Experiments with Food

D called yesterday to tell me that J had brought a Buddha's Hand home from Krogzilla. Neither of us had any idea what to do with it, but she had read online that it's great for infusing in vodka.

Right up my alley, no?

I know that Hangar One makes a Buddha's Hand vodka, but I haven't tried it yet. The Buddha's Hand is citron, and is incredibly unfortunate looking. So unfortunate, in fact, that J likes to freak D out by waving it at her. So, we decided to infuse some vodka with it.

From all reports, it will take a month for it to steep. I bought some decent yet inexpensive French grape vodka to use in the steeping. We both have bottles ready to go.

The interesting thing about Buddha's Hand is, unlike many other citrus fruits, the pith (white part) is not bitter. In fact, none of it is bitter. We just have no idea what to do with it. So, in addition to making our two bottles of infusions, we:

• Put some in Kosher salt a la preserved Moroccan lemons.
• Put a little bit in sugar for her kids to snack on. Seriously yummy.
• Put a baggie of roughly chopped stuff in the freezer to see how it holds up.
• Minced some to put in a mini crock pot to use as potpourri.
• Put mainly the piths in baggies to throw in the garbage disposal to freshen the kitchen.
  

Reportedly, you can make candy out of it, but we haven't delved that far yet. I'm seriously thinking about buying beautiful bottles at Pier 1 and making bottles of the vodka infusion for Christmas gifts.

More to follow. We won't be able to drink it for a month. I'm not a huge fan of vodka, but this is entirely too cool to pass up.