DIY Christmas Gift ideas - Home made extracts
If you are like me, you are always looking for thoughtful gifts - whether or not they are home made. I like to make home made gifts, but only if I think they will be used and appreciated by the receiver. Here is my first batch for this year! They are quick and easy, and can be dressed up or down. Now is a great time to start them, since they have to sit for at least 2-3 weeks before they can be used. So you could make them now, and they will be perfectly ready by the time they are ready to pretty up and gift!
I chose to put these in jam/jelly jars for a few reasons - they are inexpensive, easy to dress up, and most importantly - they are easily reusable! Extracts are great gifts - the gift of flavor, and with a little imagination, the possibilities are endless.
The recipe is fairly simple - for every 1/3 c. of vodka, add 2 T. of nuts and a pinch of salt. So far, I have tested (with success) pistachio, almond, walnut, and hazelnut extracts. Some of the not so successful ones are macadamia and pecan, although toasted pecan wasn't bad
If you are interested in a little different flavors, chop up some lemon grass, or use a chai tea bag, or a few tablespoons of your favorite whole spices (or a cinnamon stick). Lemon grass extract is really tasty in shortbread, just sayin'.
The vanilla extract is just as simple - for every 1 cup of vodka (you can use less as well), add a vanilla bean. I make sure that the vanilla beans are whole, even if they have to be folded into a smaller jar. For a larger gift, a Vos water bottle was perfect - mainly because I just put a ribbon on it, and I love the bottle itself (and it's cheaper buying a bottle of Vos and drinking it to use the bottle than finding an empty bottle that looks like that). The reason I use a whole vanilla bean also has it's own purpose. Not only does the bean give the extract flavor, if you leave it whole, you can fish it out of the extract, snip off the top of it, and squeeze out all the tasty seeds when you need them. Dual purpose! I love it.
For more extract ideas, please visit my blog