Another tradition here at the farm, we peel the last fresh summer Meyer lemons and summer Valencia oranges and summer Mandarin oranges to extract the Cointreau Liqueur flavors for our annual supply of this Winter Holiday liqueur. Cointreau is liqueur with a high alcohol percentage, 40% by volume, 80 proof. Works well for flambee dishes when heated first.

We always make two different Liqueurs with the new cherry harvest. A big 5 pound jar with late, ripe, sweet, pitted Bing cherries and cinnamon to serve as winter after dinner drink and a 3 pound jar with early whole Red crisp cherries on the stem and clove spice that taste like Maraschino cherries to serve over icecream.

This original Italian liqueur is 25% proof, called Meloncello. Made from the freshest ripe melons possible, maximum two hours between harvest and processing.Not to be confused with Lemoncello Liqueur made from lemons.Honeydew melons and cantaloupe are now ripe, time to make melon liqueurs through infusion. Melons are low in sugar but great in flavor. To extract, we infuse the fruit two weeks or longer.The original Italian liqueur is called Dolce Cilento Meloncello. Delicious as after dinner drink, or poured over icecream.

When people buy new harvest fruits or veggies in quantity, or harvest themselves, these are the family recipes we provide to preserve the produce till next harvest.

Such a pleasure, our Meyer Improved Lemon tree! We use the zest of twenty of the largest ripest fresh lemons to make this Limoncello liqueur starting in February. After pressing the juice out, the lemonpeels are scraped and immersed in vodka for a few months. The lemon juice is poured in quart mason jars or plastic bottles and frozen. By July, the lemon peel extract is ready, we make limoncello as dessert for hot summer evenings.

Holiday treat! Great way to reuse coffee grinds. We roast and grind green coffee beans, Arabica and Robusta, make espresso, save the coffee grinds till we have a cup full and make these delicious Chocolate Coffee Truffles. Extra leftover coffee grinds are added to potting soil for houseplants.

The Santa Rosa and Japanese plums are ripe! Never been as sweet as this year, they contain 10+ percent sugar. They make a delicious plum drink for the winter holidays.We remove the pits because they contain hydrogen cyanide, a poison, we dont want that to leech into this drink.

I buy green Arabica beans from Nicaragua, enormous gorgeous beans called Maracatu and Caturra, and Robusta coffee beans from Vietnam annually from the farm families, grown under canopies, after the annual crop is ready. Ten pound bags. Fair trade certified, honest pricing based on farm expenses, not global speculation. Arabica contains 1% caffeine, Robusta 2%.I keep green beans frozen and roast daily in a cast iron skillet for my six cup stovetop espresso maker, or weekly in my air fryer rotisserie. Coffee can be oven roasted between 450F and 485F degrees.I never promote or endorse a commercial product or company, but Primos Coffee Company is a farm that sells direct, at fair prices, excellent quality, my favorite.If your oven doesnt get that hot, use a simple, inexpensive cast iron skillet on your stove top, see below, you will get magnificent results.

Greengage plums are the sweetest plums grown here in the California Valley. They are hard and green when ripe around Labor Day, surprisingly juicy and sweet. A special liqueur treat, ready by the end of year.

Valencia Oranges are the last ones of the California season to ripen, ready late August, packed with summer sun. Their thin bittersweet peels make the perfect zest for making this liqueur. I added some secret ingredients, listed below. By the time the flavors have been extracted, this treat will be ready for the holidays.

The Bartlett pears are ready for picking, they are called Poire Willliam in France and make a delicious Liqueur. You just put them in a sealed glass jar in grain alcohol and spices in a sunny window in the barn or garage for four months to four years, fruits kept submerged. Fruit stays fresh for years, delicious sliced over icecream. Liqueur tastes like fresh pear.

California Strawberries are grown in two types, June bearing and Everbearing.We grow 24 Albion everbearing plants, one bed of 8’ x 3’, 12 weekly harvests from April to August, 20 to 40 pounds or more for the year. May and June is when you can start processing them. Beds are covered in bird netting, or the chickens and geese get them.Once a week, we pick a pound of the ripest strawberries to make liqueur. We eat fresh, bake and freeze the strawberry strudel, strawberry pizza, strawberry pie, and make strawberry icecream for winters. In May, we start making weekly Strawberry Liqueur from the extra ones we dont eat fresh or cook with.#GoldenApron