Patience, the Virtue

For Christmas, I decided to make Homemade Vanilla for myself, my girl Kari, and my Mom, the fellow bakers in my life. But I forgot the one thing required to turn the simple combination of vodka and a vanilla bean into real, delicious, baker’s vanilla.

Time.

8 weeks, approximately. 8 WEEKS! Considering I didn’t make my bottles of Vanilla till about a week before Christmas, we’ve got some serious time on our hands. This stuff won’t be ready till the very end of February which is practically March. Sheesh. So much for my well-planned homemade goodies, but I’m actually looking forward to the wait. Because good things come to those who wait, to those who have been gifted with that most difficult of virtues, patience. (Or so they say, but I really have no choice in the matter here.)

But in this waiting period, as the vodka is steeping with that one lovely vanilla bean to create something entirely new, things will be happening in my life.

Some things will be great and refreshing, and some things might be hard and stressful, but always, no matter what comes my way, there’ll be a bottle of Vanilla waiting. Waiting to be used in future cookies or cakes, breads and ice creams, and I cannot wait to have this one sure thing finally reach that perfect Vanilla-ness to start exploring with.

Awww...look at Dolly envying the vanilla

So, my anchor of 2011 is a bottle of Vanilla. While I can already tell this will be one amazing year of growth, opportunity, and living, my bottle of Vanilla will also be getting better with age and time. I kind of like having that reminder in my cupboard to think of whenever I feel I might be falling behind in the rat race or if I’m being too impulsive with things.

To the New Year, and to all of your exploits in and out of the kitchen!

And to whatever your bottle of Vanilla may be.