Time for this week’s Thursday Things:
1. Vanilla Bean Sampler – 3 beans each from 9 countries = 27 beans for $44.95
-
- Madagascan
- Mexican
- Ugandan
- Indonesian
- Tongan
- Indian
- Bourbon (Papua New Guinea)
- Tahitian (Papua New Guinea)
- Tahitian (Tahiti)
High quality beans for less than $2 bucks each? Score.
I love vanilla in anything. From body spray to candles to….
2.
…Cookies!
Puffy Vanilla Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
3. These lamps from Pottery Barn – love the eggplant base and the rustic burlap shades
4. I heated some milk for a recipe I was working on, forgot about it, and a skin formed. Milk skin. Lovely.
But it going me thinking and I researched what milk skin actually is.
When milk is heated, the water the starts to evaporate and the other elements, namely protein and fat, become increasingly concentrated. The proteins – casein and whey – also have a tendency to coagulate once the milk reaches a temperature of about 150°F.
Stir more and the problem is solved. More than you ever wanted to know, but I like food trivia.
5. Congrats to the Top 100 Mom Food Blogs 2012
Many of friends are named in this list – nice going, ladies!
I didn’t make the list but Skylar still thinks I’m a Top Mom. She thanked me yesterday for making her hair look cute and told me I was the best mom ever. I melted.
6. I have tomato jam and chutney on the brain and need to make my own.
My inspirations include:
Spicy Tomato Peach Jam from Lindsay
Spicy Heirloom Tomato Jam from Brandon (a fellow San Diegan – I told him I’d buy it off him)
Tomato Chutney from Liz (also a fellow San Diegan – and I’d buy hers, too)
Clearly I need to make my own.
7. Would you like 2 boxes of the new Cascadian Farms Ancient Grains cereal?
Made with whole grain oats, crisp rice, a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon, a touch of quinoa, spelt and kamut khorasan® wheat, our Ancient Grains Granola is an excellent source of fiber while also packing in 35 grams of Whole Grains per serving and 5 grams of protein
Leave a comment on this post telling me at that you’d like to be entered in the giveaway and what your favorite cereal of all time is.
I’ll announce the winner in my next post.
8. I’ve been thinking about something gooey with caramel and chocolate all day and these came to mind.
Caramel and Chocolate Gooey Bars (GF with Vegan adaptation)
9. Enamel-dipped servers from Antrhro – $36 for the pair which I think is a great price.
They remind me of something Tiffany without Tiffany pricing and for Anthro, pretty darn cheap.
10. The winner of the Magimix by Robot-Coupe Food Processor & Juice Extractor Giveaway (1000+ entries later)
is…
Michele Sparrow July 5, 2012 at 11:23 pm
I think the first thing I would make in the food processor is a homemade salsa or some kind of coconut yogurt. That processor is AMAZING!!
Congrats, Michele!
What are your Thursday Things?
If you’ve made anything, done, seen, or bought anything fabulous, feel free to link it up in the comments.
Do you like vanilla or ever make your own vanilla extract?
Yes and yes.
Split open 3 or 4 vanilla beans, put them in a tall jar with 1 cup of vodka with a lid like a canning jar, let them sit for at least a month, probably 6 to 8 weeks, shaking the jar a couple times a week.
In two months, you have vanilla extract. You can strain out the seeds if you want before you use it, but don’t. They are little flavor bombs – keep them and your food will have flecks of real vanilla beans in it; so pretty.
Top off your jar with more vodka and keep the cycle going. Add more vanilla beans every now and then.
Voila, homemade vanilla extract for a fraction of the price of storebought.
You can also use rum (dark or light) or bourbon, but they are not as clean-tasting as vodka. Sometimes not clean is a good thing though.
Thanks for the Zoku Quick Pop Maker and Chocolate Station Giveaway entries
Quaker oat squares!
I want those lamps! I’ve been furniture shopping lately, and it’s been way too much fun ;)
can I borrow your credit card? sounds like it’s a hot number :)
every time you show those cookies = insta-craving! i would also love that vanilla sampler- great gift idea! cheers!
I know, I’d love it, too :) ha!
I tried another homemade vanilla extract recipe, but it said it should be ready in less than a week. Now I know why it didn’t work AT ALL. I totally need to try again and actually wait the proper amount of time.
Yes at least 4 weeks, but the longer the better and like komboucha, you can just keep topping off..continuous brewing method :)
I think I need everything on that list to be a part of my life. Vanilla bean sampler and puffy vanilla cookies and spicy peach jam?? So much win.
Can you believe I’ve actually never done anything with a vanilla bean? Yet I absolutely LOVE vanilla bean ice cream. I would love to make vanilla bean chocolate chip cookies!
great post! i love those lamps and that silverware! i love that it’s a spork!! old school meets shabby chic:) I made a delicious Veggie Curry over Millet the other night — it’s Gluten Free, Vegan, and Body Ecology Diet friendly! https://glutenfreehappytummy.com/2012/07/13/veggie-curry-over-millet-gf-v-bed/ Have a great day!
I’m all over those vanilla beans!
I would love to try that cereal. I’m a serious cereal monster so picking a favorite is hard but I guess I would say Quaker oatmeal squares in brown sugar. Thanks for the giveaway!
It’s uncanny, really. I posted about vanilla bean paste yesterday, I was thinking about tomato jam this morning…I can’t find the link, but I did find my recipe for Buttered Corn Ice Cream and Tomato Raspberry Ice Cream. I can’t wait to make those again! https://cookiesandcrafts.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/grab-bag-get-funky/
Bourbon vanilla?!?! YUM.
I made tomato jam last summer and it was fantastic! I was just out in my garden, taking photos and wishing that there were more fruits. I’ve got a lot of flowers though. I just need to be patient.
we are always on the same wavelength & I remember those cookies!
the bourbon vanilla…for $3.99 TJs sells it and if I want a stronger vanilla, that’s my storebought go-to. For “cleaner” vanilla, I either make it or buy it but for bourbon, you really cannot beat the TJs, unless of course you make your own :)
I really like vanilla extract (only the real stuff), and I also really like using the vanilla beans. My Thursday things:
– Can’t wait for lunch in the park with friends and a sweet concert!
– Need to pack for a music festival I am leaving to go to tomorrow
– Need to pack for Vegas because that will happen right after the music festival
– I want to find apricot coloured makeup, but no stores I have checked have any – booo!
I love outdoor music festivals and have fun in Vegas – girl it’s 80-85F in San Diego today and Vegas is usually 20 to 25 degrees hotter. It’s gotta be scorching over there (about a 6 hour drive east). HAVE FUN!!!
LOVE the vanilla bean sampler!
How insanely cute is that?
I totally thought of you as I was posting this…perfect for you and your bloggie name :)
I would like to be entered into the Cascaidian Farms giveaway! My all time favorite cereal is Kashi Golean Crunch!
I followed Zoku on Twitter. @sarahbrodsky
I’d like to make a strawberry cheesecake pop!
Well, i’d sure like to try those ancient grains cereal ;)
Also i don’t have one favorite brand of cereal, might be whole grain Cheerios?