Monday, August 31, 2009

And the Winner is.....

Before I started this blog, I sent out an email asking for possible names and jokingly said that the person whose name I picked would recieve a prize. Well, everyone took me seriously on the whole prize thing so I spent several days combing through different ideas that would be blog related and also wanted by the winner. I finally decided that most people I know like alcohol, and most people love lemonade so the only logical choice was limoncello. I happened to have started a batch a few weeks ago, and a bottle of this wonderful concoction will soon be off to my sister who came up with my blog's name!

For those of you who aren't familiar with limoncello, it's made from vodka or grain alcohol that is soaked in lemon peels for weeks and then sweetend with simple syrup. This tasty mixture is kept in the bowels of the freezer until it is consumed, preferably in a frozen shot glass. The frozen mixture is slightly thick and wonderfully refeshing after a long week. Oh, and you don't have to feel like a boozer when you drink it because its Italian, and thats just classy.

Here is my recipe incase you'd like to make a batch for yourself:

Limoncello a la Robin
Ingredients
750 ml of vodka
10 lemons
2 cups of water
2 cups of sugar

1) Pour vodka into a large glass jar. This jar needs to have a lid that seals tightly. A big pickle jar works great.

2) Peel lemons. Make sure there is NO white pith still attached to the peels. If there is white pith it can make your limoncello bitter. I recommend using a good potato peeler and organic lemons.

3) Add lemons to the vodka and store in a dark cool place for at least two weeks. The peels should loose their color as their oil leaches into the vodka. Swirl the jar every couple days.
4) After two weeks, heat the water and sugar to create a simple syrup. After it cools, add it to your vodka. Mix well and allow to rest again in a dark cool place for one week.

5) After a week, stain your mixture through coffee filters or cheese cloth into bottles with a rubber seal. Store in the freezer until you are ready to drink or give as gifts.

3 comments:

Theresa said...

Oooooooooo...do I get the whole jar?!?!

Also, you toggled between "lemon" and "lemon peel". So do you soak the peeled lemons in the vodka too or just the de-pithed peels?

I wouldn't recommend getting loaded on this stuff--with all that sugar I bet it packs a whollop of a hangover! (I'll let you know!)

Robin said...

Haha, no not the whole jar! A small jar lasts for quite some time. I've never had more than about two tall shot glasses full in one sitting. I pity the person who gets really drunk on this stuff.

In regards to your other question, only use the de-pithed peel. You can juice the lemons after you peel them and make yourself some tasty homemade lemonade. Ten lemon made about a pint of juice.

Kay said...

10 lemons makes exactly a pint of juice because I juiced the 10 lemons that Robin used to make the lemon what-cha-ma-call-it. They made for some great lemonade for the next few days.