Limoncello, pt. 2

Paul here, finally getting around to posting the finishing of the Limoncello recipe.  Truth be told mine has been done for some time, and 2 empty bottles can vouch for the fact that it's very good.

The first post took us through the point where your lemon peels are soaking in alcohol.  They've been there for a while now, and the alcohol should be a very deep yellow.  It's time to get rid of the peels- I did this by getting a small plastic funnel with a little screen in it, and pouring the liquid through it into another jar.

The peels, which should be very pale and brittle now, can just be thrown away - you won't need them.


Now, when those peels are sitting there glaring at you from the trash can, something may come over you. Completely in the face of any reason or common sense, you may in fact be tempted to do something like, oh I don't know, light them on fire, "just to see what happens."

Whatever you do, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, give in to this admittedly almost-overwhelming temptation. The pure alcohol those little suckers are now full of is extremely flammable, and you should not foolishly underestimate it. If you were to lose all judgment and do such a thing, you'd probably end up singing the hair off at least one of your hands and arms, and may even start a semi-alarming trash can fire that you have to frantically smother with whatever is at-hand, like your wife's prized bamboo cutting board. I'm just guessing, but the aftermath would probably look something like this:


ANYWAYS, now you need to make a simple syrup. This is a good quantity if you've used 2 liters of alcohol...

Get about 5 pounds of sugar (yep, 5 pounds).


Bring 3 liters of water to a boil, add the sugar, and stir till it's dissolved. I had to do this in several pots, because this is quite a large quantity we're talking about here. Let this simmer for about 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it cool COMPLETELY.  It cools very slowly - mine took overnight.


When the simple syrup has cooled completely, add it to your lemony alcohol. If you want a clearer product, you can run the alcohol through coffee filters before doing this to remove any final sediment.


And now, all that's left is to bottle the stuff! You'll have a lot of limoncello on your hands here, so it's good to get some smaller bottles too so you can give it as gifts and such.


I've heard that if you let it sit for another month or so, it'll get even better....but you can drink it right away, too. Keep it in the freezer, and serve ice-cold right from the freezer - never with ice.

Enjoy!!!

Update on Ferragosto

We went to the operetta, and found out who else stays around for Ferragosto...

As I mentioned, the event was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Bologna.

It was definitely a more senior crowd, and most definitely a cultural experience.

We met some nice people, tried some crescentine with salami, had some wine in a juice box, and watched a little operetta and a water and light show.

It was quite endearing, and enough to get us out of the Ferragosto funk. And now, in keeping with the senior spirit, it is past our bedtime:) Happy Ferragosto everyone!!

Ferragosto

Today is Ferragosto.

Since I don't know enough about it to comment myself, here's what Wiki has to say:

"Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15. Originally, it was related to a celebration of the middle of the summer and the end of the hard labour in the fields. In time, Roman Catholicism adopted this date as a Holy Day of Obligation to commemorate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—the real physical elevation of her sinless soul and incorrupt body into Heaven.

Before the Roman Catholic Church came into existence, however, this holiday was celebrated in the Roman Empire to honor the gods—in particularDiana—and the cycle of fertility and ripening. In fact, the present Italian name of the holiday derives from its original Latin name, Feriae Augusti("Festivals [Holidays] of the Emperor Augustus") ^[1].

Almost the entire month of August was taken as a holiday and leisure time in Italy in honor of this feast day.

In present days, Ferragosto is mainly a short holiday when Italians take brief vacations. The holiday often coincides with peak activity of the Perseid meteor shower leaving Italians at a particular advantage to view the astronomical event seen best at pre-dawn hours."

Though this seems like a holiday with great potential, to be honest I'm feeling confused and lonely. This isn't the first holiday we haven't really grasped or felt a part of, and it may not be the last. But I guess that is just how it goes when you are living in a new country. When we asked around about what people do on Ferragosto, the common response was "go to the beach." We actually just came back from the beach yesterday -- we went to Cinque Terre with Paul's cousin Beth who was visiting from California and left just a few hours ago. More to come on Cinque Terre and Beth's visit soon. It was fantastic, and along the lines with the Wiki comment on the meteor showers, we did see shooting stars! But I guess maybe our timing was a little off...

It was strange coming back to Bologna yesterday because it is overall a bit of a lonely place in August. A huge percent of the city goes away for the whole month for vacation and it seems like at least half (or even more) of the stores, restaurants, and bars have signs that say "chiuso per ferie" and they reopen in September. Even the library where we study is closed for 2 weeks.

The dynamic of the city has definitely changed now that the students from the University are gone and those that have the means to go on vacation are gone. What is left are some tourists here and there, those who have to work in the vital services (which of course also includes the gelaterias), and many of the straneri, or foreigners, like us and the Pakistani families that own (and keep open) the little grocery stores in our neighborhood.

So today has been quiet. After church we walked through Piazza Maggiore, the main square, and saw that a charity was holding a lunch for the homeless, which seems like a perfect idea because we have definitely been noticing more people on the streets here this month than usual. Perhaps it is just because more people are gone and it is easier to notice who remains. Having a nice lunch for Ferragosto seems to be the norm. In fact we recently saw a great film called Pranzo di Ferragosto (Ferragosto Lunch), which I would highly recommend.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1277728/

We did have lunch with Beth-- not fancy but still good -- leftover pizza, a caprese salad with burrata, a green salad, and white nectarines. Since she left we've just been hanging around the house. Anna's parents and family friends Sina and Michele called from Sicily to see how we are doing and how we are spending Ferragosto, which made my day and made me feel lonelier all at the same time, because they had all just had lunch at an agriturismo and I wish we were there with them.

But who knows, maybe our Ferragosto will be getting better in a few minutes. Paul just poured me a glass of Nero d'Avola so I can pretend I am in Sicily, and he is having a beer. We'll probably go see the free operetta in the park put on by the Archdiocese of Bologna. May not be a party at the beach, but it sounds like a good cultural experience that might make us feel a part of Ferragosto...