Buy a vanilla bean.

Bury it in a jar of sugar.

Shake the jar around from time to time, being sure to keep the lid screwed on tightly.

Use vanilla sugar instead of sugar + vanilla extract.

Add more sugar when you take some out.

Add another vanilla bean in a year or so.

Remove a vanilla bean from the jar and scrape off its infinitesimal seeds, where the pure vanilla flavor resides, when you want a stronger vanilla flavor than you can get from vanilla sugar -- or vanilla flavor without sweetness.

Vanilla-flavored savory dishes were all the rage for a while, but I think the fad has died out. Here's a recipe for vanilla fish.