Catch-Up with Relish...

Vooch earned an A in Algebra II (and he said he couldn't do math, sure...) and is now ready to take the next step in his five year journey and what does he say last night with a smile on his face? "I don't think I want to go to nursing school." Gotta love this guy.

I completed my Spring reading Challenge in record time and am now attempting to complete the Summer Challenge (yeah, right) along with taking a Fitness and Wellness class, hatching a dozen - more - chicken eggs, steeping lemon skins for the best limoncello* this side of Italy, still deciding if I want to put up the amazing brushed nickel door knobs on my kitchen cabinets (I know, I know, I started this project two years ago), completing my yearly billing par usual (relax, two months down only ten to go), debating with my felines and watching my tomatoes grow with perfectly pedicured piggies in polished peony pink.

J has just about wrapped up her semester before heading off to camp as a nurse counselor for young girls living with diabetes and has filled the house with laundry, a turtle, clothes, undiagnosed tachycardic episodes, laundry, girlfriends new and old, and clothes. Man, this camp and these girls have no idea what a gift they have landed.

R has been invited to join her academic adviser's research team heading to Argentina - all expenses paid. We are all mucho excited peppered with the realism that Dr. H advised her to bring a sleeping bag good to 30 degrees below zero. Puts a whole new twist on warm summer days and crisp cool evenings for sleeping. Keeping my fingers crossed that it actually happens. I couldn't be any more proud of this Woman - she has worked her butt off for the past five years and she is sooo ready for this well-deserved honor.

S is now an official YMCA camp counselor with an assignment 5 miles from our house - what an incredible first job, which she landed all on her own with a wee bit of help from a six year old who said to the hiring manager after the third interview something on the lines of "can that lady come back? she's fresh." Lots of mosquitoes (hmmmm) and many little kids - RIGHT up her alley. She continues to amaze me with her determination: four proms with four friends at three schools in two gowns and one impressive school year: academic achievement in history, recognition for excellence in chemistry (which has driven her just short of mad) and recognition in theology. Not bad for a kid who in first grade almost had me convinced that l.m.n.o.p. was one letter.

Pap continues to share his life stories - over, and over, and over. God Bless Nana, she's my favorite puzzle partner, gardening buddy, errand-running sidekick and partner in crime - can y'all say lobstahs???...

*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.
  
• 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.

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 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 (in the corner of the kitchen in a brown paper bag works too) until the peels lose their color, at least 2 weeks. Two to three times a day swirl the peels around in the jar to mix up the oils in the alcohol and check out your brew.
   

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.

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.