Vanilla bean good to me

Jaden's Steamy Kitchen's been very good to me! You may recall that I was one of the winners of the vanilla sweepstakes. The beans arrived today from Saffron.com.
It took a while for the prizes to be mailed, which didn't worry me much. I figured the beans would show up sometime. But Jaden wasn't as patient. As it turned out, the company was waiting for a new shipment. They were very apologetic when Jaden contacted them, and said they'd send along some extract, too.
And they threw in a big pinch of saffron! How's that for customer service?

The vanilla beans were vacuum-packed. I can't tell you how lovely they smelled when I cut open the foil package (which I'm tempted to turn into a hat or a brooch – or a pterodactyl – just to get the most out of that lovely smell). I will toss the beans in their own jar of sugar (minus a few going to friends; you know who you are!) and report back later on how they fare in my cooking.

Thanks, Jaden! And thanks, Saffron.com!