Parade of Christmas Crafts {food}

Que the marching band.

It's the official parade of Christmas Crafts ~ tune in every day for a new category. What's a parade without food? But this is not your typical tossed from the parade float candy. No sir. This candy starts with a bit of zest and a dash of the good stuff.

~Limoncello~

I gave you a peak of the limoncello back in early November with this post {and if you go back there, be sure to listen to the song again, it's a keeper}.

As you saw, limoncello requires a pile of lemons for zesting and vodka. From there, it's all about the waiting {giving you plenty of time to search out some awesome bottles for sharing}.

Ingredients::
15 lemons
2 850ml bottles of 100 proof Vodka
4 cups sugar
5 cups water

Zest the lemons, being very careful not to include any pith. Soak all of the zest in 1 bottle of Vodka for about 40 days. Keep it in a cool, dark location. You may want to do this in a cauldron, pitcher, or other container large enough to eventually hold all of the remaining liquids.

When you wake up the next morning, you'll be excited by the bright yellow color of your vodka. Enjoy that excitement, after that, this project just becomes a whole lot of boring {until the drinking}.

After 40 days, add the second bottle of vodka. You're going to make a simple syrup with the water and sugar. Combine the water and sugar in a sauce pan and heat until the sugar has melted and the mixture has thickened {about 5 minutes or so}. Let the syrup cool to room temperature and then add that to your cauldron. Let this mixture sit for another 40 days, again in a cool, dark nook. I was running out of time here, so I think mine only sat for 25 days.

Filter the zests from the liquid ~ I suggest using one of those plastic or metal coffee filters. You may end up with a little bit of zest sediment floating in your bottles, but no one will notice, or mind... remember, you're already giving them the gift of alcohol. enjoy*

~ Candied Citrus ~

I tried my hand at some candied orange slices back on the summer solstice. They were delicious, but a slight pain to make because you had to be careful not to destroy the tender juice bubbles of the orange. Not so with these bad boys!



I followed Marth's recipe found here. Lucky for me, my mom stocks the house with boxes of Florida citrus during the holidays, so there were rinds a-plenty. I made orange and grapefruit rinds, packaged them in glassine bags, and gave them as stocking stuffers.



These were such a hit, and with the annual supply of citrus, I'll definitely make them again. Next time dipping them in some dark chocolate*