In the attic, where my thoughts collect

Homemade Limoncello

Originally Posted by Patty @ http://www.pattymitchell.com/vox/

Limoncello is the traditional Italian lemon-flavored liqueur made using lemon zest. You can sometimes get homemade limoncello in Italian restaurants and some liqour stores will carry one or two commercially bottled imports, I have found most of what you find in the stores to be expensive and not that good. Nothing compares to homemade.

I haven't been to Italy since I was in my early twenties, but I'm told that Italians love to have limoncello as a dessert drink after pizza or fish. I don't think a meal is necessary however, Limoncello is lovely to drink on a hot summer night with friends while chatting in the comfort of your own home. I suggest that you keep a bottle in the freezer at all times!

There are different ways to make your own limoncello., When I made my first batch about 5 years ago I found lots of recipes on the internet and combined them and improvised to make my own.

There are faster ways to  get to the end product, but in my opinion, the key to good limoncello is 1.) bunches of the best lemons with plump moist skins and 2.) patience. Living in California, I now have lots of the first and am still  rather painfully short on the second. But with limoncello-making, patience in the process pays off, so don't rush it. And don't be a stickler for the details. Making this lovely liqueur is  more of an art than a science.

Here's one version of the recipe I have used, but I make it just a little differently every time and mostly just wing it. I don't think there's a wrong way to do this actually, so don't stress on being too precise.

 

Limoncello

• 15-20 lemons - clean, unwaxed with nice plump skins. The skins should give off a lemon sent, don't get ones that don't smell heavenly. And try to get organic fresh lemons when you can.
  
• 2 (750-ml) bottles 80-proof vodka. The cheaper the better. Or for best results, I try to find Everclear and use one or two bottles of that because it's pure and doesn't have any sugar in it.
  
• 2 to 3 cups of water
  
• 2 to 4 cups sugar (a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water makes a classic simple syrup, but use more sugar if you want yours a little thicker or sweeter)
  

For this recipe you also need a large (2-3 litre) glass jar with a sealed lid. The jar should be washed and rinsed very well or sterilized. You don't want anything in your limoncello but what you put there.

I use some old-fashioned sun tea jars I bought at an estate sale just for this purpose. 

You will also need the bottles you want to put the final brew in. I get mine at Cost Plus and I save nice glass bottles from other beverages I've purchased that have good reusable, sealable tops.

I use a three-step process.

Step 1: lemon in alcohol

1. Wash and dry the lemons. Only use the ones without blemished peels or pare off any spots and the stems, ends.
   
2. Remove the peel from the lemons with a sharp peeler or fine grater/zester, carefully avoiding the bitter white pith. If you choose to peel your lemons, please note that if any white pith remains on the back of a strip of peel, scrape it off. If you get any of the white part in the batch, the limoncello will be bitter and you don't want that!
   
3. Put the peels in a glass jar and add the vodka and/or Everclear, leaving at least two inches below the top rim. Seal tightly.
   
4. Leave the lemons to steep in the jar in a cool, dark place until the peels lose their color, at least 2 weeks. I leave mine for at least 2-3 months. (That's why mine is extra yummy). Every couple of weeks I swirl the peels around in the jar to mix up the oils in the alcohol, plus I don't know if that helps, I just like to check in on it!
   

Step 2: make the simple syrup and add it. 

1. Put the water and sugar in a saucepan, stir and slowly heat until it turns clear and all the sugar is dissolved completely. Let the syrup cool.
2. Put the cooled syrup in the jar with the lemons (you might have to divide the batch into two jars at this point, depending on the size of your jar).
3. Put the jars back in the closet for at least two weeks. Longer is fine too.

Step 3: strain and bottle

1. Strain out the lemon peels through a coffee filter or cheesecloth and pour the limoncello into another container. Press down to remove all the vodka and oils that you can from the peels before tossing them in the trash.
   
2. Stir the liquid with a clean plastic or wooden spoon.
   
3. Put the liqueur in clean bottles, seal tightly and leave the finished bottles for at least 1 week before using. I told you that I use making limoncello as an exercise in practicing patience! 
   

For best flavor and drinking it straight, store the limoncello in your freezer. It shouldn't freeze because of how much alcohol is in it and it is simply lovely ice cold.

