Thursday, January 8, 2009

LIMONCELLO cheers happy new year! and..I'm back


After a long silence of months... I am back.
This long silence was due in part to lack of time caused by the fact that we moved from France to Switzerland and in part to the time I needed to settle down in a new place.
... in addition to this ..I'm lazy! but the arrival of the new year has given me the opportunity to start again ....

I thought to toast to the New Year with my lovely limoncello.
The recipe comes directly from Sicily, courtesy of Carmen and Massimo, who we met few years ago on the French Riviera, but after a while they returned to their sunny land, Sicily.
I generally prepare the limoncello once or twice a year, the result depends very much on the quality of the LEMONS! so be careful.
You need organic lemons; the lemons should not be treated on the surface otherwise with your limoncello you will drink the pesticides that are present on the peel!
When the limoncello is ready you can stock it for a long time, if you manage not to drink it!!!!

To present this fabulous and famous drink I chose the glass marker daisy, which always puts me in a good mood. Daisy is part of the collection Cheers sculptures glass marker.
You can have a look in my shop if you have time.

here is the original recipe that I tried lots of times:

ingredients:
-1 liter of still mineral water (personally I add 1,5 liter of water)
-1 liter of pure alcohol 90ยบ (90 degrees)
-5 big organic yellow lemons + 1 organic green lemon (about the green lemon, in my experience it's difficult to find outside Sicily, so I generally substitute it with a yellow one)
-800 grams sugar

*rinse the lemons
*peel the lemons trying to take off only a thin layer and try to avoid the white part of it, using a sharp knife
*put the peels into a closed container with the alcohol and store it in the dark for at least 30 days
*after 30 days, prepare a solution of 1 liter of water and 800 grams of sugar
*boil the solution
*let it cool down
*remove and throw away the peels from the alcohol
*add the alcohol to the water and sugar solution
*pour the solution into several bottles and store it in the freezer

and....cheers.