It seems Halloween and the traditional pumpkins are just barely behind us, and already it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! While the tangy scent of pine boughs and the aroma of cinnamon have long been associated with the festive season, I've been noticing another fragrance and flavor joining the holiday list, and that's vanilla.
I was leafing through a beautiful decorating magazine the other day, and there were several references made to "accenting" your holiday rooms with the sweet scent of vanilla candles. There are even "vanilla" colors, not quite white, not quite beige, but a creamy inbetween. And there were several recipes that name vanilla as a key ingredient.
Vanilla is one of those things that we all have in our homes, use in baking, but where does it actually come from? Time to do some homework! I found a very interesting article from something called "The Encyclopedia Of Spices", and I'll tell you a bit of what I learned about vanilla. I was quite surprised to find out that next to cardamom and saffron, vanilla is one of the world's most expensive spices. This yummy spice is native to Mexico, where long ago royal Aztecs would kick back at the end of the day with a drink called xocolatl, which was a drink made from cocoa beans, vanilla and honey. While Cortez was there visiting, he figured, well, if it's good enough for Montezuma, Europeans should like it, and he took it back with him to Europe. It's been a very popular flavoring and fragrance ever since.
I also learned that the vanilla plant is a member of the orchid family. The delicious flavor of vanilla comes from the bean or seed pod, which I'm sure we've all seen used many times on the cooking shows on TV. The vanilla plant is actually a climbing orchid in tropical climates, mainly Mexico and Madagascar. The pods take about nine months to fully mature. Their "harvesting" is a complicated procedure: first of all, the beans are wrapped and kept under high temperatures. Then, they are dried during the day and "sweated" by night to bring out their oils. After all this, they are dried in the shade for as long as two months before being graded, and then stored for another two months. Who knew that the little vanilla beans we see in the cylindrical containers in the baking aisle of the grocery store have gone through so much before they reach us!
If we do treat ourselves to "the real thing" and buy vanilla beans, I read that the best way to store them is in granulated sugar, so that no light can reach them. After several weeks, an added bonus is that the sugar also tastes like vanilla, and can be used for baking or to enhance the flavor of our coffee. Just add more sugar as you use it up!
The next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society is on Wed., November 24. This is a "members" meeting, although family and friends are welcome! For more details, just call Liz at 782-2830.
Last week's storm really threw us for a loop, didn't it! I don't think we ever feel totally ready for winter, it seems there is always one more thing that we would like to do out in the garden! But I guess sometimes Mother Nature decides for us whether it really needs to get done or not. Now we can enjoy a well deserved rest, and I'm sure it won't be long before we'll be making gardening plans for next year!
