My good friend, Mark, asked me over the Summer if I would steep a batch on Limoncello.  I had never tasted it but remembered that scene from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun when Diane Lane drinks it with her new Italian friend on the beach.  Limoncello is a lemon liqueur that is served well chilled.  It is meant to cleanse the palate after dinner or served as an after dinner drink.  It is to be consumed in a very small amount.  The strong, refreshing lemon flavor married with the simple sugar syrup makes it easy for the vodka to go down.  Mark brought over 100 proof vodka and the recipe and I started to work on the Italian concoction.

It takes a full 80 days to have the fullest lemon vodka flavor from this recipe.  There's two stages of steeping that last 40 days each.  The original recipe said 30 days works, too, but 40 is better.  Locate a cool, dark place to store the jar during the stages.  My bedroom closet was the perfect spot in my house.

HERE'S WHAT IT TAKES

• A large 1 gallon glass container with lid, like a pickle jar, sterilized
• 15 small size lemons
• 2 (750 ml) bottles 100 or 80 proof vodka, save the bottles
• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 5 cups water
• extra sterile bottles or jars with lids for storing in the freezer

Wash the lemons and pat dry.  Carefully shave off the lemon's rind without picking up the white pith.  The white pith is bitter and said to spoil the lemon vodka concoction.  It's almost impossible not to get a little white in the mix, but try to keep it to a very minimum.

Finding the right tools to remove the rind was by trial and error for me.  Because the recipe I was following said to "zest", I naturally started with a microplane zester.  That made fine particles of zest that made me worry I would not be able to strain out later.  Then I tried a vegetable peeler, it picked up more pith and was hard to make thin shavings. Finally, I settled on my trusty pairing knife.  I had a much easier time getting under the rind and moving over the small lemons much quicker.  This step takes time.  Time enough to watch a Jane Austin film on Netflix on my laptop while I shaved lemons.  The large pickle jar shown in the picture was my vessel of choice for my home brew.  It turned out to be just large enough to hold all the liquid.

STEP ONE
In the large jar, add one bottle of vodka to the lemon rinds.  Cover the jar and let sit at room temperature for 40 days in a cool dark place.  There is no need to stir.  All you have to do is wait.  Meanwhile, the vodka slowly takes on the flavor and rich yellow color of the lemon rinds.

STEP TWO

41st DAY In a large saucepan, stir 4 cups of sugar into 5 cups of water and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until all the sugar is dissolved and syrup thickens.  Allow the syrup to cool before adding to the lemon-vodka jar.  Add the second bottle of vodka. Give a light stir and cover with lid.  Allow to rest for another 40 days.

STEP THREE

80th DAY Notice the lemon peels sink to the bottom of the jar.  Use a clean tea towel over a strainer to strain lemon vodka, discarding the lemon peels.  Bottle Limoncello and keep in the freezer until ready to serve.

This makes A LOT of Lemon Vodka, so plan to share it out to friends and family.  A little goes a LONG way.  This recipe would make great gifts to all those who appreciate homemade foods.

The Limoncello turned out a beautiful bright yellow with a surprisingly fresh taste. We threw an Italian potluck dinner to celebrate. A few of us, not accustomed to drinking liqueurs, were completely surprised by the light and fresh taste. And even though we were drinking straight vodka, it was extremely smooth and sweet. It was not difficult to take it in and appreciate.

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Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine-10 issues/$8.99

This simple homemade sangria recipe ROCKS!!!  Of all the sangria recipes I have tasted, this one is the BEST.  I believe the choice of red wine had a lot to do with it.  Since we are all different in our preferences to tastes, let me just say, use a sweet red that you enjoy already.  Even if you're not a sweet red wine drinker, then get as close as sweet as you wish to get.

Since we're Texans, we love supporting Texas wine makers.  Ste. Genevieve Winery in Fort Stockton, Texas makes our favorite Cabernet Sauvignon for everyday, but we used their Sweet Red for this hot summer's night drink.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• Ste. Genevieve Sweet Red Wine, the big  bottle
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 1 orange, cut into wedges
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 shot of Tito's Texas vodka
• 1 cup ginger ale, chilled
• 1 cup club soda, chilled

Pour wine into pitcher and squeeze the juice of fruit into wine add sugar and vodka.  Add ginger ale and club soda just before serving.  Pour over ice.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

The original recipe comes out of the July 2009 issue of Southern Living, page 16.  I found a yellow watermelon from a local grower and decided to give the recipe a spin around the block.  I'll tell you right now.  It was surprisingly refreshing, not sweet at all.  It was super easy to bring together.  However, you have to LOVE watermelon to really enjoy a pitcher of it.  Don't be fooled by the photo above.  This is not a fleshy or icey drink like a dacquiri or smoothie, it's water that tastes like watermelon.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 4 cups cubed seedless watermelon
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups cold water

Process the watermelon and sugar in a blender, until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.  Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a pitcher, discarding the solids.  Stir in 2 cups cold water.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  Serve over ice.  Makes about 5 cups.

Cook's notes: I started with a cold watermelon so I skipped the 'cover & chill' step.  And I didn't worry with the small white seeds in the watermelon; they were blended right into the mix.

The original recipe said we could use cantaloupe or honeydew melon, too.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

From one of Simple Daily Recipes' youngest readers - Kelsey shared her cream soda recipe with us.  This one is a Winner with my kids and the kids in our hood.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of Big K Cream Soda
• 1 Cup of orange juice
• 1 Cup of ice

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

With all the sweet Texas Peaches coming into season, I helped myself to a few frozen peach smoothies.

THERE'S NOTHING TO IT

• 6 ripe peaches
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup orange juice or water

Peel peaches and cut into 1 inch pieces.  Place in a 1-quart freezer bag and freeze for at least 1 to 2 hours.

Transfer frozen peach pieces to a drink blender, start with 1/4 cup of orange juice or water, blend on high until smooth.  You may need to add the other 1/4 cup of juice or water if the consistency is too thick.

Pour into serving glasses and you're ready for a treat!

If you have popsicle molds, this recipe would be good for making peachy popsicles.  If you don't have popsicle molds, well then, IMPROVISE!

Get a small plastic cup, a spoon, and a little aluminum foil, enough to make a lid for the cup.  Fill the plastic cup with about 1/2 cup of peach smoothie.  Put the spoon down into the smoothie.  Push the foil down over the spoon handle so that the handle is in the center of the cup.  The foil keeps the spoon handle upright.  Place the cup in the freezer and freeze for at least one hour.  The homemade popsicle smoothie should pop right out with a little twist.  If it doesn't budge right away, then run the bottom of the cup under cold water to set it free.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

When you have tart peaches, make Iced Peach Tea!

I picked a peck of peaches...no, not really.  I picked up a quart of Texas Peaches from the Main Street Farmers' Market and discovered they were a little tart after I got them home.  I was too impatient to wait for them to ripen so I got the idea to let them soak in a batch of tea.
That was a thirst quenching idea that I can do over and over again.

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO

• 4 cups boiling water
• 3 to 5 (2g) tea bags, tied together
• 3 to 5 small peaches, seeds removed, cut into slices

Drop in the peach slices into a medium size container, add tea bags, then pour in boiling water.  Steep for 3 to 5 minutes.  Sweeten to taste THEN chill.

Totally refreshing!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.