How to cut a vanilla bean

It just occured to me that I had this sitting in my draft file.  A looooonnngggg time ago I didn’t know how to cut open a vanilla bean.  Then one day (many many years ago) my husband bought me The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook and in it was a recipe that called for the use of a vanilla bean.  Luckily she talked me right through it and the bean survived my novice attempt at baking.  Not sure that I would make her proud, but at least I tried.  Here is my how-to picture tutorial on Vanilla Beans.  Hope it helps you in time of need 🙂

1.  Flatten the bean gently with your fingers.

2.  Hold one end by pressing down with your index
finger and pierce through the bean with a knife,
cutting it in half.  I usually leave the tip that I held
down uncut.  Makes it easier to scrape out the
goods.

3.  Starting from the end that is still connected, gently
scrape the seeds off the bean halves (one at a time)
all the way to the bottom.

Admire their beauty for a few seconds.

FYI…they don’t taste good raw.

Thought I should give you that heads up in case you were wondering.

On the other hand, a good cook tastes everything so maybe you should taste the vanilla seeds fresh out of the bean.  At least once in your lifetime. Then go get some milk or something cause your gonna need it.

That’s the best way that I can describe how to cut a vanilla bean.

Hopefully it helped a little at the least. 🙂