Walnuts liqueur

One of my favorite liqueurs. We make it every year, along with a walnut jam. In our yard, we have several walnut trees, the fruits of two of them having hard shells and are quite difficult to open. We use them to make jam and walnuts liqueur. The others we leave to mature until the autumn.

I have a memory of this liqueur ever since my grandmother, who was throwing the bottles with it and those with the home-made sour cherry liqueur on a sunny terrace. My grandfather did not like what Granny was doing because he wanted all the wasted fruits to be processed into the home-made brandy. He was threat her to hide his brandy next year and would not give her anything, but he did not fulfill those threats, for the joy of all the female representatives of the family, and those who came to visit us.

So here’s how you can prepare this delicious walnuts liqueur:

Ingredients:

• 40 walnuts (before forming a shell) 750 ml of vodka or brandy
• 750 ml vodka or brandy
• 2 bottles of red wine
• 1 kg of sugar or 1 jar of honey
• chocolate flavor

Preparation:

Wash and clean walnuts well. It is important that they are green before a shell is formed. Cut them in a large jar with a wide throat and pour the vodka (brandy). Leave them to stand in a sunny place for about a month and a half. My mother added different herbs, usually yarrow or lime tree blossoms.

Remove the walnuts and strain through a fine gauze. Add the red wine, chocolate flavour, sugar or honey and mix well. Allow to stay for a few more days and the walnut liqueur will be ready for consumption.