When I first came overseas four years ago, I was surprised at the number of things that were readily available here in Northern Europe. Our first visit to the market was quite interesting.

We could read NOTHING.

We did not speak the Estonian language, and we had taken about eight weeks of Russian in anticipation of getting to Latvia the next year. That was not going to help us here in Tallinn.

I may have told the story of The Sweetheart trying to talk to an older lady behind the meat counter when he was attempting to decipher what was staring back at him. Was it beef? She just stares. So he did what we all do when we are talking to someone who doesn’t speak our language: we say it s-l-o-w-e-r and LOUDER! BEEF?!!

She stares…and raises an eyebrow.

Finally, and forever forgive me for not having a camera or the FLIP going, he puts two fingers up on top of his head, leans over a bit and says, “MOOOOO!”

“AAAHHH! MOOOOO!” She was excited then, she understood.

We all have a love language. (smile)

Yesterday we made a trip to Stockmann’s,  a very nice department/grocery store. In the States we would compare it to Macy’s with a Kroger in the basement. I know, hard to imagine, but it is nice.

They are known for having American items from time to time. Today we found this!

 And this…

Just in case you cannot convert from Euro’s to U.S. dollars, that would make the Aunt Jemima $11.50 and the A1 a whopping $18! No, we did not buy either one.

But as I mentioned in the last post, there are some things you must make yourself if you feel you just cannot live without them.

One of those for me was pure vanilla extract. Or any liquid vanilla extract would have sufficed. The cheap stuff would have been just as good when you cannot find any!

They did have vanilla sugar in Estonia and Latvia but I couldn’t find extract. So, my good missionary friend, Robin Shutes, says that is no problem, “We make our own!”

Back then I had not heard how incredibly easy it was to make your own vanilla…nor had I heard how incredibly delicious it was! Pure vanilla extract is so expensive in the States, so many opt for the store brand of vanilla flavoring. It is NOT the same.

Robin takes me to a neat cash and carry store in Riga, Latvia where we find our vanilla beans. They come in individual cylinder tubes here in Tallinn also and run about $1.40 each right now.

The beans here are smaller and sometimes not the best quality, but when you order them from the States they are usually very good quality.

Now for the rest of the ingredients; let’s fill up our cart!

Yes, that’s it! Vodka! Some use bourbon but vodka is pretty cheap over here so that is what I went with every time. (And yes, ALL pure vanilla extract is made with vanilla beans and alcohol. McCormick’s, for instance also adds corn syrup, but it is NOT necessary. You will have plenty of sugar in your baking! Again, you are NOT drinking the stuff, heaven forbid, just adding 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in a recipe.)

Now, let’s get busy!

Take your vanilla bean, slit it down the middle, that splits the bean open a bit so the vodka can get inside. Don’t cut them in two lengthwise but you may cut them in half to shorten them. Here, I already had the scissors handy for cutting them in half so you can start with a slit with the scissors then just split them the rest of the way up. You can also use a cutting board and a knife just as easy.

If you are making one large bottle, like I am here, just put about five or six split vanilla beans in the bottle. Make sure your bottles are clean and dry.

Now, just pour your bottle of vodka over the beans until it reaches almost to the top. You can fill it all the way if you want, I ran out of vodka!

Now, for the hard part; the waiting.

It is best to let it steep for about eight weeks. I have used it at four weeks before and it was still good but the longer you leave it, the better.

What is so great about vanilla extract is that you can just keep adding vodka to this set of beans for the longest time! Depending on how fast you use vanilla, just keep filling it up. In a year or so you could replace the beans if you want or start over. It really will not hurt anything no matter how long you leave them. You can store it in the cabinet just like store-bought vanilla. It will keep forever!

Every year, when the holidays roll around, I say to The Sweetheart, “I’m going to make my sister and SIL’s their own vanilla this year!” “Sure you are…” is his reply. I never get it accomplished. I always forget to order my beans and before I know it, it’s too late.

But this is one of the best, and easiest, homemade gifts you can give! It doesn’t have to be made eight weeks in advance; if you do, they will really love you because they can use it right away. But if not, they still have a treasure awaiting them when it is finished.

You can buy the cutest jars from Amazon, like these 4 oz. dark bottles, 24 for $33.49. Here are some Amber 4 oz , twelve for $16.80. Not bad once you add a cute label and a ribbon! Or, if you want fancier  and bigger ones, these are adorable 8 oz. jars, also at Amazon.  You can also do a Google search for little glass jars and jump back! There are plenty.

For the beans, these Madagascar beans from Planifolia can’t be beat. You get 25, 6-7″ beans for $19.99!

If you do make up some for gifts, just halve your beans, split them, and you will only need about one bean, split and cut in two, per two ounces of vodka. It’s still a great buy!

Another great trick I worked up this week I had read about many times but never tried it myself. I always just ran across the street and borrowed from family. This time that was not an option as I could not show up on my Estonian neighbor’s doorstep and ask to borrow a cup of brown sugar. I knew suhkar but was pretty sure I would scare her to death. So! I made my own!

They do have brown sugar here in Estonia, we were just out of it. All you need is regular white sugar, or organic white cane sugar to begin with and one other ingredient.

Molasses! Don’t you just love two ingredient miracles?!

For each cup of white sugar add about three full tablespoons of molasses. With a fork, I mixed it up until it was coarse.

This is what it will look like when you begin to incorporate the molasses with the sugar…don’t despair!! It will eventually look like store-bought brown sugar. (This is a terrible picture of the inside of the bowl, but work with me.) I also tried using a regular hand mixer and that works just as well. You don’t want it to turn to dust; it will just look like, well, like brown sugar. But kind of like coarse sand, depending on the type of sugar. In this part of the world the sugar is much grainier than what I am used to. It is still the same taste; just a different texture.

If you want dark brown sugar, just increase the ratio of molasses, about four tablespoons to each cup of white sugar.

Store as you normally would and you are finished!

In a few weeks you can be baking up a storm. Be sure and save a few vanilla beans to make homemade ice cream. It’s summer!

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