Gluten Free Diet

I recently found out that I have an intolerance to Wheat and Gluten. It's a lifestyle change for me. For so many years, I've struggled with not knowing why I had constant adominal pain after every meal. Just 1 1/2 weeks ago I was dignosed with Celiac Disease. It's a prevalent disease that is heredity. 1 in every 200 people have this but are not aware of it. It took 3 physicians to finally dignosed my symptoms using a blood test and a performing a biopsy. The only way to avoid further damaging my small intestine which was unable to absorb all the nutrients that I was intaking is to live Gluten Free.

I'm glad to finally find out what was wrong with me. At first I thought it was an ulcer or just antacids. It's been 2 weeks so far living gluten free. I did lose some weight, which is a plus. But,
I must admit it's still a challenging transition since majority of foods which I love I can no longer have. Although, I have found other alternatives to work around wheat and gluten products. I started baking again. Yesturday I made a gluten free banana chiffon cake using rice flour and it turned out just as good as the wheat version. Since, gluten and wheat is found in most condiments as a binding agent. It was difficult to cook stir frys since I usually use soy sauce which contains wheat. I've found a specialty market "Mothers" which carries a gluten free version. I guess you can say it's going to be a long journey but this is just the beginning. It's been going okay so far. I have been feeling much better after every meal. No more adominal pains.

I scream you scream we all scream for Ice Cream!

Dh and I purchased an ice cream maker from Bed Bath and Beyond a month ago. We were really excited to make our own ice cream. and started the very next day. It's been a fun journey since day one. I've made plenty of ice creams varieties ranging from coffee, fat free yogurt, lavendar ice cream to garlic ice cream. Yes, you didn't read this wrong. It's actually really good. The first time we tried this was at the Stinking Rose in Los Angeles. After that, I wanted to make my very own. I made my very first batch a week ago. I'll be sure to post the recipe on my blog.

One ice cream I defininitely recommend lavendar lovers is to try lavendar ice cream. One of my friends picked up a container of fresh culinary lavander for me. Since then, I've made some lavendar short bread cookies and some lavendar ice cream. Both are a real treat. The recipes below were adapted from Epicurious.

LAVENDAR ICE CREAM

*Adapted from Epicurious

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup half-and-half

2/3 cup mild honey2

tablespoons dried edible lavender flowers

*2 large eggs1/8 teaspoon salt

Special equipment: an ice cream maker

Preparation

Bring cream, half-and-half, honey, and lavender just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat. Let steep, covered, 30 minutes.
Pour cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard lavender. Return mixture to cleaned saucepan and heat over moderate heat until hot.
Whisk together eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add 1 cup hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour into remaining hot cream mixture in saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 170 to 175°F on thermometer, about 5 minutes (do not let boil).
Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.
Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

Cooks' notes:• To cool custard quickly after straining, set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until chilled. • Custard can chill up to 1 day before freezing. • Ice cream keeps 1 week.

LAVENDAR SHORT BREAD COOKIES



1 1/2 cups (3/4 pound) butter, at room temperature (no substitutes)

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons very finely chopped lavender florets (fresh or dried)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

2 1/3 cups flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F.Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender, and mint with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch, and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm. On a floured board, roll or pat out each square to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 -inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown). Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with lavender powdered sugar. Garnish:lavender powdered sugar: Put a 4 or 5 sprigs of lavender flowers in a sealed jar with powdered sugar for a day before using the sugar.

Enjoy!