Real Vanilla NOT Immitation

They say that imitation is the best form of flattery.

I beg to differ when it comes to using vanilla in my kitchen. Fake vanilla is comprised of Water (that sounds natural enough), Propylene Glycol, Artificial Flavor, Caramel Color, Citric Acid, and Sodium Benzoate.

Umm . . . where is the vanilla in vanilla?

OK . . . I will give you a dollar to put in your bank that imitation vanilla is less expensive than vanilla extract. But after that, you lose.

Personally, I would rather spend a few extra bucks to know what my ingredients are that I am ingesting. Don't you wonder what concoction of chemicals created the artificial flavoring that mimics the vanilla taste and smell? I actually have an idea, but it is a LONG and COMPLICATED process.

Let me at least save you a little bit of money. Make vanilla on your own--in your own kitchen!

All you need are TWO ingredients: 2 vanilla beans and Vodka (or brandy).


Lay your vanilla bean on a cutting board and slice the bean open, making sure NOT to slice the bean into two separate parts.


Once your bean is sliced like a hot dog bun, gently open the bean up to expose the vanilla seeds. Leave the seeds in the bean.


Place the entire bean in your mason jar or any glass jar. If need be, go ahead and horizontally slice your bean. It is important that the entire bean be immersed in the alcohol. If you are using two beans, you can add approximately 3/4 cup of alchol to the jar. Use 1/2 the alcohol if you only have one bean, like me.


Cover your jar and let it sit in a dark place for at least two weeks. Below, on the left, is the vanilla I made today. The right mason jar is some vanilla that was made several weeks ago.


Please note, if you are baking something using my vanilla recipe, use caution if you know that someone who struggles with drinking will be eating your culinary creation. Typically, most people say that alcohol cooks out of food when heated, but be mindful of the person you love.

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble,
I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
1 Corinthians 8:13

homemade+vanilla+extract immitation+vanilla vanilla+recipe

Wordless Wednesday--An Outhouse With A Latch

Sometimes one can be prone to linger in the library bathroom with a gripping recipe book or article on cloth diapering or perhaps the computer?.

However, thoughts of taking a respite in an outhouse, particularly an outhouse used since my childhood named Aunt Mary, is enough to desensitize my olfactory glands.


Now this year's vacation to Canada brought a pleasant addition to our bathroom experience. A screened door had been added to help keep unwanted and pesky bugs from approaching bare ummm . . . . shall we say, parts that lack some quality Vitamin D sunshine.

Said screen door was very helpful. But what I found curious was the latch on the inside of the outhouse. Who am I going to keep out in the middle of the woods? This flimsy latch wouldn't stop a bear. And since the door is a screen, it isn't like a latch will further give me privacy.



I was quite impressed with myself that this latch captivated my thoughts for quite some time, leaving me quite speechless. The best thing that I can come up with as an explanation is that the latch is to deter the life size mosquitoes from attempting to open the door and seek their next vulnerable victim.

Check out more Wordless Wednesday posts at 5 Minutes for Mom.

outhouse potty Canada peeing+in+the+woods privacy Wordless+Wednesday

MckLinky Blog Hop--The Perfect Cuppa Chai

Whenever someone, really anyone, comes over to my house, I make Chai.


It is tradition and everyone knows it.

I look for any and every opportunity to make chai.

It all started when we lived in India. I was domestic. Everyone else was an engineer or an architect. By making chai, I fit in.

So, though much counseling over chai with my therapist, I have come to realize that I make chai obsessively because it makes me feel comfortable, important, needed. It welcomes guests.

It welcomes me into my quiet times with God.

The Perfect Cuppa Chai
(the proportions are really to my tastes--play around with it)

1/2 mug water
1/2 mug whole milk (raw tastes better)
fresh, peeled ginger (about the size of your fingernail)
spoonful of loose Assam black tea (or any STRONG black tea)
spoonful of raw honey (or sugar)

OPTIONAL: You can add a few cardamon pods, cloves, and cinnamon bark to the boiling water and ginger for Masala Chai or Special Chai.

Bring water and ginger to a boil. Add tea and let steep until desired strength. Add milk and bring mixture to almost boiling. Watch out that the chai doesn't boil over (not that I have ever done this)! Strain solids. Add raw honey to desired sweetness.

And if you don't have time. Dump everything together (minus the tea) until the liquid boils. Then add tea and steep until it because a dark tan. Strain solids.

Don't forget to put all the tea leaves and solids (that sounds gross) in your compost bin!



Homemade chai is cheaper than buying a box of pre-made Chai at the grocery store or a national coffee chain.

So it fits in with my granola lifestyle. Maybe I should add this post to my sidebar!






chai recipe MckLinky+Blog+Hop India

Stick Figure Bible with Grapevine Press

I really want my kids to love God. But I don't want to force God on them. I don't want them to grow up feeling like Jesus was crammed down their throats. I want them to clearly see that God created them and loves them so much that He doesn't force Himself upon them.