Tips:

• The time consuming part is the peeling, but take your time and don't get any of the white underbelly of the skin in the batch. I use a very sharp paring knife or a potato peeler. Lately I've made a few batches using a lemon zester. It's sooooo much easier, but I don't think as much lemon flavor gets in as peeling. However, to compensate for that, I've been adding more lemons to Step #1
• Use organic lemons or at least ones you know where they came from. Now that I have more than one everbearing Meyer lemon tree in my backyard, I don't have to worry about chemicals anymore.
  
• Make a big batch at once. Especially if you're letting it steep as long as I do. Once you taste this or give it away to friends, it goes quickly and people will beg you for more. Better to have more on-hand that wait another few months!
  
• You can also make similar liqueurs using other citrus fruits, but I've never tried them myself. “Lime-cello” sounds great to me and could be terrific in cocktails and cooking. (Substitute the peel of limes for the lemon peel. Taste the liqueur for the degree of sweetness you want as you add the syrup.) An orange version might make an appealing alternative to triple sec.

 

Delicious Uses for Limoncello:

• straight up frozen in limoncello shot glasses (best if you put them in the freezer too)
• spiking a tall glass of cold lemonade or iced tea
• splashed in glasses of champagne
• over ice cream or angel food cake
• splashed on a fresh fruit mixture
• in cranberry juice
• in sparkling water, tonic or soda.

...and their British butler.

Had a dream the other night. It started with me, waking up in a big, white bed. I get dressed then a girl from my French acting class comes in and helps me make it. Almost as soon as we've finished, Barack Obama's youngest daughter comes in and says she's really tired and wants to take a nap. Somehow I know that I (and my classmate) are nannies for the Obama's. Lunch is served by their British butler, who's name I can't remember, but looks vaguely like that actor who played The Master in the most recent Doctor Who series. Not the Master as the young, Prime Minister, but as the old doctor out in space.
Anyways, my classmate is handing out the dishes and I think this is the first time I've eaten with Michelle and Barack. Michelle, Barack, the butler and I are sitting at a small, round table. My classmate/the other nanny is crouching next to me because there are no more chairs. We have salads in front of us, but mine doesn't have any dressing. Michelle and Barack are really engrossed in their conversation, and though I see that Michelle has the dressing, I'm afraid to interrupt. My friend asks me why I'm not eating and I tell her I don't have the guts to interrupt the President and his wife to ask for the dressing. So she clears her voice, loudly, and asks, in very, very poor French, if Michelle would pass the dressing. Either Michelle doesn't hear or doesn't understand, but nothing happens. My classmate then tells me she can't remember how to speak French properly since she was bitten by a guy last night [Suddenly, I have a flash of a vision, where this girl is hanging out in the kitchen of a restaurant/hotel, flirting with a guy who playfully bites her on the ear or something]. Next thing I know, the butler is forking over onto my salad bowl a forkful of salad, drenched with dressing, so that I can use that for my salad.
Then I wake up.

Coolest part: not only was I sitting across the table from Michelle and Barack Obama, I was nanny to their kids. They are such a cool family.

Organic meade, Dominoes pizza, and Japanese wood block

Just had another dream while taking a nap. Have an eerie feeling that I've had this dream before or it was part of a television show/movie (I'm thinking the latter because there was a specific reference to Veronica Mars in it).

To begin, I'm not sure how it begins. I know all of this takes place at night, when it is very dark. I also think it's in a somewhat distopian society/time. I think I first dreamed a part with my dad, in a basement/garage. He is some kind of crazy inventor and was going to do something diabolically (but not really evilly) amazing with an ironing board, a few other random things, and electricity(?)

The next thing I remember is being in a rather cluttered and run down apartment of a guy, a guy I'll call D because he shows up later. I think I liked D in my dream, I feel like I had some sort of thing for him. I think he has short-cropped, blond hair and tanned skin. Not really "surfer" kind of tanned where he spends most of daylight outside, but like he spends a decent amount of time in the sun working or something. There is girl with whom he lives. I want to call her Kate, but there is another Kate in my dream so this is Dark Kate. Nearly everything about her is dark. Her hair, her eyes, her clothes, her personality. She seems to make even the space around her more in shadow than any other corner of a room. But her skin is pale, like she hardly, if ever, spends much time in the sun.

