Lemon Basil Ice Cream

I lead a double life.

Worker bee, wife, friend and mother by day.

Foodblogger, tweeter and recipe dreamer-upper by night.

That’s how it feels sometimes when I get together with old friends. The ones I’ve known forever. The pre-food sensitivity, pre-foodblogger, just plain old Nancy friends. The ones I get to see face-to-face.

I have another life—one that revolves around this food blog. One that includes you and my friends on Twitter and the other folks who write the blogs I love to visit. The friends I don’t get to see face-to-face.

I talk about many of the same things to my friends in both worlds: food and food sensitivities and gluten-free recipes and everything in between and around those subjects. I share what my husband likes to eat, what my son is doing, the latest antics of the little dogs.

There’s a dividing line between those worlds—sort of like the Mississippi River. One riverbank never touches the other riverbank. My double life.

Those two worlds are about to collide. In a few short weeks I’ll be at the Big Summer Potluck (organized by Maggy of Three Many Cooks and Erika of The Ivory Hut). There a gathering of mostly NE foodbloggers will spend the day together talking food and blogs. I’m excited about the content (guest speaker Alice from Savory Sweet Life), the venue, and connecting with cool foodbloggers, some of whom I’ve been talking to online for ages (that’s you Jeanne and Amber!!)

This is going to be a blast!

While I muse about colliding worlds I’m doing what any self-respecting food blogger would do—I’m savoring some Lemon Basil Ice Cream. It’s a creamy bright lemon-ice flavored confection suitable for a hot summer night and an evening of pondering riverbanks and meeting up with friends from faraway places.

Lemon Basil Ice Cream

Combine in a medium saucepan and heat until all the sugar is dissolved (do not boil):

1 can coconut milk (not lite)

1/2 cup purified water

3/4 cups sugar

pinch of salt

Remove from the heat and add:

1/4 cup washed basil leaves

Let the basil and coconut milk steep, off of the stove, for about 45-60 minutes.

Remove the leaves (I poured the liquid through a fine sieve) and whisk in:

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)

4 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 of the lemons)

Chill in your refrigerator in a glass or ceramic bowl overnight or long enough (maybe 4-6 hours) for it to become very cold. Process it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

I originally finely chopped some additional basil leaves and added them to the chilled mixture because I love the green speckles. Although it looked pretty I didn’t enjoy the feeling of the basil pieces on my tongue.

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Woohoo! Yoohoo! (Dairy-free) Chocolate Coconut Water

Answer: 1920s. In New Jersey. By a paisano named Natale Olivieri.

Question: When, where and by whom was Yoo-Hoo originally made and sold.

That’s all I’ve got folks.

No cute story about why I decided to mimic dairy-free Yoo-Hoo.

Sometimes something just pops into my head and I’m off and running.

Other than that I’ve got nothing.

Clearly there’s only one real Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink but, if you can’t have dairy or corn or are avoiding HFCS give this little recipe a try. It’s a smooth, light, healthy knock-off of a childhood favorite—a sweet treat to remind us how cool it is to be a kid.

So, go ahead, be a kid again for a day. Have a tall glass of Woohoo! Yoohoo! Chocolate Coconut Water and a few Four Chicken’s Animal Crackers. 

Woohoo! Yoohoo! Chocolate Coconut Water

Mix together in a glass, heatproof measuring cup:

1 1/2 tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder

2 tablespoons Vance’s Darifree

A pinch of salt

Pour in & stir until smooth:

1/4 cup very warm (not boiling) water

Place the cocoa mixture into a blender with:

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons agave nectar

1 3/4 cups coconut water (alternatively you can use purified water)

Whir for a minute or two. Chill and serve. Makes two 1 cup servings.

You can probably double or triple this recipe and keep it in the fridge for a few days.

Both 100% pure unflavored coconut water (like ONE) and Vance’s Darifree are gluten-free and dairy-free. The local grocer and health food or specialty stores, like Trader Joe’s, carry coconut water. I found Vance’s Darifree at Wegmans.

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