The Life-Altering Wonderfulness of ...

[dannylion]

Vanilla.

Saw a recipe on Pioneer Woman for cinnamon toast where she mixed the cinnamon and sugar into the butter before putting it on the bread, but she also added vanilla. Tried it a few months ago. That stuff is like crack. I confess to eating the spread with a spoon. It's great on cinnamon toast, but a lot of it doesn't make it that far.  The vanilla cinnamon butter is good on waffles and pancakes, too.   

So, it occurred to me to wonder what other things vanilla would transform. So far, I've tried it in chocolate milk, hot cocoa, yogurt of various flavors (also creating vanilla yogurt from scratch by adding vanilla and some agave nectar to plain Greek yogurt), and all have been enhanced by the addition of vanilla.  Last night I tried it in a sweet potato concoction. I usually bake the sweet potatoes, then mush them up with butter, agave nectar, and cinnamon, then put toasted pecans on top. This time I added vanilla. Yum.

What ingredients do you add to things to transform them into something special?

[Chocolate Lover]

Now I'm just hungry and forgot your question. 

[Waffle]

I just discovered a little vanilla makes French toast taste so much better! I freely admit that I am a lousy cook, so this very well could have been something that everybody else always knew.

[The Captain]

Sept 15, 2015 15:28:04 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Vanilla.

Saw a recipe on Pioneer Woman for cinnamon toast where she mixed the cinnamon and sugar into the butter before putting it on the bread, but she also added vanilla. Tried it a few months ago. That stuff is like crack. I confess to eating the spread with a spoon. It's great on cinnamon toast, but a lot of it doesn't make it that far.  The vanilla cinnamon butter is good on waffles and pancakes, too.   

So, it occurred to me to wonder what other things vanilla would transform. So far, I've tried it in chocolate milk, hot cocoa, yogurt of various flavors (also creating vanilla yogurt from scratch by adding vanilla and some agave nectar to plain Greek yogurt), and all have been enhanced by the addition of vanilla.  Last night I tried it in a sweet potato concoction. I usually bake the sweet potatoes, then mush them up with butter, agave nectar, and cinnamon, then put toasted pecans on top. This time I added vanilla. Yum.

What ingredients do you add to things to transform them into something special?

Vanilla in my Diet Coke as a treat.

There is a seasoning sauce called Maggi (The Chinese version) that has an amazing amount of umami.  I put just a touch in anything that would benefit for a touch of meaty depth.

And...of course no mashed potato is complete without roasted garlic and butter.  In fact, butter makes just about everything better.

[t-dog]

a drop in scrambled eggs is great.

[shelby]

My favorite food ever is sweet potato souffle...with enough vanilla to taste, perfect! Your dish sounds so good and much easier definitely going to try it.

[busymom]

Next time you bake a white cake, add just a bit of vanilla to your cake batter. It does add flavor!

(Thanks for the reminder of one of my Mom's old baking secrets.  The next time I make a white cake, I'm going to add the vanilla.)

[cktc]

I usually do half almond extract with things that call for vanilla. It's not that I don't like vanilla, I just adore almond extract 

[dannylion]

I like almond extract, too! My favorite thing to add it to is (hear me out) vanilla pudding or vanilla tapioca pudding. Then I add mixed berries on top of the pudding. Heaven!

My mom used to make Christmas cookies that were basically just sugar cookies flavored with almond extract and topped with crushed peppermint candy. I loved those. I should try making them.

[debthaven]

I lived in Madagascar for 18 months many years ago. They produce a lot of the world's vanilla (or at least they used to, that may have changed). Some local secrets: leave a vanilla pod in your (baking) sugar, or your flour. Or your rum!

You can also grate vanilla. The pods tend to dry up over time, but even once they dry up, a bit of grated vanilla can go a long way! 

[NoNamePerson]

You could just drink it       Or buy some vanilla beans and chew on them all day long.  

[chiver78]

I love vanilla and nutmeg in a latte.   

hmm.....what do I do. I add a pinch of nutmeg to bechamel sauces, especially when there will be spinach too. sis and I will grate an orange rind into French toast batter along with the cinnamon and vanilla.

I'm sure there's more. that's all I got for now though.

[kittensaver]

I make my own milk alternatives (mostly almond milk and cashew milk, sometimes with both nuts) and I always add vanilla .

[wvugurl26]

Her recipes are awesome. And vanilla does make things yummy.

[Tiny]

I make a pear and vanilla jam that's wonderful also roasted vanilla pears (honey in there is nice too). I add vanilla to cream cheese and powder sugar (and butter) to make frosting, you can combine 8oz cream cheese, 1tsp vanilla and an egg - spoon that over a brownie mix and bake for heavenly brownies...

[Sunnyday]

When I bake banana bread, I add a brown sugar mix on top.

I add water to brown sugar and half way through the baking process, i baste the top of my bread with the brown sugar mixture. It adds a nice sweet crunch to the top.

I've also done it to my pumpkin breads.

[weltschmerz]

I love vanilla in French toast.

I discovered that adding cinnamon to some savory dishes can really kick them up a notch. I don't even particularly like cinnamon, but add it to things like BBQ sauces, short ribs and even a braised pork shoulder roast. It doesn't taste like cinnamon in a savory dish, but gives it such a lovely spicy note.

