Vanilla sugar

OK, it has been a while since I posted, but truth be told, I have been out of town a few times, and I haven't been cooking many new recipes. However, I have a fridge full of various kinds of squash, so this weekend will be the official squash marathon.

Squash aside, I have something small and quick to share: vanilla sugar. I don't know where exactly I got this idea - maybe Ina Garten, maybe Giada De Laurentis - no idea. But I had a vanilla bean left over from my rhubarb cupcake topping, and I decided to throw it into my sugar canister.

Mmm. Basically, all my sugar is vanilla flavored now, and real vanilla, not some imitation chemical crap. I don't know what I would ever want to use sugar on where I wouldn't care if it had a slightly vanilla scent. (Bad sentence. Moving on.)

Anyway, if you want to try this, just find a fancy recipe that uses a real vanilla bean or two. (Here is a very good one.) Toss the vanilla bean into your canister. Mine lays vertically in the canister. Fill with sugar. Keep refilling sugar normally; after a few days, all the sugar will be vanilla scented, and you might even get some vanilla seeds in there. Fantastic.

Now, onto squash.