Homemade Vanilla

This winter I made a big batch of homemade vanilla. I didn't take any pictures of my vanilla-making-adventure, but this is the primary website I used for directions on making vanilla: http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-vanilla-extract/.

Vanilla is a pretty simple process. I took a $20 bottle of vodka and emptied it part way, reserving the vodka to pour back in later. I sliced my vanilla beans in half and pushed them into the bottle. Then I poured the reserved vodka back into the big bottle with the vanilla beans. I shoke it a lot, then placed the bottle in a dark, cool place. It needs to be shaken once every few days or so. After a month, the vanilla is ready for use.
I bought 1/2 lb of Madagascar vanilla beans from a store on eBay which had very good prices - http://stores.ebay.com/Vanilla-Products-USA.

I finally took pictures as I was filling up on of my vanilla bottles. The hardest part was pouring the heavy glass bottle in my left hand while taking pictures with my other hand!