Vanilla beans add wonderful flavor to cheesecakes, custards, and more. Usually, one bean is enough for a recipe, so the extras you get with your purchase tend to dry out before you get another use from them. To make your expense worth the while you can restore the dried beans by placing them in one cup of milk or cream. Now zap in the microwave for 1 minute. This will soften the pod so it will be easier to split and scrape out the seeds. The milk or cream won’t go to waste if you add it to your coffee or tea as a flavored creamer or you can make whipped cream with it to possibly top your dessert.