Make Your Own Limoncello

All photo: iStock

When homemade is better and cheaper, there’s no need to buy it, whatever it is. What is better than making Limoncello using real lemons? It’s also simple to make. Here’s how ...

Homemade Limoncello

Ingredients:

10 unwaxed lemons, washed

1 bottle [750 ml] of 80 proof vodka

1 cup of sugar

1 cup water

Directions:

1) Peel the lemon zest into pieces avoiding the bitter white pit as much as possible.

2) Toss the peels into a canning jar with a lid and pour the vodka into the jar. Infuse in a cool dark place at room temperature for 7 - 10 days.

3) Make a simple syrup by combining the water and sugar in a pot on a stovetop on medium heat. Let cool.

4) Remove the lemon rinds, squeeze to get as much of the lemon oils out. Combine the infused mixture with the cooled simple syrup.

5) Poor into a bottle with a stopper or lid and store in the freezer or refrigerator. Vodka will not freeze.

Cheers!🍋

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Macy’s Perfume Samples

Regular readers of THE SAVVY SHOPPER know Macy’s is my favorite New York department store bar none. Once in a while Macy’s loves me back by sending me a small box of free perfume samples. The offer is open to anyone and everyone who sees it on Macy’s website and at times on Facebook. A small box of 6 samples arrived today! Below, I listed those 6 fragrances in the order of my most to least favorite scents:

1) John Varatos XX Elixir - Formulated for men, but both men and women can wear it, as it's not a musk, but just a fresh clean smell of bergamot, red ginger, davana and violet leaf essence mixed with rum, Damascus rose. black iris and geranim. There are notes of tonka bean, cistus labdanum, cedarwood, and latigo leather. It is my absolute favorite scent in the box!

2) Prada Paradidme - Ambery woods entwine with Bourbon, geranium, and Calabrian bergamot. I smell a hint of lemon, yet don’t see it listed as an ingredient. Lovely and clean smelling.

3) Dolce & Gabbana My Devotion - A pear blossom, blackcurrant, peony and vanilla blend.

4) Dolce & Gabbana Dovotion Pour Homme Parfum - A lavender, coffee, and woody-amber blend.

5) Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia - Mandarin with gardenia, hedione, and sandalwood essence.

6) Narciso Rodriguez For Her Eau de Toilette spray - Notes of osmanthus, African orange flower, Bergamot, amber, musk, vanilla and vetiver. There is one note in this scent that I dislike but don’t know which ingredient it is. It reminds me of unpleasent much cheaper drugstore perfumes and it stands out.

My senior mom tested the perfume samples with me. She said she liked them. None of the 6 fragrances overwhelmed us, yet lingered for hours, and except for #6, lean towards clean scents over strong perfumes. #6 has that one unidentified note not to my liking. 

Perfumes can smell differently on different people. Before buying a fragrance, spray it on, walk around the store and wait to see how it will interact with your body’s chemistry.

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Don’t Throw Away Your Silica Gel Packets

You know those little silica gel packets that come with leather goods like shoes or handbags? Don’t throw them away. Reuse them!

I keep them with shoes that stay in plastic shoe boxes if I only wear the shoes occasionally. When I have extra silica gel packets from the shoe boxes I toss out, I repurpose them by placing the packets in the corners of my closets, kitchen cupboards, and inside drawers throughout my apartment including my nightstand and entertainment center.

Moisture if not controlled can destroy many types of dry goods. The silica gel packets absorb up to 40% of their weight in moisture, saving many types of dry goods from damage. They help maintain a dry environment, preventing mold and mildew from damaging leather goods and other articles that may surprise you!

Moreover, silica gel packets can also release moisture back into the air if the atmosphere gets too dry, helping to stabilize humidity to maintain product quality. 

Papers, photographs, jewelry, and electronics are several categories of items that can be preserved by tossing silica gel packets into the containers that store them. Razor blades will not rust or dull in a medicine cabinet, and car windshields will not fog up with silica packets placed on your dashboard. You can also toss silica gel packets into your gym bag, luggage, or clothes hamper to prevent mildew. A few packets stored in the corner of a food pantry keeps herbs, breadcrumbs and crackers fresh.

Silica gel packets are non-toxic unless cobalt is listed as an ingredient which is toxic. Most silica gel packets do not contain cobalt. If you place a few packets into a file cabinet or food pantry, you can always insert them into a paper envelope. The silica gel packets are fairly sturdy, so I don’t worry about them lying inside closets, pantries, or drawers.

