Limoncello Homemade Liquor

I had always wanted to make Limoncello and I posted a picture on Instagaram of Buddha Hand (see below) that I had found at Whole Foods with “what do you do with this?” as the caption.  My friend Mary  responded and told me to make Limoncello.

Then Craftsy contacted me and asked if I would be interested in taking one of their online crafting classes and writing a post telling my readers about them, I wasn’t sure until I saw the list of classes that they offered and when I one of the classes was making Homemade Limoncello, I was sold, but then they sweetened the deal by offering my readers up to 25% off a full-length Craftsy course.  Whether you want to make Limoncello or the perfect pie crust, Craftsy has something for you.  I found the videos easy to follow and full of clever ideas.

Though I didn’t use the Buddha Hand to make my Limoncello I did use 10 organic lemons; using organic is important because non-organic lemons are covered with pesticides while they are growing.  I also used 1 – 750 ml bottle of vodka or high-proof spirit like Everclear, 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water.

I found some great little gift cards and ribbon at the container store and had the perfect Homemade Holiday Gift.

Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy, especially in the region around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the coast of Amalfi and islands of Procida, Ischia and Capri.

You can drink Limoncello alone, or mixed in cocktails.  It is great over shaved ice or on top of ice cream.  Several italian recipes use it in cream sauce for pasta or desserts, typically using cream or mascarpone.

However, you use it, it is nice to have on hand, and makes a wonderful gift.

Using a vegetable peeler peel the lemons.

Then using a sharp knife remove as much of the white pith from the peels as possible. Too much pith will make your limoncello bitter.

Combine the lemon peels and vodka in a clean, dry glass container with a tight-sealing lid. Store the container in a cool dark place for at least a week.

Every few days, shake the jar to agitate the peels, and make sure they are releasing flavor into the vodka.

After at least 1 week (crafts called for 40 days), strain the peels out of the vodka.

Make simple syrup with the 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water.

Combine the strained lemon vodka and simple syrup, and pour into clean, dry glass bottles.

Put a pretty gift tag on your bottles and share with friends and family over the holidays

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Craftsy. The opinions and text are all mine.