A while ago my good friend Emma saw a variety pack of vanilla beans at a terrific price. Given that neither of us were professional (or even pretend) bakers any longer, we didn't have need for giant amounts of vanilla beans, but the price was good and we decided that splitting 4 dozen beans was worth it for a measley $12. Sure, some of the beans were lower grade, but some weren't - and in the end they turned out to be a terrific deal.