Nevertheless, you should keep them away from children and pets since they aren’t editable.

Have you been throwing your silica gel packets away? Stop! They're very useful and you get them for free!

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The French Crown Jewels Stolen From the Louvre

This image is all over the internet without a credit. I don’t claim ownership and will remove it if the owner requested it. The next 5 photos are from Getty Images.

Well I didn’t plan to write another jewelry blog so soon, but the theft of the French Crown Jewels in the Apollo Gallery from the Louvre Museum on Sunday morning around 9:30 am is horrific to history and jewelry buffs, too horrific to ignore! The 8 pieces taken are priceless and irreplaceable. If not found before the supreme greed of criminals melt the treasured historical pieces down to remove their precious gemstones to sell on the black market, it would be a forever loss to the public. To humanity. To history. Am I overstating their loss? I think not! Oh please providence, a divine miracle, save them!!!

Here is a closer look at the individual pieces missing: 

The Emerald necklace and earrings made for Marie Louise, the 2nd wife of Napoleon Bonaparte (1804 -1814)

The Pearl Tiara of Empress Eugénie, consort of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (1852 - 1870)

Known as the Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily Sapphire set, the tiara, necklace and an earring were stolen. They were also worn by Hortense of Beauharnais, who was the daughter of Josephine, the stepdaughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and the wife of Louis Bonaparte, making her the Queen of Holland.

Empress Eugénie’s Diamond Bow Brooch. Originally, it was the centerpiece of a belt composed of over 4,000 diamonds.

According to the PBS News Hour, the hoist occurred in 4 minutes while tourists were also in the Apollo Gallery. Since the robbers knew where to place their ladder to climp up to and break a window before entering the Apollo Gallery, it would surprise no one if the theft turns out to be planned by an insider. I have no doubt the criminals will be caught. Sadly the fate of the French Crown Jewels is less certain. French Senator Nathalie Goulet stated that recovering the stolen crown jewels is unlikely. Speaking to the BBC, Goulet cited organized crime's involvement and predicted the pieces will be dismantled and sold to launder money. Other scenarios are being considered. If a collector paid professional thives to steal the crown jewels there’s hope they’ll remain in tact.

👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

Photo: Wiki-Media Commons

A positive note: The criminals took but dropped the Crown of  Empress Eugénie outside the Louvre where it was found damaged and will be repaired.

Empress Eugénie’s Reliquary Brooch, made by Alfred Bapst in 1855, was also later recovered.

❤️‍🩹Dear France, we feel your pain.❤️‍🩹

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Jeweler Ann Angeletti Is 101 Years Old

All photos courtesy of WABC News unless noted otherwise

Ann Angeletti, age 101, still works 6 days a week. Mondays are spend in Manhattan’s diamond district bargaining with vendors to bring in new inventory. Five days a week she works alongside her daughter and granddaughter at Curiosity Jewelers, her family owned business which she opened in 1964, located at 24 Union Avenue, Cresskill, New Jersey.

Customers rave about the customer care and welcoming atmosphere inside the shop, calling Ann Angeletti fair in her pricing and the most knowledgeable jeweler in the Tri-State area. They also say there is a great selection of beautiful jewelry.

Photo: Curiosity Jewelers

There’s much to be admired about this 

 

centenarian. Starting and sustaining a successful independent jewelry store for 62 years with the aim of putting customers first, and loving what she does with no plans to retire.

Although Curiosity Jewelers is known for its fine jewelry, it also sells antique and costume jewelry. Usually it's wiser to save up for one good classic piece of fine jewelry than to buy lots of costume jewelry. A lovely gold ring, bracelet or necklace can be wore over the years and passed down to offspring.

Curiosity Jewelers seems to have found the winning formula as a trustworthiness business: Combine expert knowledge, honest prices and treat customers right after they walk in the door.

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Admiring Rubies In The Raw

Today I want to feature high quality rubies in their natural state. I’d be trilled to find such a precious red crystal before it was cut and turned into jewelry. I’m not sure I’d want to cut or polish it. Previously I’ve written about rubies detailing their properties and value, which I’ll link below.👇The main purpose of this blog is to fawn over uncut rubies!

