Baking spice blends are one of those thing that you only think about a couple times a year, and it’s a pain. You get it with the best intensions. You want to bake a pumpkin pie. You want to tackle that intricate crust for the apple pie you saw on Pinterest. You attempt a gingerbread house with the kids. You buy it once, it sits between the bay leaves and the whole cloves until you go to use it in a few years and see that it is expired. Such is the life and times of a spice blend.  While store bought spice blends get the job done, I am…

Vanilla extract. Most baking recipes call for vanilla extract, but why? It adds the vanilla flavor of course, but it also helps to bring out the notes of all of your other ingredients. Bakers take vanilla extract for granted, when it is one of the powerful things in your baking arsenal. Not only is vanilla extract essential in your kitchen, but it is also extremely easy to make. It only involves two ingredients- alcohol and vanilla beans.  For my alcohol, I usually rotate between plain vodka and Kentucky bourbon. You can’t go wrong with either choice, and both will leave you with a wonderful flavor. It doesn’t have to be…