Friday, October 22, 2010

Very Vanilla





While in Bali we bought vanilla beans. Back here in Japan we had to figure out what to do with them. So, I made vanilla tofu mousse. I made these vanilla scones with vanilla icing. I made vanilla sugar. We gave many vanilla beans away. One friend made vanilla custard. I made vanilla extract by putting the bean shell in vodka, but I'll have to wait a few months until it's done. We still had v beans left.

So, I decided to take advantage of one of the few things that is not "takai" (expensive, in this instance) and make vanilla infused vodka. Then, while I was at it, I decided to make homemade Tia Maria with a vanilla bean thrown in for good measure. We only have to wait about 2 weeks for these! My sister gave me the fantastic idea of swirling chocolate syrup in a glass and having chocolate vanilla martinis, which we will surely do in her honor once it's ready.
Happy Birthday, Molly!

Next we'll need to try the Japanese version of this - umeshu, or unripe plums steeped in shochu. Umeshu sours are delicious.

In other news, the school secretary showed me a giraffe skull that was in a box in the office yesterday. Just another day at Japanese Junior High!

Also, do yourself a favor and make this recipe for pumpkin amaretto risotto. Then eat it with a glass of white wine like we did last Sunday. Happy Weekend!


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