Parfait! Limoncello

So, you missed your chance at making this lovely lemony liqueur for Thanksgiving, but…

FRET YE NOT!

If you start this weekend, you’ll have a nice batch o’ the good stuff in plenty of time for holiday snozzling and gift giving – one batch will be more than enough for six 8-ounce bottles, with one, rather large bottle, to save for yourself, or someone who has been very, very good this year.

INGREDIENTS
•12 lemons
•1 orange
•1.75L good vodka*
•1-1/2 cups sugar
•3-1/2 cups water

*Don’t go crazy and buy a bottle of artisan spirits. distilled at the dark of the moon whilst listening to a Pink Floyd album, but also don’t buy the 6.99 plastic jug on the bottom shelf in the back corner of the liquor store, either. Remember, at some point, somebody is gonna be drinking this, and you want them to think kindly of you.

Wash the lemons and the orange, then use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest (try to get as little of the white part of the peel as possible, but don’t fret too much about it).

Place the peels in a large container and pour the vodka over all, stirring to mix well. Cover and let stand out of the way for a week at room temperature.

Note: juice the zested lemons and orange, strain the results, then pour it all into ice cube trays and freeze. Stash the frozen juice cubes in a zipper bag and add as needed to recipes calling for a bit of lemon juice.

Here, enjoy a picture of my dog, displaying the excitement entailed in waiting for that week to end.

Of course, we’re not quite done yet…

Combine the sugar with the water in a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring, until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely, then stir into the vodka mixture and give it a stir.

Cover and let this rest at room temperature for another two nights, then strain into bottles, seal and chill until needed.

Very nice.

And really not too, too much of a fuss to put together, you just need to plan ahead and allow for all that settin’ around in the corner stuff.

A nice holiday (or, really, anytime) cocktail is to pour a splash of limoncello in a glass and top it off with sparkling wine. Add an ice cube made of strawberries puréed in a blender.

Celebrate the season.