Easy Limoncello

Wash and dry 10 large lemons. Peel each lemon with a vegetable peeler, being careful to peel only the yellow peel and not the white pith. That will prevent your limoncello from being bitter.

Toss the peels into a glass pitcher or a jug (Louie makes his in old Carlo Rossi gallon jugs).Add a bottle of your favorite vodka. Cover and let steep at room temperature for at least 4-5 days and up to a few weeks.

Then, when you get around to it . . . make a simple syrup by combining 3 1/2 cups of water and 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Heat until the sugar melts and let cool completely. Add the cooled

simple syrup to the lemon peels and vodka. Stir. Cover. Let sit at room temperature for another day or two or a few : ) . . . You can see that this is a pretty relaxed process. Mine sat on the kitchen counter and Louie stashed his in the closet for about a month. Strain through a fine mesh strainer when you're in the mood and store in bottles or something sealable in your fridge until you finish drinking it. LOL. I stored one in the freezer and it became pretty slushy, I guess because of the added water and sugar. It did not stay in it's liquid form like straight vodka, but it didn't freeze solid either. This recipe was adapted from a Giada DeLaurentis recipe and a few other recipes online. Find one that you like or tweak this one. I have a feeling that you can't go wrong. I'm not sure if more time is better or not . . . Michael Chiarrello has an overnight limoncello recipe that I'll have to check out next.

Limoncello is delicious to sip after dinner. I like it on the rocks, but the frozen limoncello is a sweet, lemony, lush slush. Maybe we can name it Lemony Luscious Sluscious. Hmmmm. Whatdya think?

Make yourself a batch of limoncello. Drink a little. Give some to your friends. Share some with your neighbors. Pretend you're on the Amalfi Coast, in Lemon Heaven.

Lemons are lovely, so when life gives you lemons, make limoncello, my friends.

Love,

Katie