In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend. When you are ready to freeze, remove the vanilla pod from the base. (Rinse the vanilla pod, dry it, and save it for another use.) Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Alternately, pour 1 cup of the cold base into a sandwich-sized plastic bag and seal with heavy-duty tape (to prevent the salty water from getting into the bag). Fill a 1-gallon plastic storage bag half full of ice and add about 1/2 cup rock or sea salt. Put the smaller bag into the larger bag and seal. Put this bag into a large garbage bag and cover it with more ice and salt. Close the bag and toss around for 15 minutes. Make sure you wipe off all the salty water on the bag containing the finished ice cream before you open it.
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