We are in the kitchen and Dark Kate is annoyed that D has brought me home with him. I somehow find out that Dark Kate is bisexual but is sorta/kinda in love with D (apparently they have known each other almost their entire lives). I have a feeling that she's a few years older, though. For some reason, D leaves the room, so DK and I are together, alone. I think DK meant to tease me, but she noticed that I had been looking at this wood block painting hanging on their wall. There were no other colors used, though, except a medium shade of cerulean blue. There were lots of line that signified either water or air, and at the bottom, somewhere by the bottom right corner, was a crane in flight, or with its wings spread like it was just taking off. So DK, who had been sitting somewhere on a barstool off to my right, came up to me. She roughly pulled my hair back behind my right ear. She said something in a low, rough whisper that I know I heard in my dream but fail to remember now. Something about tracing out the wood block painting's patterns on my skin? I thought she was going to kiss me, but she instead started tracing the painting's patterns on my skin with her tongue, near my ear/neck. As D walked back into the room, DK turned my head and kissed me. Then went back to her seat. D seemed a little annoyed with DK but said nothing to her. He offered me a beer and asked if I wanted to watch some TV. We walked into their lounge and sat on the only seating surface that was covered with clutter, an old loveseat right in front of the tele. He asked me if I liked Veronica Mars. I said I that I loved that show. The next thing I know is just what was playing on the screen, which isn't in any episode of VM that I can remember. I remember having a feeling that I could read or feel DK's thoughts. I had a feeling that she only kissed me and what not as a way to try to implicate me in something. The crane painting was in some way important, and DK was trying (I don't know how) to frame me for a crime. Wow, I guess she really didn't like me. 

The following part is either part of the "Veronica Mars" ep I watched with D or is just something that happened next. Or it happened first. I'm not sure. I think I dreamed this part last, but I feel like the following part come chronologically before the first part I described.

There is a close up of an elderly man's face. He has shoulder length white hair, cut a bit in the style of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (very straight fringe, just very straight all around). He is wearing a tan colored fedora, possibly a tan colored fur coat, and red lipstick (bizarre, I know - this journal is for my bizarre dreams). I don't think he's wearing glasses. What makes me thing this is part of my imagined VM episode is because this man is an actor, an actor whose name I can never remember, and how passed away, i think, some time ago. (BTW though I keep saying Veronica Mars, I'm pretty sure none of the characters actually make an appearance. I think I call it that because D asked me if I liked VM and I just assumed that was because of what was on the tele at the time). This man looks very happy, and he keeps moving around and there is traffic noises in the background leading me to suspect that he is on some sort of joy ride. There is a switch to a large black man's face, as if the viewer is miniscule and sitting to this man's left. He is mostly shoulder and chin from this viewpoint. This man, I take it is the cab driver; he has very dark, almost midnight, colored, shiny skin and a deep, booming voice. I think this guy is a cab driver because he asks the old man where is going/wants to stop. The view, or "camera" pulls back and I see that they are not in a taxi car, but a motorbike and side car! I remember thinking, in my dream, that this weird taxi service. The bike is driving very fast, and very recklessly, but the old passenger could not be having more fun, I think. Then the bike crashes through something, like a pile of cardboard boxes, or something very light and all of a sudden, the two men each have a scantily clad young woman in their laps, who are now laughing and enjoying themselves as well.

The next thing I know I am running into the basement of a rather run down building. As I run through rooms, I blow them up. Not completely, because I end up going back to the rooms to get things, but I do see clouds of smoke and some flying dust/debris, and I hear a loud (but not deafening) boom. Someone is running in my direction behind me. I keep running although I'm almost positive that this person is not chasing me. I run back into a room that I've "blown up." There are a couple mannequins strewn about, and people that are strewn about like mannequins. I don't think they are dead. There is no blood or missing parts, but they are stiff, like they were frozen into one position that tumbled about the room and now lean against each other, walls, tables, mannequins, etc. I run in and grab a Dominoes pizza box from one of them. There was nothing but crumbs in it that I could hear, and I start running again. There's a next part, something to do with doing something with the box, like getting rid of it or giving it to someone or putting it somewhere, but I can't remember anymore. I run back somewhere else in the building (because I don't think I've left) and there is a large common area, that used to be a bar or club I think. It is a large open space, but with lots of sofas, chairs, tables and candles on nearly every flat surface. I jump on an empty sofa and just decide to chill. The person that was running after me comes and sits next to me on the couch. It turns out it is D. There is a galvanized steel bucket filled with ice and bottles of beer. I grab a bottle and look at the label. It says "100% Organic Meade." (Here's the part that I am confused about chronology. I recognize D because of the part I dreamed earlier, but in my dream, my dream self did not recognize him as someone she had met before, so that's why I am not sure which part should have come first or second) (Another note: While I was running about and "blowing" up rooms, I had a feeling that someone else was supposed to be doing this. Like all of this happened before and every year or so, someone would run around doing all these things I was doing, as a homage of sorts. But I had decided I would do the homage instead. That's why I was pretty sure the person running behind me was not after me in a way to stop me, but rather to find out who I was).

