chink..chink..christmas treats..

i know this is a drink and should be in bottles...
but, various bottles? or matching jars?....
jars of course....
this is seriously delicious..
i make it alot during the summer when lemons are in abundance...
it also makes a great xmas gift, especially when it is bottled correctly....
the receipe is from my travels through italy years ago, when i stayed with and old friend. amongst the cellar filled with sausage, wine, pasta, tomato sauce, sat bottles of limocello...i am sure she wont mind me sharing it with you....

Francesco's Limoncello
11 lemons
1000mls vodka
700gm sugar
1000mls water.
Peel lemons with potatoe peeler taking as little of the pith as you can.
place peel in a glass jar and pour over the vodka.
seal and stand for 5 days in a cool dark place. gently shake each day.
then...boil the water and sugar until dissolved.
allow to cool.
strain the peel and mix the juice with the water.
bottle, adding a few strips of peel to each bottle
seal well and leave for 4 weeks to brew before using.
delicious mixed with sparkling soda water, sipped as a liqueur, or poured over vanilla ice cream..

........

now what do you do with 11 lemons with no skin...you make lemon cordial of course....
more gifts.....

where has november gone...

not much to show from stone cottage this month...
at least not much to show that is completed...
little pieces in various stages of progress, that i will show later....
for now this....

a shopping bag, great size, comfortable to wear and use, and it fits an A4 page/book without bending the corners...
made with scraps...
i see some more of these in the future....

oh i wish i was a punk rocker ....

i really want to start the quilt for my bed, but just can't...this project is like a stone in my shoe, hanging around in my thoughts, preventing me from moving onto another quilting project....

this is 15 years old and has been living in a cardboard box with all its little pieces cut, waiting to be developed...i have ripped it apart too many times to count....the squares don't meet properly, the diamonds don't all gather to a point, i have lost interest..when i see the quilt top i only see the imperfections....but i can't move on...so last week i took the bull by the horns and just blazed away, chopped corners and all, and finished the top and quickly made a back....the lady at the quilt shop when i went to get notions, loved it, and said no one will see the mistakes when it is all quilted up (sweet, but i know its not true)...
originally this was for baby number three who is now big and no longer sleeps in a pale yellow nursery, so i am giving it to a god-child who turns 18 and sleeps in a pale blue bedroom...out of the house it goes, so i don't have to look at it.. and she is not a sewer so hopefully wont notice the mistakes...wish me luck with the machine quilting i have never tried it before, usually i hand quilt...are there any tricks i should know???? shame she's not a punk rocker and could live with the safety pins....

granola.....

humming to neil diamond...

a favourite muesli that i have been eating for years has gone out of production....sniff, sniff...whilst a few substitutes have been ok, i cannot buy them locally and so i have to wait for trips to the city to stock up....i googled for a receipe to attempt to make something similar to what i have been missing so badly......this is just delicious...seriously delicious....i added an extra cup of fruit and nut, and some cranberries ( good for the alzheimer's they say)...but other than that, i pretty much followed the receipe to the 'T'... i was unable to purchase orange oil anywhere in the state, and got tired of looking, so resorted to using orange zest instead, and it has turned out just fine...a nice blend of taste and fragrance....it is so delicious i am reluctant to go on about it at the breakfast table for fear i might have to share it with the rest of the family....you know how much boys eat!!!