I never know what to do with the pods from vanilla beans (I used one just this weekend for crème brûlée) and Michael Ruhlman has a simple answer: pack em in sugar, make vanilla sugar.

Agave nectar is one of those silver bullets that’s appeared, mostly in so-called health foods, in the wake of increased public consciousness about high-fructose corn syrup. Don’t believe the hype, processed sugar is processed sugar, whether it comes from corn, cane, beets or cacti. (Chef’s hat tip to Marco for the link)