There is a guy with light brown/blond hair sitting either at another table or across from mine (there were sofas pulled up to tables as well as chairs). He grabs a bottle and looks at the label, "Organic meade? What kind of shit is this?" D says something in response, like a kind of explanation. I have a feeling that they are friends. There is a third guy who looks just like a guy I had met while studying abroad, so this guy's name is Chris. He laughs at long-hair-guy's remarks. Long-hair-guy shrugs, and just before taking a swig, he looks at a girl sitting near him. The reason I named Dark Kate, Dark Kate, is because I'm pretty sure this girl's name is Kate as well. But this girl is blond. She has at least one earring in (I could only see from her right side) that looked decently made, but self-made nonetheless. It was a chain a few inches long that ended in a red-colored gem and some figurine, I'm thinking it's the "babe" silhouette, you know, the ones on the tire flaps of large trucks/semis and sometimes as window/bumper stickers? I'll have to find a picture. And although her clothes and makeup are a little dark, her overall feeling is lighter in color and sense than Dark Kate's. Chris holds his bottle up towards Kate in a silent "cheers" and drinks. Kate smiles a little flirtaciously.

After that, I think I woke up. Part of me thinks something came after, or was supposed to come after that I haven't thought of or remembered. But I'm getting a strong, strong sense of deja vu with this dream, because I could have sworn I've dreamt the part where I am running through the run down building while rooms are blowing up, except I was the chaser, not the chasee. I think D was the chasee and took the Dominoes box, etc. 

I call D, D, because I feel his name starts with a D, but I could be wrong. I had thought his name was Brian at first. Or Chris, but Chris was for someone else and they did not seem to have the same name. After all of this, I kind of irrationally have a crush on this dream D. Or at least, I'm pretty sure my dream self did/does. 

bonjour paris

I always think of that song from Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. Anyways, haven't updated in months but on a kind of hiatus. Made an account especially for the time I will be in Paris for school, so there's that. I'll most likely be updating that more often because it's more exciting than my life in the States. Also, there will be pictures when I get around to it. 

http://annainparis.vox.com/

there are such things as stupid questions

Why do otherwise intelligent people (at least I hope so...I give them the benefit of the doubt) ask the most stupid questions? The answer is staring you in the face! In fact it is in bold and underlined so that any moron would notice it, so why do you have to ask? 

All I ask is that they take a few seconds to try to figure things out themselves before asking anyone else, instead of just blurting the question out as the instructor is trying to explain. 

I hate you.

Sheep Meadow #1

Today, Jenny, Angela, and I picnicked in Central Park's Sheep Meadow, or at least sort of. Okay, so it was half-assed and not properly thought through, which ended up making it pretty difficult and stressful at first, but it turned out to be fun and pretty beautiful, too. 

Angela and I had been told by our friend and classmate Jessica that Shake Shack in Madison Square Park has the best burgers she's ever had. Now, I think the burgers my dad makes are pretty kick-ass, but I was craving red meat ever since coming back to NYC in January, so I figure, since the weather's so fantastic, might as well walk up there (it's not too far). Unfortunately we did not heed the advice of our friend and we arrived about an hour and a half after they opened and there was such a long line! I think we waited at least 20 minutes; we kept asking each other whether we should just find some other place to grab food, but the longer we questioned, the longer we stayed in line, and then we were the next in line. The food's pretty good. We decided to wait and eat when we met up with Jenny at the park, which took longer than expected. 

After a good 15 minutes, we finally found Jenny and laid out the blanket. Our initial intention was to join the Picnic Club, but we were exhausted, having gotten kind of lost on the road that crosses through the park and then having to climb a wall to get to the upper park part then doubling back towards the Tavern on the Green. Tired. The sun was pretty fierce and sometimes it would get pretty hot, but luckily we had a parasol and good conversation. But sometimes conversation isn't quite enough. I thought I was over-burdened with junk, having brought my econ text book/homework, a sketch book, charcoals, pencils, and my new pastels/pastel notebook.

I did a little figure sketching but the only good figures that weren't just sprawled out on towels were the people playing soccer/volleyball/frisbee but they kept moving so often I couldn't get more than just a couple sketches. I got a pretty decent one of a guy sitting up and talking on his mobile, though. And I'm pleased after trying out my new pastels with the tree I drew. The box has a limited color palette, but I can't afford anything more expansive right now. I might upload it. 

