I had my first lesson on driving a manual transmission after Mr. ThirdRow encountered limoncello for the first time at my parent’s house last spring. Limoncello is a wonderful, traditional Italian drink. It’s the perfect after-dinner treat. We both love it. So, when I came across this article on NPR about making your own, I knew that we couldn’t shouldn’t resist. We decided that small bottles of creamy limoncello would be the perfect compliment to our handmade soap for our family’s homemade Christmas.
We followed Susan’s recipe with just a few slight variations. We used Kirkland brand Vodka that we bought at Costco instead of Everclear. The result was that our limoncello freezes slightly while stored which is easily remedied by setting out a bottle a few minutes before serving to allow it to become pourable again. We also used a few less lemons and an extra orange or two which added a slight sweetness that I really enjoy.
Let’s just say that making this limoncello was truly an adventure. Our house was robbed in the middle of the process (luckily the little punks didn’t steal the huge tub of vodka and lemon peels that were soaking on our kitchen counter) and we had our first major post-marriage fight while adding the cream to the first batch.
I’m happy to report that our fight has long since been resolved and the limoncello turned out as a wonderfully tart, sweet treat in spite of us. We bottled our final product in glass bottles with cork stoppers. For a special holiday touch we dipped them in gold bottling wax to add that je ne sais quoi classiness.
Linked Up: http://www.skiptomylou.org/
Minted Magazine
/ January 12, 2012Looks like it turned out great. Love the glasses that they’re in.
Minted Magazine
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Marilyn
/ January 12, 2012You are officially the fanciest people I know.
Rachel
/ January 23, 2012I’ve been wanting to make limoncello for some time. The injunction to include no pith whatsoever has always scared me off (I’d hate to ruin a batch) but, perhaps, I’ll have to give it a try!
Erin
/ January 23, 2012You should give it a go! We did a double straining process to keep the pith to a minimum. First we poured through a mesh strainer and then through a fine cheese-cloth like towel. Worked great!