Limoncello

Limoncello is one of those wonderful things that is significantly better when it is home made than store bought. This traditional Italian liquor is delicious when poured over ice cubes and sipped at the end of a long hot day, or sipped straight in the dead of winter, savoring the warm sun flavor. The trick to making good limoncello is patience. The longer you can stand to wait with the lemons infusing in the liquor, the better it will taste. Many Californians prefer to make their limoncello with Meyer lemons, because of their fragrance and sweet flavor, although traditionally it is made with Lisbon lemons in Europe.

• Ready In: 2161 hrs
• Serves: 50
• Yields: 2 Liters

Ingredients

• 2 (750 ml) bottles vodka, clear liquor (grappa is traditional) or 2 (750 ml) bottles  other inexpensive clear  liquor (grappa is traditional)
• 20 -30  lemons (fresh picked)
• 2 -3  cups water
• 2 -3  cups sugar

Directions

1. Using a sharp paring knife, cut the peel away from the white, bitter pith.
2. Put the peels in a large glass jar and add the vodka.
3. Put the large jar of liquor away in a place where the sun won't reach it, and then wait. The longer you wait, the more flavor the lemon peels will impart. If you're really impatient, you can try it after a month, but it's best to wait at least 3 months.
4. Make the simple syrup. Mix equal parts water and turbinado sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar melts and becomes liquid (use more sugar if you want it really sweet). Add it to the jar of booze and lemons and wait a week or two.
5. Using a sieve, filter out the lemon bits (squeezing them to get all the flavor out of them), and decant the limoncello into bottles. Most people say "wait another week", but go ahead and taste it now, it's good, eh?.
6. After a week, put the bottles in the freezer for serving.