After the main duty of your vanilla bean (crème brûlée, vanilla sauce or ice cream, caramel sauce, etc.) you may be tempted to toss it. Why not keep it and extend its life and usefulness? After rinsing it off, allow to dry at room temperature and stick it into your container of granulated sugar. This will impart a vanilla essence in the sugar, giving it a vanilla aroma and flavor which can travel to your pastry recipes containing that sugar.