Limoncello

Wash the lemons in hot water before you start. Remove the peel with a vegetable peeler, removing all white pith on the back of the peel by scraping with a knife, and put the peels in a 4-quart Mason jar.

Add the alcohol, and stir. Cover the jar, date it, and put it to rest in a dark cabinet at room temperature for 3 days.

After 3 days, take out the lemon-alcohol mixture. In a sauce pan set over high heat, stir the sugar and water together and boil for 5 minutes. Let the sugar syrup cool completely in the pan, about 30 minutes. Add the sugar syrup to the lemon-alcohol mixture.

Stir well to combine. Replace the cover on the jar and note the finish date. Return it to the dark cabinet and store for 15 more days.

At day 15, remove the limoncello from the cabinet. Strain the mixture and discard the lemon peel.

Pour into clean, unused bottles with caps or decorative corked bottles. Store the bottles in the pantry, but put one bottle at a time in the freezer until ready to use.