bryan and i made limoncello for christmas gifts this year, and it was so tasty (and easy to make!) that i thought i'd share the recipe. the bottles are from IKEA and were relatively cheap; i think they were under $2. the labels are made out of kraft paper, which you can either buy by the sheet or in a roll. i cut rectangles out of cardboard (stiff cardboard is best, something like a shipping box) and covered them with superfine glitter. i really like the martha stewart iridescent fine glitter. it's best applied when using spray adhesive.to make the limoncello, you'll need a handle of vodka, two pounds of lemons, and about three cups of simple syrup. the first step is to zest the lemons - pop in a movie because this takes forever when you're working with so many of 'em. separate the vodka into the bottles, with about room for about 1.5 cups of simple syrup per bottle. evenly distribute the zest between the bottles. put the bottles in a cool, shaded place and let them sit for at least a week; the longer that the bottles sit, the more that the flavor will intensify. after the bottles sit, you'll need to strain all of the zest out. make sure that you do this with a super-fine mesh strainer so that none of the zest remains. for the size of the bottles that we used, we added 1.5 cups of simple syrup per bottle. you can, of course, adjust this depending on your preferences for sweet things. shake the bottles so that everything incorporates fully.
if you decide to make it, let me know how it turned out for you! we store our limoncello in the freezer so it's nice and cold. it's tasty mixed with tonic, and in lemondrop martinis.
