Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Lemon Heaven - if god gives you lemons, make Lemoncello!

My new house has a lemon tree.....



Which is kinda cool....
This tree has the most amazing lemons....

Huge.
Succulent.
Juicy.

Straight from my tree - that makes them free....Cool!


But what to do with so many lemons??
Easy.....
Lemoncello

Care of that awesome chick Sarah from A Beach Cottagemy all time fave blog site....what she can't do with vintage finds does not exist....
(I am in the process of turning my very balinese house to white everything just from her inspiration..)

Anyhoo, she loves this Lemoncello stuff, home made of course, so when I was granted this plentiful supply of lemons, what's a gal to do....

and it's soooo easy....

About 10 lemons (depending on the size)
One bottle good quality vodka
3 cups water
2 1/2 cups of white sugar (you can alter depending on your sweet tooth, Sarah uses 3 1/2 but that was a bit sweet for me...so I just added more vodka!!)
That's it!



1) First you want to remove the skin, leaving most of the pith on the lemon, otherwise it's too bitter. 
I just used a really sharp peeler, worked a treat!

How beautiful do my lemons look?

(with your left over lemons? I juiced mine and froze for fresh lemon juice on hand 24/7!)




2) Put into a sealable container, and cover with your Vodka.

'any good quality vodka will do'

3.) Now, step away from the fridge, show some patience, and leave it to work  its magic for about a week or so......

4.) Ok, back you come....now get your brew out.
Using a colander, drain the lemons and vodka into a large bowl.

Hmmm, looks a little like a bed pan?? anyhow.....

5.) Take your 3 cups of water and bring to boil on the stove...
While it's coming to the boil, measure out your sugar, ok? You keeping up???

My husbands new mixing bowls, just the trick!

6.) Now turn your heat down to low and slowly add your sugar till its dissolved and a light syrupy consistency.

Don't you just love these Neo Flam organic saucepan range??
These are from Eco Vida and I adore them....
7.) Ok, we're on the home stretch - almost....
Once its cooled, simply add it to your lemon vodka and bottle away...you should have about 2 bottles worth.


8.) Now here's where the extra little bit of patience comes in....
It will need storing now for a few weeks while the flavours develop...the longer the better...

Then - the hardest bit - try not to drink it all!!
Its totally addictive and sublimely yummy....
Serve over masses of crushed ice, or top with soda, lemonade, whatever your taste buds are screaming out for.

I have packaged up my bottles and they are off with me to Sydney to share with my best gal pals.. 
We'll be celebrating Melbourne Cup on Sydney Harbour and what better way to spend time relaxing out on the water than with this little speciality.....I'll be tré populàr....
Until next time,
Trà,

Your Pal,
Maria x x x


Thanks Sarah...




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