Did You Know Facts About Watkins Vanilla

Did you know that vanilla is

• an antacid?
  
  Add a few drops to pineapple, fruit salads, or sauces containing citrus, to soften the sharpness and give it extra sweetening. Put a little vanilla in tomato sauces to neutralize the acidity.
  

  
  

• a lifter and enhancer?
  
  Add vanilla to give new "life" to flavorless seasonal fruits or other foods that need a flavor boost. Did you know that chocolate by itself tastes "flat" which is why it usually contains vanilla?
  

  
  

• an emulsifier?
  
  Add vanilla extract to egg batters (sweet or savory), waffle or pancake mix, baked goods, or cream sauces to smooth and blend overpowering flavors.
  

  
  

• a natural sweetener?
  
  Add a few drops of vanilla to vegetables, sweet potatoes, and salad dressings. It increases the natural sweetness of vegetables and provides a delicate, subtle flavor to salads.
  

  
  

• an adjunct flavor for seafood, fowl, and meat?
  
  Use with roasted, sautéed or barbecued meats, poultry, wild game or seafood. Split a vanilla bean and place it in a bottle of olive or other quality oils for sautéing meats, poultry, or seafood, or add a few drops of vanilla extract to cooked fish, fowl, or game as well as to sauces and marinades.
  

  
  

• a stomach sedative?
  
  Add pure vanilla extract to mineral water or apple juice to settle a nervous stomach. To soothe and please cranky, teething or sick children add a few drops of vanilla to their milk or juice. Away from home and need something quickly? Coca cola is filled with vanilla, and therefore used in many countries for calming an agitated stomach.
  

  
  

• a natural calmative?
  
  Place several vanilla beans in a bottle or jar. Use as aromatherapy to soothe jangled nerves. Some medical facilities use the vanilla aroma to calm patients undergoing MRI and CAT scans.
  

  
  Love the flavor of chilies but can't take the heat? Sweet neutralizes heat: add some vanilla to soften the bite but bring out the sweetness and flavor of the peppers.
  

  
  House paint smell too strong? Add a tablespoon of vanilla extract to a gallon of paint to help cut the smell.
  

  
  Want to disguise your scent when fishing? Rub vanilla on your hands before handling your fishing line. Lots of seasoned fishermen and women use this trick.
  

Fun Fact

Watkins has sold nearly 13.5 million gallons of vanilla extract, enough to fill 17 olympic-sized swimming pools or fill a standard bathtub to the rim 213,682 times.