Vanilla Update

I previously expressed my concern that using vanilla pods that had already been cooked for ice cream and then rinsed would not be sufficient to flavor sugar.  I'm pretty sure I was wrong.  I haven't tasted the vanilla sugar yet, but I did open both jars and smell them, and yes, they do smell very strongly of vanilla.  I'm going to call that a success.

And the homemade vanilla ice cream?  It's made me realize that I've never actually had vanilla ice cream before.  I always thought it was flavorless.  To me, vanilla ice cream was always a neutral, boring choice, tasting cold and sweet, but utterly lacking in any real flavor, and really providing no pleasure.  Perhaps that's because my childhood experience with ice cream was limited to the ultra cheap, and there really is no flavor when it costs $3 for a gallon.  I acknowledge that the chocolate ice cream of my childhood was largely flavorless as well, but I traded that in for the good stuff a long time ago.

Anyway, the vanilla ice cream I made was really good.  The recipe called for three vanilla beans, but next time I might use only two.  I don't think the flavor will be harmed by the reduction.

And just to chronicle the experience:

All those black flecks are tiny vanilla seeds.  Three pods worth. Yum.