[moneymaven]

Have you tried vanilla bean paste? When I make homemade frosting or whipped cream for desserts, I add it. It's delicious. I add vanilla to pancake/waffle/French toast batter. I add it pretty much any pastry or dessert type food. Sweet potatoes for sure. It just makes everything YUM

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

I don't know whether to hug you, dannylion, or smack you.

I don't need any more ways to incorporate butter into my diet. Or vanilla. Or cinnamon.

I love PW. I just don't read her recipes or look at her pictures of food. I can't work it off on a ranch like she can.

[dannylion]

Sept 16, 2015 12:22:43 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

I don't know whether to hug you, dannylion, or smack you.

I don't need any more ways to incorporate butter into my diet. Or vanilla. Or cinnamon.

I love PW. I just don't read her recipes or look at her pictures of food. I can't work it off on a ranch like she can.

Well, if you decide to smack me, I would be grateful if you could wait a couple of days. I'm not feeling well today.

Maybe all that is required, though, is to look at the cinnamon toast spread from a different perspective.  It's full of butter vitamins. And vanilla vitamins. And cinnamon vitamins. It's a health food! Also, it actually reduces the calorie content of the cinnamon toast 'cause you just skip the toast part altogether and eat the spread with a spoon. 

[Deleted]

I always try to spill a little vanilla on myself when baking with it.

[Deleted]

I make my own vanilla with beans in vodka.  I'd forgotten about it for a long time and hadn't been topping off the bottle with fresh vodka.  I tried some the other day, and damn that stuff had gotten powerful strong.

[shelby]

Sept 16, 2015 13:05:27 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I make my own vanilla with beans in vodka.  I'd forgotten about it for a long time and hadn't been topping off the bottle with fresh vodka.  I tried some the other day, and damn that stuff had gotten powerful strong.

I was going to make these as xmas gifts awhile ago but with the bottle and the vanilla beans it seemed kind expensive. What kind of bottle are you using?

[lexxy703]

Sept 16, 2015 13:05:27 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I make my own vanilla with beans in vodka.  I'd forgotten about it for a long time and hadn't been topping off the bottle with fresh vodka.  I tried some the other day, and damn that stuff had gotten powerful strong.

Is this for real? 

I love Stoli vanilla vodka.

[Deleted]

Sept 16, 2015 13:17:48 GMT -5 shelby said:

Sept 16, 2015 13:05:27 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I make my own vanilla with beans in vodka.  I'd forgotten about it for a long time and hadn't been topping off the bottle with fresh vodka.  I tried some the other day, and damn that stuff had gotten powerful strong.

I was going to make these as xmas gifts awhile ago but with the bottle and the vanilla beans it seemed kind expensive. What kind of bottle are you using?

I got these.

www.specialtybottle.com/corksquareglassbottle85oz250mlwcork.aspx

[Deleted]

Sept 16, 2015 13:33:40 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

Sept 16, 2015 13:05:27 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I make my own vanilla with beans in vodka.  I'd forgotten about it for a long time and hadn't been topping off the bottle with fresh vodka.  I tried some the other day, and damn that stuff had gotten powerful strong.

Is this for real? 

I love Stoli vanilla vodka.

www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_vanilla_extract/

[lexxy703]

Thanks MPL.  That sounds very fun to try & easy.

[Tennesseer]

Years ago, I spent several weeks in southern California for work purposes.  As opposed to flying home each weekend, one weekend several of us decided to stay. A co-worker of mine back home heard we were planning a Saturday morning day trip to Tijuana just to check it out.  She said if I would pick her us some Mexican vanilla, she would bake me a chocolate pie which included the vanilla.

I bought her the vanilla, she made me the pie, and it was delicious.

[Deleted]

Sept 16, 2015 17:04:28 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Years ago, I spent several weeks in southern California for work purposes.  As opposed to flying home each weekend, one weekend several of us decided to stay. A co-worker of mine back home heard we were planning a Saturday morning day trip to Tijuana just to check it out.  She said if I would pick her us some Mexican vanilla, she would bake me a chocolate pie which included the vanilla.

I bought her the vanilla, she made me the pie, and it was delicious.

Decades ago a group of ladies where I worked would charter a bus across the border to Nuevo Laredo about mid-November and stock up on Mexican vanilla for holiday cooking.  As well as other things.  One year we had to trade about 1/2 our purchases to the local law enforcement representatives so we could bring one gal back with us despite her very public over-consumption of prohibited smoking materials.  We were not amused   and she was not invited the following year.  It's a gal code thing, if you can't hold it, don't use it.  

[Cookies Galore]

Sept 16, 2015 2:55:28 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I love vanilla in French toast.

I discovered that adding cinnamon to some savory dishes can really kick them up a notch. I don't even particularly like cinnamon, but add it to things like BBQ sauces, short ribs and even a braised pork shoulder roast. It doesn't taste like cinnamon in a savory dish, but gives it such a lovely spicy note.

Oh hell yeah! I put cinnamon in my coffee, enchilada sauce, lentil soup, other things I can't think of. Cinnamon and smoked paprika are delicious together in lentil soup.