Homemade Vanilla Extract

I was greatly inspired by Alycia's friend and awesome blogegr Sara who made her own Homemade Vanilla Extract, and since it seemed so simple, I thought I'd give it a shot as well.  There are really only two ingredients, vodka (a 1.75 liter bottle) and whole vanilla beans (about a quarter pound), easy.  So easy that even I probably couldn't goof it up.

This is about what Alycia and I consume in a week, so we just had these two jugs sitting around.  Just kidding.  The vodka was readily available at the local liquor barn type establishment, but I had to order the vanilla beans online. 

I took a pair of clean kitchen shears and sliced the vanilla pods down their length to about an inch of the end.  The vanilla pods had the consistency of a raisin and the whole process only took about 15 minutes.

The vanilla pods were evenly divided up into each 1.75 liter jug of vodka, with about a quarter pound in each jug.  After only an hour the vanilla had already started to turn the vodka color and begin the extract process.  I'll put the bottles into the downstairs root cellar where it's cool and dark.  The vanilla will be ready to use in about a month, but will be best after it's had about 6 months to percolate.