What to do with left over vanilla

When I made the vanilla spiced peaches a few weeks ago, I was left with a lone vanilla pod. Now, vanilla isn't cheap, so I wanted make sure to use it before it began to loose it's flavor. I decided to stick with a classic - vanilla ice cream. It was wonderful. It's a custard based recipe, so be prepared for thick and rich that just doesn't come out of a Byers container. It also take a little time, so don't plan to whip it together after work.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
From: Ice Cream Recipes.com

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
1/2 pint (250 ml) milk
1/2 pint (250 ml) heavy cream
4 oz (approximately 1/2 cup) sugar
1 vanilla pod sliced long-way down the middle

Pour milk into saucepan and bring the pan slowly to the boiling point. Place vanilla pod into the milk and turn the heat off. Leave it to infuse for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, beat together egg yolks and sugar until thick. Carefully remove the vanilla pod from the milk and scrape the seeds out with the back of your knife and add back into milk. Be careful not to use too much force or you will also get part of the woody hull, which you will then have to try and fish out of your mixture.

Pour the milk mixture into the eggs and sugar while stirring. Pour the mixture back into the pan and heat gently, stirring while the custard thickens. DO NOT BRING TO A BOIL or it will probably curdle. Do stir constantly (don't worry that the vanilla looks clumpy). When you can see a film on the back of your spoon remove the saucepan from the heat.

Leave it to cool. Once mine came near room temperature, I covered it and put it in the fridge until I was ready to finish the ice cream. When you are ready to make the ice cream, take the custard out of the fridge and stir in the cream. Put the mixture in your ice cream maker and process.

Totally worth the work (and the wait) :)! Happy Labor Day!