Limoncello

Making good limoncello is easy. Drinking good limoncello responsibly? That can be a little more difficult, especially when it is hot outside.

A quick story - on our honeymoon, Sara and I spotted a small bottle of Limoncello di Calabria at a Florentine wine shop. We brought this home to Grandma DeLucia (Aunt Kitty) as a souvenir, knowing that both her father's and mother's families hailed from somewhere within the region of Calabria.

"Hey, that's where my people are from!" she said, all smiles, "but what is it?"

"It's limoncello, try a little..."

So she says "A Salute!", takes a shot and then says "This is good. I'm going to have this all myself, you people can go now."

The first few times I made it myself, I used everclear (per the recipe I had), back when you could still buy everclear (circa 1999 for you youngsters). I actually prefer it now with vodka, because the everclear version could also be used to strip paint - too strong, too astringent.

Ingredients:

1 fifth vodka (cheap, unflavored vodka, no need to spend a lot here)

same amount of simple syrup (about 1 1/2 cups water and 4 cups sugar)

4-5 organic lemons

LIGHTLY zest the lemon skins into a bowl, being careful not to zest the pith (white layer below the yellow skin) - the pith is very bitter.

Put this zest in a large glass jar/pitcher. Pour in the vodka. Cover and let stand for 2 days, swirling the mixture every once in a while.

After 2 days, strain out the solids through paper coffee filters. Make some simple syrup by boiling the sugar in water until the sugar is fully dissolved. Pour this into the strained lemon liqueur until the total volume is roughly doubled (or until it tastes right to you). Bottle. Refrigerate. Do not freeze this type - there's too much water and not enough alcohol so it could burst the glass container.

The lemon zest and vodka at day two - just added some lavender blossoms (floating near top).

Variation: Try to infuse with some fresh herbs for a few hours at a time, before you strain the liqueur. You should not leave them in too long, because it can turn the whole thing very bitter if you are not careful. I have used (on separate occasions): lavender, sage, rosemary, tarragon. This can be tricky, but a fun thing to experiment with. Check the aroma ever couple hours to make sure it is not becoming too astringent.

I have also added berries at this point to adjust color (ie, strawberries result in a light pink version).

Make sure you do any of this before you strain the liqueur and before you add the syrup.

Tip: Use organic lemons - they tend to a) not have chemicals on their skin which will give your limoncello and off flavor and b) they tend not to have wax sprayed on their skin (which you could remove by dropping them in boiling hot water for 30 seconds - but this also can remove some of the good oils and natural color you are trying to infuse into the limoncello). It's just easier to use organic ones

Three little shot glasses from Grandma:

"Fuel for a cold windy night"

"Solution for a hot summer day" and

"Tonic for a rainy afternoon".

Good Luck

Cin Dun! or as Grandma would say "A Salute!"