Wild Fox Grape Jelly!

 

Here is the link to the recipe! I hope you give it a try and enjoy!

Wild Grape Jelly!

Have a FABULOUS day my friends!