Limoncello

I decanted my first bottle of home made limoncello this morning. The recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law, Em. Obviously I had to have a little taste despite it being 9am. Wow! Knock your socks off, but really tasty.
The recipe couldn't be simpler:

5 ripe lemons (preferably organic and scrubbed clean)
1 litre of vodka (cheapest you can find)
750g sugar
700ml boiling water

1. Pare rind thinly avoiding the pith. ( I found a vegetable peeler worked very well)
2. Pour vodka over rind in two large clean jars (I used Kilner jars). Turn to mix.
3. Leave for one week,, shaking the jars gently from time to time.
4. Place sugar in a  large heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water. Stir to dissolve
5. While still hot, add vodka and rind mix. Stir, cover and leave for one week.
6. Strain and divide between cleaned bottles. Add a few strips of fresh lemon rind to decorate if desired. Seal and keep for ever!

I plan on giving some of it as Christmas presents and keeping the rest as a digestif after a good dinner or as a cocktail mixer in the summer months.... Although, let's face it, I'll be making a new batch by then no doubt!
I plan on trying another batch next week with oranges and calling it "Orancello".