Some treats for your New Year
May 2018 be the best
VIEWING PLEASURE
We
have seen some amazing shows recently and would like to share them. I believe all of these were on Amazon Prime –
if you have it take advantage of your subscription, it is a bargain. I’m sure there are more but these come to
mind.
Let us know if you like them and
what your favorites are too!
Water
Front Cities of the World – 2 seasons. A very different view of each city,
culturally, economically, how they are embracing modern times, etc. NOT a tourism show, the French
photojournalist gets to the heart of challenges, solutions and the very real
people
E²
/Design – International series focusing on environmentally sustainable architecture, solving
problems with innovative ideas. Gives me
hope!
Untold
Canada – an hour coast to coast featuring a country
we know far too little about
The
Quest for Kiatiaktanga – New Zealand from the series Adventures with Purpose, we watched this
segment (meaning similar to malama aina in Hawaiian). We intend to watch the rest of the
series. One concept suggests that as
travelers it is important to note your carbon footprint and select your accomodations “with purpose.”
Dream
Island, about a small island off the coast of Wales,
is for bird lovers. Among other
significant birds like the rare Manx Shearwater, there is a Puffin colony that
is very charming. I have now ordered the
book and put the place on my new bucket list!
Heart
of the World - Colorado’s National Parks Three episodes, they sequence through all five parks several times with
different topics.
Voyages
of the Continents
- this is serious geology of our planet and absolutely fascinating. Living in Hawaii, the topic of volcanoes and
tectonic plates becomes interesting – but nothing prepared me for all of this
current study around the world, mind boggling!
SIPPING PLEASURE
By
December our Meyer lemon tree looks decorated and the only way to keep up is by
making a liqueur from the skins and lots of lemonade with the fruit. Gil keeps the tree trimmed low for easy
pickins, but the thorns are still wicked.
LIMONCELLO
I’ve made several
variations, experimenting with alcohol and sugar. In Italy it is made with grain alcohol where
the lemon is the only flavor. I haven’t found that on island so I’ve tried
both vodka and coconut rum as the base, just for fun. I use less sugar than any recipe I’ve found
and used agave instead of sugar until my most recent batch listed below.
Notice the size
variation of my lemons – some small, some quite large. I probably use 11-12 fruits due to avoiding
any blemishes. Use the cleanest, organic
fruit you can find.
FYI: Meyers lemons are sweeter than “store”
lemons.
10 lemons – wash with brush, dry
750ml vodka
3 cups water
1 2/3 cups white sugar (or 1 ½ cup agave to 3
½ cups water)
*Using a peeler, remove long thin peels from
lemons. Scrape the white pith from
inside skin with a sharp knife. Pour the
vodka over the prepared peels in a glass container – cover with saran and place
in cool dark cupboard for 10-14 days.
(Use or freeze the juice for something else. I use ice cube trays and when set, dump them in baggies with the date to use as needed when the tree is dormant.)
Prep the peels
Rear container, peels have been in vodka 2 weeks, front container is second batch just going into hibernation. No sugar has been added to either at this point.
*Stir water and sugar in large sauce pan over
medium heat until sugar dissolves, 5+ minutes.
Cool completely, then add to peels and
vodka. Leave overnight, covered.
*Strain peels and place liqueur in clean glass
bottles with lids. These can be kept in
freezer until you need them or give them away.
Color difference
The darker one was made with agave and the
lighter ones were made with sugar. I
like the color and taste of the
lighter one which surprises me since it is very rare to use sugar in this
house!
Serve in liqueur glasses after dinner as a
digestive. Yum.
