If you have Edy's Ice Creams in your area, go quickly and get a half gallon of Double Vanilla. It really is.

Ooooh, yummy.

Of course you know that you can buy vanilla beans and drop them in a bottle of vodka and wait a few weeks and you'll have some no nonsense vanilla extract.

Beware of "real" vanilla extract and other "real" flavors, very often they are not as real as you might hope. I have a friend who was a chemist who worked on artificial flavorings. He said they'd analyze a flavor or a scent and then copy something like 100 components of that flavor. For example I think he said that an apple flavor they made had 5 ppb of cyanide, because it is present in the seed of an apple.

He said when the government would test their "real" flavors they'd run down the list of components and after about 30 or 40, they'd be satisfied it was real. His claim was that the Gov. was under funded and underequiped compared to the corp. he worked for. Ya know state of the art labs,equip. etc.

Of course that was in the 60s or 70s, I think things have changed. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not like that anymore. yep.

I second that. I'm sorry I ever discovered the stuff.

Did you make your crust dough in a food processor or did you cut the shortening and mix the water in by hand?

By hand, with a pastry fork/mixer.

http://www.gordonfamily.com/Recipes/PastryBlender.jpg


I like to use about half "butter" (Earth Balance) and half shortening (non-hydro palm), and prefer to have a latte (decaf soy) on hand.:biggrin:

Just like Mom used to do.

LJ you are a lucky guy.