Without your genius and vision, I would not have created a podcast. Or the world’s first food podcast channel. On iTunes. The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world…are the ones who do. You did, and for that I thank you.

…in the whole wide universe. July is ice cream month, so when I’m feeling overheated and need a little something, I break out my ice cream maker.

This recipe was created during our first year of The Gilded Fork, crafted by Donna Marie Desfor. The basil and orange combination is like sunshine screaming in your mouth, so it’s the perfect taste of summer.

NOTE: If you are gluten-free, skip the cinnamon tuiles. If you are lactose intolerant or dairy-free, you can substitute the cream with 3 cups of full-fat coconut milk (canned).

recipe: basil & orange ice cream with cinnamon tuiles

Serves 8

Ingredients

3 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean pod, split
6 fresh large basil leaves, coarsely torn or chopped
Zest of ½ orange
2/3 cup sugar

Preparation

Place a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Combine the cream, vanilla, and basil to the pot. Gently warm the cream over the heat, but do not let it come to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat when the mixture is just coming to a simmer: you should see steam rising from the surface and small bubbles forming along the edges. Add the sugar and the orange zest, and stir until combined. Remove from the heat, set aside and allow the mixture to infuse while cooling to room temperature.

Optional: Strain into a clean container. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until cold, or overnight.

Stir the chilled mixture and then freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. Transfer ice cream to a container and freeze until solid, about 2 hours. Remove to the refrigerator to “cure” about 20 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Tuiles

Tuiles are thin, crisp cookies that are meant to imitate the shape of a French roof tile. While the “classic” preparation is to drape the hot tuiles over a rolling pin to shape them, you can get adventurous and use underside of a muffin tin to form a cup.

Makes approx. 2 dozen (24) tuiles

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
2 egg whites
½ cup flour
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
Scant 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter and egg whites with a whisk. Whisk until smooth. In a larger bowl, combine the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and cinnamon. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Using an offset spatula, drop one tablespoon of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheet and spread very thin to form about a 6” diameter circle. The batter will look translucent in some spots. Repeat spacing each tuile about 3” apart.

Bake each cookie sheet separately for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to brown. Remove the cookies from the oven. Working quickly, drape the hot cookies over a rolling pin or the side of an empty wine bottle, making sure they do not touch. Once the cookies are firm, transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Prepare the other cookie sheet for baking while the first is in the oven. Repeat. Make sure the cookie sheet is cool before spreading the next round of batter on it.

Recipe originally published in August 2005 on gildedfork.com.

Recipe by Donna Marie Desfor
Photo: Kelly Cline

Interestingly enough, celiac, fibromyalgia and food allergy awareness all happen in May, so I could technically do a trifecta post and cover all bases. However, as one of the bloggers contributing to A Blogger A Day, the Gluten-Free Way for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, I’ll stick with the gluten today. I know. Pun.

One year ago I went gluten-free in an effort to get my fibromyalgia symptoms under a semblance of control. After asking my online community for holistic approaches, I’ve received tremendous support from NFCA and the gluten-free community at large. What a wonderful, loving group of people you all are. I’ve learned oodles about reading labels and educating others, and get so much out of encouraging people with aches and pains to give it a try for themselves. My brother has recovered by leaps and bounds from his various conditions, and the catalyst was seeing my results, so all of your efforts have had a multiplier effect, not the least of which is my new project, Zenfully Delicious. I love when that happens.

I wish I could say that making one change in my diet resulted in a complete turnaround of my health, but alas, there are yet miles to go. Immediately after eliminating the gluten, I was soaring. My body felt great, my skin was lovely, and the pounds were melting off. However, I always let the stress get the best of me, and sometimes the road feels endless.  I’ll save that for the fibromyalgia post.

Avoiding gluten has definitely improved things, however. I’ve learned that it has a significant effect on my body, from swelling (think Violet Beauregard) to mood swings and skin reactions. To better understand this, and to be of any help to you, I’ve used myself as a guinea pig over the past 12 months, because after finding myself terrified to dine anywhere but home, I realized the gluten fear was starting to rule my life, and that just would not do. So I experimented with low levels to see how much my body could tolerate before bad things happened, and discovered that a small dose is manageable. This alleviates the panic of discovering that I’ve taken a few bites of something dredged in flour, or the fear of ordering something that may have been fried in the same oil as breaded food. I experience some swelling, but the reaction doesn’t take me out.

Of course, as I am wont to do, I took experimentation to the extreme over the Christmas holidays, from pasta to cookies and bread, and that was not a good idea. I was in bed for a few days reminding myself not to do that any more. Ever. But because humans can be dumb animals, I also indulged while I was in Vienna earlier this year. At a 5-star Relais Gourmand restaurant, they rolled out a bread cart. I mean, come on! It had at least 20 kinds of bread, beckoning to me like sirens from a world of crusty fantasy and crumb-coated dreams. Olive bread, lavender and honey bread, pretzel bread…lust.

Unfortunately, I was already in the midst of heavy stress, so the past few months have been something from my nightmares (hence my lack of posts). I’ve learned that if I’m not in optimal shape in other areas — calm, implementing regular fitness, sleeping well — the gluten serves as a kind of systemic atom bomb. I’m chalking this up as tuition, and setting up systems to pull all of the other areas of my life into alignment.

