Cranberry or Pineapple??

[jiminyC_fan]

Hey, after a day like this, I could consume all that and more!!!!!!!

 

[Jsme]

Hey, after a day like this, I could consume all that and more!!!!!!!

That is just the first step, Sandy. You let the Everclear and the peels set for 7 to whatever time period. Then you make a simple syrup and mix with the drained everclear. You put that up in the freezer for another set amount of time. After is sits a bit longer it is ready. When you mix the simple syrup with the everclear mixture it turns cloudy, more like what you buy in the stores.

 

[Jsme]

I will take a picture of the mixture later and then again when we drain out the peels and another when we combine the simple syrup. That should help you guys.

You need a real good and sharp vegetable peeler. I bought two new ones. Jeff picked his out and I picked mine out.

I bought one similar to this one

Jeff wanted one similar to this one so he bought this one



Mine worked much better to cut the peel from the lemons.

So if you make this girls remember to have a good vegetable peeler. It makes the lemons peel so easy. Plus remember to do something with the lemons because they will go bad quickly.

 

[Jsme]

This is a photo of the ingredients necessary to make limoncello - a large jar with a tight-sealing lid, grain alcohol, a vegetable peeler and a pile of lemons. I made a double batch, so I had 16 big lemons in that bowl, all thoroughly washed.

 

[Jsme]

Here’s an example of some of the lemon peels - you want to get as little of the white stuff as possible on the peels, as that adds bitterness to your limoncello. With 16 lemons to peel, my hand was seriously cramped at the end of the process. You shouldn’t have the same painful experience with only eight or so.

 

[Jsme]

And after peeling for what seemed like forever (and getting increasingly lazy in my efforts to keep the white bits off the peels), I ended up with this - a bowl full of naked lemons and a bunch of peels in my jar. It should be noted that the lemons will go bad quickly if left out without their skins, so either chuck them in plastic bags and get them in the fridge right away (and plan to use them soon), or juice them and either use or freeze the juice

 

[Jsme]

Then, into the big jar with all the lemon peels goes the two bottles of grain alcohol (again, this was a double batch). Thankfully, when I originally bought this jar a few years ago the first time I made limoncello, I got a container that was far too large for one single batch. This is one instance where my inability to accurately guess at volume came in handy, because as you can see there’s not only plenty of room for twice the number of lemons and alcohol, but there’s still room to shake the contents up. After dumping the alcohol into the jar, I put the jar in a dark cupboard.

 

[Jsme]

Already by the next day, you can see how much the alcohol has already sucked some of the color (and flavor) out of the lemon peels. The previous day’s clear liquid has turned yellow. The mixture gets shaken every day to help the process along, so if you squirrel yours away into a spot that you don’t access daily, make a note to yourself and stick it on your fridge or something so you don’t forget about it.

Four days into the process the liquid is even more yellow, and more opaque. You can’t see it very well in this picture, but the lemon peels are growing more and more pale, as the liquid grows darker.


Finally, it’s day seven and time to finish making the limoncello. When you strain the lemon peels out of the alcohol, you can really see how pale they are - remember how bright they were before? And what’s more, the peels are no longer soft and pliable - they are now crispy. I don’t know of anything to do with them except toss them, so if someone has a brilliant use for these, do let me know.

 

[Jsme]

 

[Jsme]

The next step is the combining of the sugar and water. It’s not necessary to heat this mixture to even a simmer, as long as you keep an eye on it you can take it off the heat as soon as the sugar is no longer visible and it looks like a pot of clear water.

 

[Jsme]

This is easily my favorite part of the whole limoncello-making process - the alchemy, if you will. You begin this part with a clear liquid in one pot and a relatively translucent liquid in another. Sure, the yellow stuff isn’t as see-through as the clear stuff, but you can still see the bottom of the dish holding the lemon-flavored alcohol. Nothing special here, right?

 

[Jsme]

But the second the one hits the other, the clear yellow turns to a milky yellow color, creamy and opaque and fabulous. It’s like magic to me, and it’s when I know the limoncello is done. I have no idea what makes this particular combination of ingredients do this, and not every limonello recipe produces this same result - but I love it, and can’t imagine limoncello without it.

 

[Jsme]

And here we are with the finished product! Save those alcohol bottles, folks, they make excellent limoncello containers. I also used some sparkling French lemonade bottles this time, too, because they came with rubber stoppers. These bottles were given to friends, so I simply tied a yellow tag around the neck of each one and wrote “Limoncello 2007″ on each one. Keep these in the freezer and you’re all set. (The little glass in the picture has ice cubes in it because the limoncello was not yet cold, but ordinarily you wouldn’t put ice cubes in limoncello.)

I do recommend not letting your limoncello sit for too long - I tried the last few sips of one made last summer and all the sweetness was gone. So, I’d say don’t save it for a special occasion, make every evening a special occasion!

 

[Jsme]

Ok that is the recipe I posted earlier on the link.

Remember this is a double recipe from what I am making.

I am sorry I had to post so many times but I could only post one picture per post.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Thanks for posting that for me Selena. I am seriously going to go to the store this weekend and probably start to make it on Sunday since Saturday is my Bridal Shower. Mom - you want to help?? We don't have a very good peeler, do you?

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Heidi, I am so excited. I think it would be fun. No, I don't have a good peeler. Maybe Friday we could go shopping for everything.

Selena, it was nice to see pictures of the steps.

Ok, so where is Marcie, Jrsy, Cristi, Lulu, Robbie? A little bit of nice weather and everyone disappears.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Hi, all!

Selena, that looks delicious! I have some bottles of "buddha-cello" here - limoncello made with buddha's hand citron peel instead of lemon. It is so good! I've found that I like it with a little less sugar than most recipes call for. It's great in sorbet, too!

There was a bomb scare a few blocks away from me yesterday. A man put a bomb in his wife/potential ex wife's trunk. A robot had to detonate it and all. It all turned out ok, but the world's scary sometimes!

I will be giving my presentation tomorrow night for grad school. I can't wait to get it overwith.

Hope you're all doing great!

I hope your shower is WONDERFUL, Heidi!!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

There was a bomb scare a few blocks away from me yesterday. A man put a bomb in his wife/potential ex wife's trunk. A robot had to detonate it and all. It all turned out ok, but the world's scary sometimes!

I will be giving my presentation tomorrow night for grad school. I can't wait to get it overwith.

Wow, that is scary. Good luck on your presentation. You will do awesome!!

 

[ImMarcik]

I'm here.

Grey's Anatomy is finally back on tonight!!!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Morning everyone. Glad my "call out" got two of you to post!