Case in point: I love it when Mr. Smackdown gives me a spontaneous hug because he feels that gushy feeling in his heart, and the only thing he knows to do is squeeze me. Hugs from Mr. Smackdown are few and far between. But on occasion, due to some infraction, the Hottie Hubby (no offense) instructs Mr. Smackdown to give me a hug as part of his apology and this is met with opposition. To me, the hug doesn't carry nearly as much weight and bring joy as a freely given hug, one that was a choice.

God is the same way. He doesn't want to FORCE us to love Him. It doesn't mean anything. He wants us to make a choice. It means more. It causes us to love deeper, and not be resentful.

At some point in each of our lives, a choice to commit to or ignore a daily, personal friendship and interaction with God must occur.

I see that beyond providing my children with the necessities of life, my single most important job is providing opportunities for them to naturally learn about God and experience Him in practical ways.

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

But this wasn't happening. Each time I tried to train Mr. Smackdown using a particular Bible resource last year, it was met with resistance.

I dreaded Bible time.

And then a package arrived in the mail. And it gave me hope.


As you know, I blog for The Old SchoolHouse Homeschool Crew. Throughout this coming year, I have and will receive various emails and packages at my door or on my computer of curriculum to sample and offer my opinion.

Praise God that I have had the privilege to review Grapevine Studies. I don't know if they will decorate your package, but mine came with a personal message as you can see.

Really, I don't know that I really even need to offer my own comments because Mr. Smackdown eloquently exudes excitement and a happy devotion to learning about God's Word in the following video:




Anyway, the Hottie Hubby and I decided to use the New Testament Overview with Mr. Smackdown.



We really think that it is important for our kids to be well versed in all aspects of the Bible. Thus far, I have been so pleased with Grapevine Studies, that I plan on doing the Old Testament Overview when we finish the New Testament Overview. Which reminds me . . . as one of my readers, you can get 30% off until September 15th, 2009 using the code crews at checkout if you decide to use Grapevine Studies as your Bible curriculum. You can get either an ebook or a hard copy. I have yet to enter the ebook revolution, and opted to kill a few tress so that I would have a hard copy teacher's manual and student book. Obviously, the ebooks are cheaper.


Being artsy-fartsy and a former kindergarten teacher, I am enjoying the multi-discipline aspects of Grapevine Studies. Not only is Mr. Smackdown learning about the Bible, BUT he is gaining body awareness through drawing stick figures, and learning how to follow step-by-step directions as I show him how to draw each picture.

Our times together in the Word, have been so sweet. We typically sit down over some tea, discuss what we drew last time, read our lesson, and draw. The lessons are short but powerfully allow us to focus on specific aspects of Scripture.

It has been such a blessing!





the+old+schoolhouse Grapevine+Press bible+curriculum homeschool

My Attempt at Poetry--All For Fish

We went on our first family vacation in two years.

It was a week long. It wasn't long enough.

Tomorrow, Hottie Hubby returns to work. Sadness.



I am sure in the next few days, if not weeks, you will begin to see snapshots of our holiday in Canada.
For the meantime, while I am majorly playing catch-up on the 250 emails in my in-box, grocery shopping for Co-Op, kindergarten being launched at the Granola School House, review and blog post deadlines to be crafted and met this week, piles of stinky week-old laundry to be washed/dried/folded/put away, whole foods cooking resumed, exercise to be enforced upon my lethargic body, slings to be cut/ironed/sewn/mailed and a few other things that I don't even know about yet, let me share a little ditty (poetry) that I wrote while out in the wild forest of Canada (did I mention that we saw 3 bears, moose poop and moose footprints, lots of black flies and mosquitoes, hummingbirds, and loons)?

OK . . . here goes. Don't expect much.

All for Fish

Late night packing,
Early morning rising.
Can't see out the rear window.
Miles of asphalt Led to a Starbucks,
Which fades away to mountains of scenery.
Over a long bridge; I trust that engineer.
Thousands of fish beneath me.
Through a foreign gate;
No, I didn't bring a gun.
Strange signs, Funny accents.
Beer (don't ask), milk, fishing license.
A bumpy road and a hope for fish.
Red wood my grandfather's hands touched;
Four generations of memories. We are there.
So are the fish.
My childhood is reawakened,
and reenacted through my sons--
Except with more abandon
And a God given desire for adventure and danger.
Blueberries, hummingbirds, and loon calls.
Aunt Mary still smells, She is still an outhouse.
No fish.
Beautiful skies, pancakes, euchre, and shooting stars.
No fish.
Relaxing afternoons, primed pump, and canoe rides.
No fish.
Late night conversations,
never electricity-- yet every morning mocha's.
One fish--
that got away.
Canada

Canada family+vacation fishing poetry