In the jewelry world, rubies are one of the rarest and most coveted gemstones. The red corundum derives its color from traces of chromium. All other colors of gem-quality corundum are classified as sapphires, including pink corundum. Gemologists and jewelers expect a medium to medium-dark red color tone for a gemstone to be considered a genuine ruby. Corundums of lighter coloration are pink sapphires. A ruby's exclusive red color can reach high levels of saturation. Due to their rarity, premium quality rubies are among the world's most expensive gemstones, selling for over $1 million per carat.

Historically, Myanmar (formerly called Burma) was the most renowned source for high-saturation with fluorescence, or "pigeon's blood," rubies. But in 2009 major deposits of high quality rubies were discovered in Mozambique to rival Myanmar rubies. Vietnam and Madagascar also grow similar high quality rubies.

Since there are few gemstone quality high saturation rubies in nature, rubies undergo more treatments than nearly all other gemstones before being turned into jewelry, greatly affecting their market value. Most commercial rubies are at least heat-treated, an accepted practice as long as it’s disclosed and reflected in its retail price. Without treatment there would be few rubies to sell.

A lovely affordable raw ruby bracelet here from an unfamiliar retailer.

Aren’t these blocks of uncut vibrant red gemstones beautiful? Especially when knowing that not all natural ruby crystals are gemstone quality. If you want to know more about gemstone quality rubies, you can click the links below.

If you found a raw ruby would you treasure it or have it cut and polished into a piece of jewelry? 

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What Is A Shacket?

Photo: ShortStoryBox

It’s a new word I recently heard uttered by Willie Geist, the NBC News anchor, and it’s trending. The word is shacket for shirt-jacket.

A shacket combines the lightweight, relaxed style of a button-up shirt with the heavier fabric and functionality of a jacket. Often featuring larger pockets and made from sturdy materials like wool, denim, or cotton twill, shackets work as a versatile, casual-smart layering piece that can be worn in 3 ways (1) solo or (2) as an outer layer or (3) under a heavier coat, ideal for transitional weather.

Here is a peek into my closet. 

As it turns out I have 8 shackets in my closet: 4 are wool, 2 are denim, 1 is cotton and 1 is cotton/modal, all bought years ago (Shhh!, I’m not telling how many:) before the word came into existence. Without knowing, I was trending before the trend! I wear mine in the fall or spring when you need warmth but a coat is too warm. Because I wear leggings in the fall, winter and spring, I like the longer length of a shacket to balance the skinny fit of leggings (or skinny jeans). 

A shacket can also bump up a comfortable relaxed look to casual-smart by pulling together all the pieces of an outfit and covering up your butt. A longer length complements long legs also.

Although a shacket can be worn alone, I always wear a color coordinated t-shirt under mine. That way all I need to wash frequently is the t-shirt, and if I get too hot, I can remove the shacket and not have to leave it on for decency. Outside of the home with leggings though, I tend to leave my shacket on so I don’t look like a turtle that popped out of its shell! :)

So a shacket is a smart layering piece, and proof that everything old is renamed and new again!

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Inflation Buster: Clock full o’ Nuts

If you are a coffee lover, you may think you have to buy gourmet coffee beans from an upscale coffee shop to drink great coffee. But you don’t!

In my 20s when I hosted friends for dinners in my Manhattan apartment, I’d buy coffee beans from Fairway or Zabar, and I enjoyed cups of coffee at Veniero’s or Ferrara’s Bakery down in Little Italy. Back in the day, there were also a handful of independent coffee shops on the Upper East Side before Starbucks became popular. 

However nowadays I only stock supermarket coffee, namely my fav, Clock full o’ Nuts at home, as well as, to serve to houseguests. IMHO it’s as delicious as the more expensive coffee beans I’ve tried and liked earlier around town. Frankly I think it’s tastier than the $21/pound a friend of mine now pays for her gourmet coffee. Moreover these smaller-ticker costs on food or every day consumer goods really add up over a year’s time. Personally I don’t think $21/pound is worth spending on coffee for daily consumption. 

With Clock full o’ Nuts, you’re not settling for inferior tastes either. I buy the Original, which is a medium roast. It’s bold and flavorful, well-rounded without bitterness. But the brand's coffee is also available in a lighter or darker roast to satisfy a variety of palates.

Coffee isn’t a crop the USA grows or can manufacture in the near future, so unfortunately the Trump tariffs (taxes on goods imported into the country and passed onto consumers) have increased the price of all coffee, but at least supermarkets run sales to slightly lower costs. On sale, a 26 oz can of Clock full o’ Nuts ranges from $11.60 - $12.89 (up from $9).

