Lemon Extract and a brief house update

My sweet and wonderful in-laws were here for the past almost-month helping with the house renovations and with my kids (I got to go shopping alone!!! and get Starbucks every day....sorry Mike...there's just something about their coffee that is so addicting!).  Not only is the house better than I imagined, I feel more relaxed than I have since Shiloh was born.  It was wonderful!!

Now, about the house.....here is a before and after picture of the kitchen in the house!  I am so excited about it!!!  

Before

After!!!  Yippee!!  

A few more things to do (painting cabinets, new cabinet drawer pulls and knobs, and backsplash), but it's so beautiful already!!  I love it!

Another wonderful gift Mike's parents gave us was a bunch of fresh picked lemons from their lemon tree.  And I mean A. Bunch (or maybe a bushel?  Anyone know how much a bushel is??)!

Anyway, glorious lemons!  They are so delicious!  So, Mike's mom juiced most of them and we froze the juice in ice cube trays.  So, I'm going to be making a lot of lemonade and recipes calling for lemons in the days and weeks to come. :)

Last year, Mike and I made our own vanilla extract.  It was so delicious and so easy!  I really recommend it!  So, Dru and I got to thinking.....why not make lemon extract?  So I googled it and found you make it the same way you make vanilla extract except with lemon rinds.  So, here you go....if you want to do vanilla, just replace the lemon rinds with 2 vanilla beans :)

Lemon Extract

8 oz jar 

The peels of 6 lemons

1c quality vodka

funnel

Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler or a zester (I used a peeler because I didn't want a bunch of tiny pieces in my extract that I'd have to strain out).  Try to get as little as possible of the white part of the peel.  It is bitter so try and just get the yellow part.  

Place the peel into the jar and using the funnel, add your vodka.  It took just under a cup because I used an 8oz jar, so the lemons took up some space.  I just filled it as high as I could and called it a day.  

Now, about the vodka.  If you are gluten free, make sure you do your research.  There is a lot of conflicting information out there on whether the distillation process takes out the gluten or not, so to me, it's better to err on the side of caution.  It is a bit pricier but you can find vodka that is not made from wheat, barley or rye.  

**If you are making vanilla extract, then you can get a good quality bourbon instead of the vodka if you prefer and it makes a really good extract.  We did both and it was delicious.....I am not sure how it would taste with lemons though, so I'd probably stick with vodka on that.  

After adding the vodka, then close your jar and store in a dark place for 4-6 weeks.  It won't hurt if you store it longer; just make sure to shake the jars every few days or so.

And that's it!  Like my son Michael likes to say "Easy peasy lemon squeezy".