Now, mileage varies with gluten intolerance, so if you are new to this, or unsure, don’t take my word for it. For some, even one bite causes migraines, hives, or an extreme reaction requiring an Epi pen. This is where the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness comes in. They are doing a magnificent job whether you are a gluten-free veteran, someone in the inquiry, or a restaurant owner looking to train your staff. Here’s a great look at where they’re headed.

I’ve committed myself to posting again on a regular basis, no matter what I’m feeling like, because I realize that my silence isn’t helping anyone — least of all myself. Last time I broke the silence it led to huge breakthroughs in my health, so I’m climbing back on that train, because I like where it was headed.

Now my question to you: Have you gone gluten-free? If so, why, and what has been your experience? What are you struggling with, or what sense of freedom have you found?

At 12:01 AM on January 1, 2010, I had no idea what was in store for the coming year. I chose to be open to whatever, and hoped things would largely work out for the better, but felt like I essentially knew where I was headed.

12 months later, I sit here with an entirely different existence than what I had envisioned. And for that, I’m grateful. This has been the most extraordinary, challenging, adventurous, soul-enriching year of my life to date, and with that has come catharsis. Since lots of people post their lists of things at the end of the year, this time I’ll play. Here are the 5 major things I learned in 2010:

1. It doesn’t have to look a certain way.
I was always a planner. A perfectionist. An unrelenting taskmaster, mostly toward myself, in creating what I thought was the life that would make me happy. It had to look a certain way, with particular parameters, and anything less was complete and utter failure. There was no room for me the person — just for the tasks that kept me running on the hamster wheel. And that is what led me, in part, to a chronic illness (see #4). Now I’m learning to simply be, and use the planning as a guideline with room for adjustments along the way. There is much more freedom, creativity and well-being in that.

2. People are inherently good.
When my apartment was robbed back in April, I thought the very worst of humanity. In the midst of my devastation, and in fact on the same day, humanity — you — showed up to prove otherwise. I am still blown away by the fact that YOU replaced my stolen laptop, which to this day moves me to the point of tears. I’ve spent the rest of the year crafting new projects that will help others with the challenges they face, and created Zenfully Delicious to put that in motion.

3. Manage the process, not the person, and get out of the way.
Up until August or so, I was still trying to do it all by myself. The Lone Ranger was exhausted, wondering why nothing was moving forward. Turns out it was because said Ranger (me) was standing in the way. Then I began the Team Management & Leadership Program offered by Landmark Education — it’s essentially entrepreneurial boot camp — and saw that every management “skill” I was trying to use was only causing me to spin in circles. Now I am stretching myself to my entrepreneurial limits, learning things that business schools never even touch upon, and hey, things are moving forward in grander ways than I ever imagined. Where I was once overwhelmed by 1 company and side work in web design, I now have 3 companies with teams of people to make them run efficiently. I got out of the way, and am mastering the skills to make myself the most effective leader possible. I am diving into the uncomfortable, and the ride is never dull! But being willing to dive into the uncomfortable has opened doors to things like being asked to keynote my first conference next year. In Vienna.

4. Don’t sweat the small stuff. No, really.
I’ve been doing a little research, and it has become ridiculously apparent to me that stress is the leading factor for our nation’s health problems. I am a living case study in the subject. Since discovering I needed to go gluten-free to get my fibromyalgia under control, I’ve looked at all areas of my life where stress plays a role. It should win an Oscar. My new outlook, and I’m getting better at it every day, involves taking on a sense of peacefulness and well-being every single day. I’ve managed to keep that state of being intact even after getting “glutened” in a restaurant, and had nary a symptom. I’m learning just how much the mind affects the body, and just how much say I have in that.

5. You can have everything you want.
The real question is, who are you willing to be to have it? Note I did not say “What are you willing to do?” The doing is just the busy work; it’s who we are that inspires (or repels) people to play with us and help bring our vision to life. This week I was able to check off a bucket list item, as I got a last-second invitation to the Prince concert at Madison Square Garden. Everywhere I turn, great things are coming into my life, because I invite people to play in my world with me. My commitment to those willing to play is that they get even more out of that than I do. And I get a lot.

So those are the broad strokes for this year. I’ve already got things rolling for 2011, with the biggest project I have ever undertaken, and I am chomping at the bit to get it in motion. So 2010 — and the years going forward — will best be summed up, when I am old and reflecting upon them, by the following:

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body—but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow, what a ride!’
- Anonymous

Oh my, yes. I wish you the very best in 2011, and cannot wait to see where the road takes us. Thank you for being a fellow traveler!

Love,
Jennifer

Yes, darlings, at long last, Zenfully Delicious is up and running! I’m so excited about this project, and extremely encouraged by the response we’ve gotten since our soft launch on Sunday during the Appetite for Awareness event presented by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness in Philadelphia.

It has really struck me how many people there are in search of answers and relief, and I’ve pulled together a fantastic team to take on that mission. We are addressing a range of chronic illnesses, from Fibromyalgia and Celiac to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Diabetes and all of their siblings. We love that a holistic approach is possible for all of them, and offers an alternative to medications that can sometimes do more harm than good (I am a living case study for that). The site is free for right now, but we will unveil a membership program in the coming months comprising menu planning, health & lifestyle coaching and great content from our contributors.

This is a very exciting time, and I really hope we can help to make a difference. It makes my soul smile to know that it’s possible thanks to technology and the spirit of the team with which I’ve surrounded myself. I hope you will join us on a journey to wellness.