If you seek an excellent cup of coffee without compromising or going broke, give Clock full o’ Nuts a try. Lets also hope the burden of tariffs (i.e., taxes) come off of coffee sooner than later!

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Put The Laundry Book On Your Shelf

Do you know using too much laundry detergent gets your clothes less clean? Too much laundry detergent will also wear out your washing machine faster. So how much laundry detergent should you use to clean a normally soiled, medium load of laundry? According to 3rd and 4th generation, father and son laundry experts, Jerry and Zach Pozniak, the amount to add is only 2 tablespoons. It’s much less than most people use or what manufactures suggest. Moreover, if your clothes are not heavily soiled washing them in warm over hot water, not only gets them cleaner, but preserves the colors in your clothing.

Jerry and Zach Pozniak are the owners of a luxury dry cleaner located at 1318 Madison Avenue at 94th Street (the Carnegie Hill neighborhood) in New York City called Jeevers New York. It’s a small family run business which caters to celebrities and fashion types. 

Zach Pozniak has a YouTube channel where he doesn’t hold back on giving viewers free cleaning advise and reviewing best to worst laundry detergents and cleaning solvents. Kirkland and Purex liquid detergents top Zak’s list -- go to his channel for the complete details. Like a scientist he explains what ingredients make a detergent or solution most effective for different types of stains. Detergents containing OxiClean are recommended.

In addition to the above tips, I leaned to apply hydrogen peroxide to remove stains from a shirt after I wash but omit drying it. Let the hydrogen peroxide dry on the fabric. IMHO, The Laundry Book would make a great addition to a home. BTW: Know that my blogs are not sponsored. I give my honest opinions. The Laundry Book is a valuable reference book to help us keep our clothes in tip-top shape by squeaky cleaning them without damage. Jerry Pozniak recommends not buying clothes you can only spot clean since you can’t really clean them.

Father and son are committed to passing their 4 generations of cleaning hacks onto the public, and they run a prestige small family business customers can feel good about supporting.

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On Broadway Captures The Spirit Of New York

I stopped posting my list of guilty pleasure songs because the videos get removed from YouTube leaving my blog with broken links. But today I'll upload a single song I remember hearing on my parent’s stereo while still a child. As my mother, father, and I did our own seperate things in our home, sometimes we'd play the radio in the background, or my Dad might put on a few albums. We had one of those 3 combination entertainment units comprised of a big center television with a record player on one side and a radio on the other side. A blast from the past! I remember the evening it was delivered. My Mom had gone out to run errands. My Dad and I were engaged in our own interests in our living room, when our doorbell ring. Two deliverymen announced, “We're here to bring up your stereo unit.” We said, “Are you sure this is the right house? Who bought it?” The name on their papers was my Mom! Unbeknownst to us, she had gone to an estate sale!! Busy bee that she was at the sale, she also bought a lovely wooden china cabinet that day! So through our house came our new furniture that Dad and I only found out about at the moment of delivery! Mom arrived home about an hour later. I guess she had a few more errands left? :)

Photo: Insider

One of the songs I remember hearing on the stereo throughout the years I lived with my parents is the song I’m posting today. Although I first heard the original version, I’m posting my favorite version, the remake by George Benson of On Broadway.

It’s a song that never gets old about a city with good, positive, creative energy, a city that celebrates not only talent and hard work, but education, culture and diversity. Excellence thrives here because of it. Once visited, New York becomes the favorite city of many of its 62 - 66 million tourists per year. New Yorkers can be abrupt, but don’t let their abruptness fool you. Faint or get injured and in a New York minute, you'll be surrounded by 5+ people, all working to get you the help you need. They won’t leave you alone until help arrives.

Another thing to know about New York is its innate sense of right and wrong sprinkled with fairness and optimism. The Empire state is the home of our Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and 2 of our greatest Presidents, Theodore Rosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It’s where our Constitution was written. New Yorkers will pay a little more for the good of the community. I’ve never heard any resentment from New York taxpayers about being a donor state or helping people who have fallen on hard times. Finally, the city is as tough as nails. Strong like the bedrock (Fordham gneiss, Manhattan schist, and Tuckahoe marble) it’s built on. Nobody beats New York into submission.

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