Then Angela and Jenny disappeared for a surprisingly long time and I read a couple chapters in a book of a series I'm rereading for the hundredth time since I was in grade school. I love the Chronicles of Narnia. I'm not gonna lie. 

Tired from the sun and all the walking, we set off towards home. We decided to go to Liquiteria because we all felt the need for a pick-me-up. Everyone ordered the Afternoon D'lite (my personal favorite). While sitting outside on one of the benches we met the owner and chatted for a bit. Apparently his favorite is the Soy to the World with rice milk instead of soy milk. Hmm. And we saw Minnie Driver stop in. At first we weren't sure, so we kind of followed her on her way out, and yes it was her. I've come across a couple actors/celebrities while living here and I always want to say something nice that will hopefully make their day a little happier but I don't want to be an annoying fan even if I'm not that huge of a fan. But Ms. Driver looked lovely and pregnant. 

Had to write all this before doing my homework because I don't want to forget. I don't want to forget how we almost lost Minnie because we were still making up our minds if we should see if it really is her or not, and she was almost a block away until the three of us broke into a run. I don't want to forget how I could barely walk because I was laughing so hard. I don't want to forget that laugh. I've never laughed like that before. It seemed to come from deep inside me lungs. You know how sometimes you laugh and you get a stitch in your side or find it hard to breathe? This laugh was the complete opposite. It made me deliriously happy in that moment and I felt like I was totally open and exposed and it felt wonderful. Like each laugh was somehow more genuine than any other laugh I've ever had in my life. While running down that block I wanted to cry in a way I've never experienced before. It was an amazing afternoon even though nothing really happened. 

it's less about validation

and more about the ego, I suppose. If it's dark and smokey, a girl, just barely, BARELY 21 can and most likely will feel extremely flattered. The attention is attractive, on both sexes. If a guy feels a girl is interested, she's increased at least by two points on his ten point scale. Same goes for the girl. As crowded and heavy the atmosphere may be, to feel a hand on your waist and a body moving in rhythm to your body's undulations is a high of sorts. It lets you know that there's something attractive about you to another person. Something that they like very much in that moment, and since you don't pull away it's obvious you like/don't mind it either. I would hardly call that validation that you can be attractive to the opposite/target sex, but it give some little boost the the ego that you aren't as invisible as you thought. 

I Am Legend

So I thought I would catch a movie before Amy and Yunsoo's joint birthday/going-away party/celebration. Big mistake. The movie was good, but holy shit I should not have gone alone. Should've seen Atonement instead. Maybe I will tomorrow after work. I wish I hadn't already seen Juno, or I'd see it. I'd love to see it again, but at $11.75/ticket, I can't really bring myself to spend that much on a movie that, yes, I did love but did already see. Ugh. Back to the grind? Hoping the days until classes start are short and sweet. 

the most brilliant azure

Last night I had a dream that involved America Ferrera as an heiress to an inn with a some kind of hidden secret. An inn that was for some reason overrun with wolves. And outside was a tree with bark of a dry, bitter brown and instead of leaves, it had large feathers of the deepest and most brilliant blue. It was the most beautiful tree I've never seen in my life. 

Santa Baby

So let's see...spent way, way too much money this month. It's not even all about the holidays either, just not good timing. After a crisis with my pc that left me momentarily in tears and then 5 hours spent at the computer lab finishing a presentation due later that day I finally came to the full realization that I need a new computer. About half of my friends have macs and so I decided if I'm gonna get a new one, it'll be one with the chomped-apple emblazoned on the cover.

Things are a little slow now, and I need to load windows on it but I love my Mac. Still in the process of transferring my music and pictures over, but can't wait until that's done!

Holidays, while enjoyable because I get to spend the time eating, sleeping, and watching movies with my family and dogs, are also incredibly irritating. Things get so hectic because the people around me make it so. I don't understand why everything has to be last minute. Maybe living in New York has taught be to get it while it's hot 'cause it may be gone tomorrow, so I leave few things to the last minute. This doesn't mean I manage my time really well, because I really don't, but certain things I've got covered, people. That's just how I roll.

P.S. I don't know how I feel about my 52 year old uncle using "how he rolls" in vernacular speech. It's like imagining a very white, suburban father using "fo'shizzle" with a straight face and totally meaning it. I don't know whether to laugh or cringe. Well, I did laugh a little. Maybe both.