when life gives you lemons…

Today, I received an email from my cousin up north:

Hello there! It’s lemon season again. What’s your limoncello recipe?

I was delighted she remembered my limoncello adventure. Last year, while still living in the Bay Area, I had taken Meyer lemons from her father’s tree, and regular lemons from my boss’s tree. And, of course, when life gives you lemons …

Buggah and I got ambitious. We wanted to give away little bottles of limoncello as presents, though mostly we found we hoarded it to ourselves. There’s a million ways to to do it, but this is the very loose way I did it. Thanks to the Sicilian couple who first passed on the recipe.

You’ll need

-A bottle of grain alcohol/vodka (about 40 proof)
-A few quart jars
-Lemons, of course
-Sugar syrup (made by heating 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water and let it cool)
-Bottles to store the goodness in
-Patience

For one quart:

-Peel 2-6 lemons (I used more than less). I preferred peeling with a vegetable peeler than a zester. Put the peels in the jar. Use the lemons however you want.
-Fill jar with booze, leave about an inch at the top. Seal and store in a dark place.
-Leave it there for no less than two weeks, no more than 40 days. Take it out sometimes, and shake, shake, shake.
-When you can’t wait any longer, strain the peels out and add the cold or room temperature sugar syrup to the alcohol (if it’s hot, the drink will turn cloudy)
-You may pour it into decorative bottles, or drink it straight from the jar. We bought the four-pack individual wine bottles to double the fun. Drink the wine, then fill it with limoncello, then drink the limoncello.
-Store in the freezer, it’s a lovely digestivo.

Notes:

-It may be obvious, but I should mention that the number of lemon peels you use and the amount of time will make the flavor weaker or stronger.
-Meyer lemons will be sweeter (and will give the liquor a darker color) than regular lemons, so you can decrease the sugar syrup.
-Also, I’ve seen one recipe where you only need to let the peels steep for a 2-3 days if you shake the jar several times a day.