When Life Gives You Lemons . . .

. . . make limoncello!

Several years ago, Shawn's husband gifted her a small Meyer lemon tree for their anniversary. The agreement was that she'd tend it, but that *he* would have to lug it outside when the weather turned warmer and then back inside when the weather turned cooler. It seemed like a fair deal at the time.

Frankly, I'm not sure he thought it would live this long. (Heh.) It's positively thriving, and Shawn had a bumper crop of lemons this year! She typically makes lemon finishing salt with the fruits of her labors, but because she had so many lemons, she decided to try her hand at limoncello. I was enlisted as co-conspirator. 

Here's the recipe we used. On Day 1, we made a delicious finishing salt by zesting some lemons with fine sea salt on a cookie sheet and putting it in a low oven for a bit to dry. (This salt is wonderful on any kind of seafood, as well as chicken.) We also did all the initial steps for the limoncello, leaving the softened lemons to steep with the vodka in a cool, dark place for a month. 

Once the steeping period was complete, we reconvened to finish up, adding honey and water and straining the mixture a few times to remove all the solids. The resulting liquor is quite good - like a glass full of sweet sunshine! I typically add shots of limoncello to lemonade in the summer, but it's just as delicious over ice all by itself. I can also see myself making a sweet glaze out of it for cookies and/or cakes. 

I purchased two gorgeous decanters for the finished product on Amazon, and we toasted our industriousness! Cheers!