November 10
va-ni-la n., unexciting, normal, conventional or boring – at least that’s how it’s defined in the Urban Dictionary. Oh, you thought this post was about the Vanilla Reload Card from Visa? Sorry to disappoint you, this post is just about…vanilla. With all this talk about Vanilla, I got to wondering, where does vanilla come from? Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t come from Office Depot. Vanilla is a flavoring derived from Orchids (I see a Thai Airways promo in the making) primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-Leaved Vanilla.
I honestly had no idea Vanilla came from Orchids, that was news me. I mean, I’ve heard of Vanilla Ice, Vanilla Coke, French Vanilla, Vanilla Sky (terrible movie by the way) but I’d never heard of the Vanilla Orchid before. Now, unless you’ve been in a country without the internet and travel blogs, you’ve probably heard about the Vanilla Visa Cards. Personally, I can’t wait for the Saffron card by MasterCard to hit stores. Just kidding, there’s no Saffron card.
How did we come by Vanilla? In the 15th century, Aztecs invading the highlands of Mexico conquered the Totonacs and developed a taste for the vanilla pods. The Totonacs paid tribute to their conquerors by sending them Vanilla. Until recently, Vanilla was delivered in the form of plastic by clerks at big box stores. Fortunately for bakers, there’s no run on the floral kind. If you’re in search of the plastic kind, you might want to make like the Aztecs and find new ground to conquer. Happy hunting.
Are you and the repeating snoozefest bloggers at boardingarea in some giant circle jerk competition all trying to out Bluebird each other? It’s as if you’re all in a giant Ink Bold bukakke party to see who can leave the room with the most azure tint dripping down your faces and affiliate cash as possible.
I relish the day when this elementary Vanilla reload Bluebird drivel is done with just so you guys can step out of this route of laziness and get back to your previously higher quality work that veterans of this game can appreciate.
@NoCajonesToApprove – first, I don’t have affiliate links. Second, satire…ever heard of it? If you read my blog you’d know that I’ve never blogged about Vanilla, Bluebird or any other credit card.
I’ve always preferred chocolate to vanilla
Or Strawberry for that matter.
WHAT THE F… IS THAT
@nocajones what about the repeating snoozefest of your cut and paste repeating comments? talk about laziness. you posted the exact same thing @mommypoints.
That nocajones person has posted the same tiresome comment on other blogs. I thought your post was a nice break from all that plastic flavor mania and funny!
@Kodoma & @hulagrrl210. – glad you saw the humor in the post.
What a crappy post, worst humor of all time.
so hilarious! keep up the good work Stacey… i love satire
@kevincm chocolate has vanilla too! It’s a key component of the flavor (check out a label)!
And we ARE actually at risk of shortage of vanilla. One typhoon several a few years ago wiped out most of the crop causing the price to skyrocket for several seasons. The race is on in the vanilla world to build up alternate supplies.
Fun facts about vanilla:
It only grows within ~20 degrees latitude of the equator
It can only be pollinated by hand
Some bean/pods is often marked with the name of the farm it came from, so if you ever get a full bean (vs extract) look for an engraving on the dried bean. (or google some images…very neat stuff!
@Jamison – thanks, had to add a little humor to the day
@Ryan, I did see that prices had skyrocketed! Interesting fun facts!
My favorite is jamoca almond fudge!