DIY VANILLA EXTRACT

My daughter and I made some vanilla extract again this year.  We'll be giving these bottles away at Christmas time. 

Last time I made vanilla extract I purchased beans from Beanilla, I really wanted the Mexican vanilla beans at the time but they were all sold out so I bought the Madagascar beans instead.  I found that I really loved the way the vanilla turned out so I ordered the same this year.

I learned I could make my own vanilla from someone on Twitter.  Prior to that I would always buy the McCormick brand from the grocery store.  What I don't like about the cheap commercial vanilla extract is the ingredients tend to be vanilla bean extractives, alcohol, water, and corn syrup.  Why eat corn syrup when you don't have to?

So...I figured if I didn't know I could make my own then maybe others didn't know either, so here is a little tutorial.

What you need: vodka (40%), 4 oz. bottles (mine are from Specialty Bottle), and vanilla beans (mine are from Beanilla).  Beanilla also has instructions on making vanilla extract 

Once you've opened your vanilla beans cut them in half.

Then slice each one down the middle (do not cut all the way through, just slice the first layer)

Open the bean (the inside is where the good stuff is).

Put 5 of the cut beans into each jar.  I had a package of 10 vanilla beans so I ended up with 20 pieces after I cut them in half so I made 4 jars of vanilla extract)

Fill each jar with vodka, make sure you cover the beans.

When you are done filling the jars, cap and label them.  Put them in a dark cool place to sit for 6 weeks.

Here are the labels I made for my vanilla extract.  If you want to use them just CLICK HERE, print on sticker paper and cut out.

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LEARNING AWAY FROM THE CHAIR

We are trying to find creative ways of learning away from the chair.  Sitting down at a table for even a second isn't fun for either of us so we're exploring different ways of learning the essentials without having to be at a table to do it.

Yesterday we were working with measurements again.  This time we focussed on volume.  To help my daughter better understand cups, tablespoons and teaspoons, etc... we have dedicated one day a week as baking day.  Yesterday we made toffee bars.  To help my daughter remember the difference between each type of volume measurement I decided to include a little worksheet, then Aiyana could measure out the ingredients using cups, tsp and tbsp while also checking off what she used.  This is a great way to help her retain information.  Not all children learn this way but for her it works great.

I started with this worksheet that I created.

I added several measuring cups and several of the same measuring spoons because recipes always call for different ingredients of various measurements. So... as we made our toffee bars Aiyana would measure everything out and then mark off the exact measurement on the worksheet.

It's working out well.  The information is starting to stick so that makes me happy :-) Plus, she thinks baking is fun.

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BUTTERFLIES, BUTTERFLIES, BUTTERFLIES

Yesterday we went to the Minnesota Science Museum to check out the Monarch exhibit.  If it wasn't for a time constraint I could have stayed in the butterfly house all day, as it was we had to bribe Aiyana with better things to come just to get her to leave.  

Who knew insects could be so fascinating but I'm finding myself more and more interested in learning about them, and not just the pretty ones either.

Mating pair.

Apparently I am the only one who thought this was fascinating. Mating butterflies. Maya kept telling me to stop taking pictures but I thought it was cool to see.

Monarch (male) - the swollen pouches (circles/balls) along the veins near the ends of it wings tells you it is a male.

Painted Lady Butterfly hitching a ride on Aiyana's head.

Maya and Monarch posing for the camera.

Painted Lady Butterfly

Monarch (female) having a conversation with my husband.  I think she had a crush on him :P

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FINDING OUR WAY IN THE HOMESCHOOLING WORLD

My daughter and I are into our 2nd year of homeschooling.  This year we are finding that we both need to spend less time sitting at a table and more time learning outside or at the very least learning through crafts or other activities.  Thankfully I have two books that have made getting away from the "sit down" work much easier.

R.E.A.L Science Odyssey Curriculum

Both my daughter and I are loving the lessons in this book.  We are working on Level One Life Science and the hands-on work in the book is quite fun.  Here is a pic of the day Aiyana was learning about cells.  We used a raw egg (on right) to learn about a single cell and (on left) we were using jello and fruit to learn the difference between plant and animal cells. Can you tell which one is the plant cell? :D

We've also figured if we are going to run away from sit-down work and head outside that it would have to be for more than just playing so I pulled out the Nature Seeker Workbook, turned to the section titled "autumn" and started with the first lesson which is studying leaves.  

We took a 2 mile walk around the lake and examined practically every tree along the way.  We found over a dozen different types of trees and something we'd never seen before (pictured in lower right corner of bottom photo).  I thought it was some kind of nut when Aiyana first picked it off an oak tree but after looking it up online I found that it is called an Oak Apple Gall and inside is the home of a wasp (click HERE for more information).  The wasp in this one is already gone (See the tiny hole? That is a sign they've moved on).  Pretty cool! 

So stay tuned for the next post about ways we found to get away from the "study table" because we are going to be running away to learn a lot now that we've discovered how much more fun it is than sitting at a table for 3 hours :D

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