25 Days of Christmas Cocktails - Vanilla, Pear, and Vodka Cocktail

WARNING:  this is so good, you may slurp it down like a soda.  If you’ve never had drinks/food containing real vanilla bean, you’ve been missing out.  As a confirmed chocoholic, I can say with all honesty that given the choice between vanilla-bean vanilla and chocolate, I’ll go with the former every time – that’s how good it is.   If you can wait a few days, make the vanilla sugar, it really makes the difference.  These days, you can find vanilla beans in the spice section of most grocery stores like Kroger and Publix, as well as places such as Earth Fare and Whole Foods.  From Two Tarts, serves 4.

• 12 oz (1.5 cups) pear juice
• 6 oz vodka
• 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• vanilla sugar, for rim (regular sugar will work but this is such a yummy option)
• 1 cup ice, plus more to serve over
  Mix pear juice and vodka in a pitcher or shaker. Split open the vanilla bean, and scrape the seeds into the juice and vodka. Add 1 cup ice, then give it a good shake. Pour into cocktail glasses over more ice and serve with sugared rim.
   
  Vanilla Sugar
  from French Farmhouse Cookbook
• 8 cups sugar
• 2 fresh vanilla beans or 4 used vanilla beans
  Pour the sugar into an airtight container, and push the vanilla beans down into the sugar. Cover and let ripen for at least 1 week. Replenish the sugar as you use it, pouring out the sugar that is already flavored, adding new sugar to the container, and topping it with the flavored sugar. Replace the vanilla beans once every 2 months.