Impromptu

We got potatoes in our CSA share this week, and Scott was all over them.  He announced that he was going to make vichyssoise, as we had also gotten leeks.  So off to the store he went for cream (and deodorant, but that wasn't for the soup), and then he got busy in the kitchen, completely ignoring the giant container of chicken stock that was already in the fridge to thaw a bag from the freezer and trying to burn down the house by broiling some bread with herbed feta (HE herbed it; it came "plain").
I had found a very simple bean salad recipe from Mark Bittman that I had planned to have for lunch, but since Scott had his own lunch while I was out donating blood, we saved it for dinner.  I used chickpeas, my favorite, and green red onions (I mean that they are baby red onions; this isn't some homage to a weird PBS series).  This really was simple, and the beauty of the recipe is that it's insanely versatile, so I can use this again a zillion times with new taste combos.  It's a great excuse to start buying my beans in bulk rather than in cans.
Since we were getting all fancy (I mean, come on - vichyssoise - that word just LOOKS fancy), we told our lemon dealer friend Danielle to invite herself over for dinner, which she did.

And since she was over, we decided that it was time to take that last step in the limoncello making process.  We got out coffee filters and a ladle that has seen better days (don't put a plastic ladle on a hot stove, just FYI) and got to work.  And by "we" I mean Danielle and I spent about two minutes doing it, and then Scott took over when it became clear that my filtering receptacle was not going to be large enough.

All the equipment you really need for this step

 The end result was surprisingly clear.  I'm not sure why I was so surprised that it turned out like it was supposed to, but I was.  I guess that since I stared at a kind of cloudy mixture for several months on end made the clarity of the filtered liquid almost as a shock.
We still need to bottle it, but the most important thing was, of course, a taste test.  Now, since I had donated blood AND had had a glass of wine with dinner, I opted not to have an entire shot glass, but I did take a sip.  Sweet and lemony - yes.  It was a little, um, warm going doing the throat, but I know that will mellow with time.
I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and I think next year we can make more to be able to give away as gifts.

Look how clear it is!!!!