You may have noticed that I’ve been on a somewhat Italian ‘theme’ lately, with one more to come – it all started when I heard from an old friend… Captain John, USN shares the following: "This is the intellectual property of Bernardo, or ‘Restaurante de Bernardo’ on the Island of La Maddelana, off the coast of Sardinia Italy. It was one of the favorite restaurants of Americans in La Maddalena and their own Crema de Limoncello was offered as an after dinner liquor to their customers. Debbie and I were having a Christmas party one year while we were there and we went to Bernardo's to ask them to sell us a bottle of their Limoncello for us to use at our party. They said that they couldn't sell it to us (due to Italian law), but that if we wanted to come down to their restaurant the next day, they would show us how to make it. The only restriction was that we couldn't share the recipe with other Italians on La Maddalena (due to their concern about the competition), but that we could share it with other Americans. So, as long as you are another American, you're welcome to try it. Be careful about the measurements. It is very important that you follow the recipe exactly. Too much Alcohol will make it too strong, too little and it will freeze solid. In La Madd, they would also wash the outside of the lemons with warm water and Bicarbonate of Soda (baking soda) to remove the natural wax. Also, when peeling the lemons, try to keep all of the white (or at least as much as you can) off of the peel (I have found that a vegetable peeler works pretty well, but you can use a sharp paring knife as well). In a perfect world, you would only want the yellow part of the peel. I said 10 lemons in the recipe because in America, we usually only get the small lemons that you get at the supermarket. In Italy, lemons were about twice the size of what we usually find in America, and the recipe there was six lemons. Bottom line is to try to get the largest lemons that you can.

Crema de Limoncello Wash and then peel the zest from 10 lemons, using a vegetable peeler or sharp knife. Place one liter of Everclear in a large jar that can be sealed. Add lemon peel to alcohol. Shake, seal and let stand at room temp for three days, shaking daily. In a large pan on the stove, combine two liters/8.5 cups of whole milk and one kilogram/4 cups of sugar and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring frequently. As mixture begins to roll to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and allow it to return to room temperature - overnight (or for at least eight hours - do NOT put in refrigerator). Watch constantly as approaching boil, it will quickly boil OVER if not removed from heat as soon as it starts to roll. Once fully cool, pour alcohol mixture into milk and sugar mixture, being careful not to allow lemon peel to enter mixture. Mix well and pour into screw top bottles and place in freezer. Do not use corks as cork will freeze in the bottle top in the freezer and will not be easily removed. Enjoy in moderation! Makes approximately four quarts.

I started another batch for myself last night! Hope you enjoy!" From MY batch… YUMMMMMMMY!!!!! And easy…