DIY Liqueur

Who said "home ec" only consisted of sewing potholders or baking cupcakes? You can have fun in the kitchen making an exotic liqueur -- best of all, it's work that is done in stages, so you have plenty of time to relax and build up a big thirst.

This recipe for limoncello comes from the OC Register's November 27, 2008 edition. I found the recipe and immediately saw the possibilities for an excellent and unusual homemade Christmas gift for my husband. I enlisted the help of my 11-year-old son for the zesting of the lemons, which was a huge help. For a modest fee he may consider helping you, too.

Limoncello

Ingredients:

14 lemons
4 cups grain alcohol (I used a modest-priced vodka like Smirnoff's instead)
3 cups simple syrup (recipe following)

Cook's Notes: really cheap alcohol can give this drink a gasoline-like flavor.

Procedure:

1. Wash, dry and peel lemons, trimming away any white pith. Put peels in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid (I used a Rubbermaid container, which was fine). You won't use the rest of the lemon in this recipe, so make Chicken Picatta for dinner or some lemonade.
2. Add alcohol and seal. (I duct-taped the top just to make sure it didn't pop off.) Place in a cool, dry spot away from sunlight. Let sit for two weeks.
3. Add simple syrup; stir and reseal. Return to its spot and let sit two more weeks.
4. Strain liqueur through a double layer of cheesecloth into a pitcher or other easy-pouring vessel. Strain again through the cloth into individual jars or bottles. I used a dishcloth and strained it into a bowl. Then I used a measuring cup and poured straight into bottles using a funnel. No problem.

The fish bottle I bought is from World Market and cost less than $10. I doubled the recipe and ended up with enough for the whole bottle plus was able to almost fill the original vodka bottle. It makes A LOT and a little goes a long, long way. In fact, it's almost too sweet for hubby (and he loves sweet liqueur), so mixing it with some club soda and serving it over ice might be the way to go.

Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

2.5 cups water
3 cups sugar

Procedure:

1. Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat a bit and keep mixture at low boil for the next five minutes.
2. Set aside to cool in pan. Store in clean glass jar in refrigerator for up to one month if you're not planning to use it right away.

Fun note about zesting all those lemons... hubby found my 28 nude lemons in the garage fridge (remember, I'd doubled the recipe). He was curious... I told him that the kids and I had zested them all so he could use them in his Jack LaLanne juicer and he was so happy! He was probably happier about that than the eventual gift of the liqueur. He is very easy to please :o)

Lemon Tree, Very Pretty...

For Christmas this year, hubby and I decided to give each other homemade presents. He gave me a beautiful picture he created (see his work at www.lightstrokes.org) and I gave him homemade limoncello liqueur.



A friend graciously allowed me to harvest the lemons I needed from her tree -- 14 in all. I thought it was very generous of her, and said so, but she said, "They'd probably just fall to the ground and rot if you hadn't picked them."

Hmmmm... How many other people have full trees that are going to waste?

Enter Tom Sumpter of Sacramento. The entire transcript of his radio interview can be found here: http://www.scpr.org/news/stories/2009/03/09/08_urban_fruit_030909.html but in essence he had a similar "aha moment" and decided to do something about it.

Sumpter organized teams of local folks who went picking. They found local homeowners with laden trees who were glad to donate their fruit in return for a clean backyard. The fruit went to an area food bank, hundreds of pounds in all.

It's a win-win situation for everyone. According to an article in a recent OC Register, food banks are giving out leftover holiday food and other mismatched types of items simply to be able to give out a bag of food. Fresh fruit would be a huge blessing for many people -- and yet it sits on trees in the backyards of people who may not have the time or energy to pick it. Having a group of people come to collect the fresh fruit and donate it for you seems like the best of all worlds.

It's food for thought.