I am responding to some of the questions about limoncello, as far as color and aging time. I have traveled to Italy every year since childhood to visit family and friends and I have been experamenting with limoncello for quite a few years, both on my own and with advice from my Italian relatives. The color of your homemade limoncello is largely dependent on the type of lemon you are using. Lemons grown in Italy, particulary in Southern Italy are a much brighter yellow in color than lemons we are likely to buy at our local grocery store or farm market here in the States. Any of you who have ever been to Italy will surely agree that the Italian lemons from the Napoli region, where limoncello became famous, are not only brighter in color than most lemon varieties but are also two to three times the size of an average lemon. Keep in mind also that many of the off the shelf brands we buy here in the US or even some in Italy, surely some food coloring has been added to enhance the color a bit. In regards to aging, I was always a believer that once the lemon zest lost its color, it was ready to proceed to the next step. However, my aunt in Italy said the paleness of the zest only affects the color, and it is the oils in the zest that affect the flavor. My aunt leaves the zest in the alcohol for approximatelt one month, she then strains the zest out of the alcohol and adds the sugar/water mixture and then lets it rest again together for about ten days, she then bottles and puts in the freezer. I have gotten various tips from many other relatives in Italy and what I have come to realize is that there is no set way to make limoncello, you have the basic principles and you then experament from there until you achieve an end product that is to your liking. On a final note I would however say that authentic limoncello is made with grain alcohol and not with vodka, not that I am against using vodka, but in the tradition of keeping limoncello pure to its roots I always recommend that people use the grain alcohol, the vodka is a bit unbalanced, where the grain alcohol gives you the slight tartness of the lemon, the sweetnees of the sugar add mixture and the kick of the alcohol. Hopefully i was a bit helpful!

Yes, brown sugar is fine to use.

There's several recipes posted on the Internet. The version I make takes about a month or so to make, you could try doing it in less time. I also use less sugar/water than most of the recipes.

Linda, that might be economical and much easier, too, as I don't have an apple corer. I'll give it a try. Tracey, cider is a staple in our fridge, so this dressed-up version would be a big hit with DH. Thanks for the suggestions! Sue