Aaaaaah yeaaaaaah!

I grew up with random bottles of homemade Vishnik in the liquor cabinet, in the space over the freezer, in unused spaces behind the pots in the cabinet down below the microwave. Vishnik, in case you didn’t know, is homemade cherry liquor. My Mom’s mom (My Baba) was EXCELLENT at making that stuff.

I also grew up with the story of my Uncle Mike who, at about age 15, was sitting outside with his buddies acting all silly. When Baba came home from work and found him there, she questioned him: “What’re doing? Why are you acting like this? What’ve you been drinking?”

His response: “Nothing Mom! We’ve just been eating fruit!” Turns out, Uncle Mike and his buddies had been fishing the alcohol-soaked cherries out of the Vishnik bottle and snacking on them. Still makes me laugh.

Making your own Fruit Liquor is SUPER EASY, just takes a long time.

Two months ago I threw a pint of blueberries into two old pasta sauce jars, I also threw a ripe persimmon into the second jar. I didn’t add sugar this time, just vodka. After a few months of shaking and tossing and sitting on the counter – we decided that the liquor was ready TODAY. Lo and behold – it is gooooooooood!

There are two ways to make this stuff. One includes sugar, the other doesn’t. I’ll include both recipes.

Here’s what you do for the sugared recipe: Buy ripe fruit. Clean it. Drop it into a wide-mouth glass jar or bottle. Add in 1/2 cup of sugar for every cup of fruit you’re using. Toss the fruit and let it sit for 2 weeks, shaking the jar every once in a while. It will get all juicy. Now, to stop the maceration process (the liquifying) fill the jar with vodka. Shake and let sit for another month, tossing every few days.

have glass
will travel

Without sugar: Buy ripe fruit. Clean it. Drop it into a wide-mouth glass jar or bottle. Fill the jar with vodka. Shake and let sit for a month, tossing every few days.

And now we DRINK!

Does it look prettier in b&w?

WORDS OF WARNING: Be careful of the fruit. This stuff just might rock your world. *wink*

Homemade Liquor by My Baba

Printable Recipe HERE

Ingredients:

Fruit

1/2 cup Sugar for every CUP of Fruit *Optional

Vodka

Wide-mouth jars or bottles

How To:

1- Wash fruit. Cut into bite sized pieces if its too large to fit into the jar as-is.

2- Dump fruit into clean jars or bottles.

3a- IF USING SUGAR: Add here. Toss to coat. Place jar someplace cool and dark for two weeks, shaking the jar every few days to distribute juices. After 2 weeks you’ll see lots of juice in the jar. That’s good. Now – Add vodka to fill the jar.

3b- IF NOT USING SUGAR: Add vodka here.

4- Leave jar/bottle in a cool dark place for a month or two, shaking jar every few days.

5- SERVE!

Floating Fruit + Vodka. Need I say more??

Frankly, I think this the best re-use of your glass jars.

OH! A friend recommended that I start making everything printer-friendly. I’m working on it!