Making Limoncello Step 1

The first time I tried and feel in love with Limoncello was not in Italy but in Delray Beach Florida. My late father-in-law was a true renaissance man. He cooked, made furniture, and was an amazing artist, I never heard him utter the words, "I don't think I can do that". Having access to beautiful lemons he turned cheap vodka into a flavorful after dinner drink that for me was love at first sip. I myself didn't try my first batch until about 2 years ago when my friend Justine was complaining she had a over abundance of lemons on her tree and was concerned they would go to waste. I took a bagful thinking I'd make a dessert of some kind. I then searched through cook books and anything lemon based just seemed way over my very below basic cooking skills. Then it hit me make Limoncello. Sadly my father-in-law had passed by then and I couldn't get his recipe so I searched google with the term "easiest Limoncello recipe". It was so easy that I made my first batch and it was a great success! I have since experimented with ginger infused Limoncello to not so great results, so I am back to my basic recipe and looking forward to that first frozen sip. 

 Start with 15 lemons...I always double my recipe so I have started with 30 lemons generously provided by my friends Justine & Joe

 Give the lemons a good wash, you only want the peels

 Zest the lemons so there is no white pith on the peels, easier said then done! I would like to share that I now have 2 raw blisters from doing 30 of these aromatic lemons

 Have a generously sized glass container to pour your contents into, I bought mine at Cost Plus World Market. Way bigger than needed but I just loved how it looked and isn't that what matters?

 Since I doubled the recipe I used 2 bottles of 750 ml of vodka. No need to purchase the good stuff it's all about the lemon infusion. I paid $5.99 a bottle at my local middle eastern market.

Pour all the vodka into the jar and as you zest add the lemon peels to the vodka. Cover and place in a dark place where it can sit undisturbed for 10-40 days. DO NOT STIR! Now normally I would let it sit for the full 40 days but I want this for the holiday so I will begin part 2 of the recipe in 15 days.
Stay tuned for part 2........