Good morning, gardeners, and welcome to the Saturday Morning Garden Blog!
Now that winter's upon us and our gardens are mostly asleep, i thought it might be a good time to introduce a new and hopefully recurring Saturday Morning Garden Blog feature called, "How To Use It." In one way or another, so many of us have embraced a "garden to table" philosophy, and at least some of what we grow in our yards eventually makes its way to our bellies. The SMGB "How To Use It" feature is a place where we can officially share our favorite recipes, or other ways we make use of the things we grow in our gardens.
Although i'm not among those lucky enough to have lemons ripening in the yard this time of year (i'm looking at you, nkgodfrey), i recently picked a bag of beautiful lemons from the produce section of my local grocery store (i know, but let's just pretend i grew them myself). So, without further ado, let's get this feature started with, "How To Use It - Lemons!"
A little over two years ago, i pulled a bottle of homemade limoncello out of the bowels of my mother's freezer. It had been in there so long, she couldn't remember exactly when or how she made it. I can honestly say it was one of the most delicious things i'd ever tasted. I knew right then and there, i would one day make a batch of my own.
Limoncello is an Italian liquor made from lemon zest, sugar syrup, and a high proof alcohol. To aid in digestion, it's often served as an aperitif (before a meal) or a digestif (after a meal). Since it's always served ice-cold to fully refresh the palate, it's usually stored in the freezer.
Although the recipes i found on-line were abundant and varied, i felt it was best to keep it simple for my first go-around and stick with just the basics. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! The recipe i chose is as follows:
(1) 750ml bottle of 190 proof Everclear;
Peeled skin from 12 organic lemons, no pith (i used 13 since my lemons were small);
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar; and
3 1/2 cups water.
First, thoroughly wash the lemons in cold water and allow them to dry ...
Next, carefully peel the rind of the lemons, avoiding any of the bitter white pith, and dump the shavings into a big glass jar ...
Add the alcohol, and place the jar in a cool location that doesn't get any direct sun. Shake the jar once a day to agitate the citrus ...
After about two weeks, the essential oils from the peels should be fully extracted. At that point, it's time to prepare the syrup by heating the sugar and water for a minute or two in the microwave ...
In retrospect, it might have been better to use white, granulated sugar, rather than the organic cane sugar i chose. Ideally, the syrup should be clear, so that's a mental note for next time ...
Once the syrup has cooled down, it's time to add the booze by pouring it through a filtered funnel. Note that the syrup becomes cloudy when combined with the essential oils from the lemon peels - this cloudiness is known as the “louche” effect ...
At last, it's time to grab the bottles ...
Thoroughly stir the limoncello ...
Fill, cap, and label the bottles ...
Voila! You're done! It's my understanding that a well made limoncello only gets better with age. Although the flavor of this batch won't be sufficiently mature until the Christmas of 2020, i'm sure i won't be able to wait a full year to open the first of these cute little bottles. So Christmas of 2019 it is. Happy Holidays, everyone! Salute! Chin chin!
Do you have any exciting plans for the holidays? And what's going on in your gardens?
PS: Here's our upcoming Saturday Morning Garden Blog hosting schedule. As always, if anyone would like to write a diary (whether it be about gardening matters in general, or a "How To Use It" special feature), drop a note in the comment section (or send one of us a private message). We need more regular writers if we want to keep this series going, and new contributors are always welcome.
December 21st (Vol. 15.51) — beaky
December 28th (Vol. 15.52) — Mimer
January 4th (Vol. 16.01) — ninkasi23
January 11th (Vol. 16.02) — Missy’s Brother (GUG)
January 18th (Vol. 16.03) — Womanthinker
January 25th (Vol. 16.04) —
February 1st (Vol. 16.05) —
February 8th (Vol. 16.06) —
PPS: Some of you have already shared your garden harvest recipes, either in the body of a general SMGB diary, or in the comments section. If you're so inclined, please feel free to share those same recipes again by hosting a Saturday Morning Garden Blog "How To Use It - X" diary. That sub-heading will make it much easier for folks to find a garden harvest recipe whenever they need it.