Holy Toledo! We were in the local Whole Foods market today - vanilla
beans are sold _one_ at a time, in glass or plastic jars, at a cost of
between $6 and $12 - that's for one freakin' bean.

I called a store not too far from here, a huge place we sometimes shop
that has fabulous prices and usually sells in quantity - $4.49 for _one_
bean.

Yowser! I'd love both an explanation and a source for less expensive
vanilla beans.

Thanks.

-S-