Ginger root fans-two great things from one recipe...

[grace0418]

First I found a recipe for ginger syrup that is easy and fantastic.

It's equal parts peeled, sliced ginger, water and sugar (although I went easy on the sugar). Cook in a saucepan until reduced to a thin syrup. Strain out ginger and store syrup in the fridge. Use the syrup to make homemade ginger ale with sparkling water. For a twist, add fresh mint and lime or fresh thai basil and lemon. Or put the syrup over ice cream or fresh fruit. Or drizzle over pancakes or pound cake. The uses are many.

But here's the best part. Don't throw out that candied ginger that's left over. You can eat it, of course, or chop it up and put it on cereal or ice cream. Or make what I just made tonight: Ginger Peach Preserves. My preserves are very simple, I just cook down fresh fruit with a little sugar (I go very light on the sugar) and whatever other flavoring I fancy. They come out like chunky apple sauce and you can use them like sauce or like jam. They freeze well or keep in the fridge for several weeks. The chopped up bits of candied ginger in the peach preserves sent them over the top though. They're my new favorite preserves. I don't think that big jar is going to last long.

[Dr Morbius]

1. What do you have for Maryann fans? (nt)

[Steely_Dan]

2. Oh...I Thought...

this was a thread about Ginger Baker.

[marzipanni]

3. Those both sound delicious. I'll try it with some very flavorful peaches

from the farmers' market.
I have a recipe for chewy ginger molasses cookies where you whack the cookie sheet down after taking it from the oven to make the cookies collapse and crackle on top. :9

[grace0418]

4. That's where I got my peaches. Ooooh, they are so good.

Mmmm, I love anything made from ginger.

[velvet]

5. that all sounds do-able and delicious

Thank you for passing it on.

[grace0418]

8. You're most welcome.

Enjoy! :hi:

[surrealAmerican]

6. I've made that too.

For "basic" ginger ale, you want to mix the syrup with an equal quantity of lemon juice, before adding the seltzer. Otherwise it tastes like something is missing.

[grace0418]

7. I thought it was amazing without lemon juice even. I like it super gingery though,

I'm a big fan of Reeds Ginger Brew.

[applegrove]

9. Candied ginger is great for a hangover.

[grace0418]

10. Candied ginger is just magical all the way around.

But maybe that's just me. :)

[MajorChode]

11. If you really want a challenge, you can make ginger ale the traditional way

I like using the sparkling water water method. I have a seltzer bottle so it's pretty easy to do so. The traditional method involves using yeast to produce the carbon dioxide infused water. The result tastes a bit different because of the yeast and the small amount of alcohol produced. It makes for a fun science project for the kids. When I was a kid, we did this in school, but schools nowadays shy away from doing this because of the trace amounts of alcohol produced. It's kind of silly. Kids would have to drink gallons of the stuff and would probably die of water poisoning well before they ever got drunk.

Just make sure you heed the warning regarding exploding bottles:
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Ginger_Ale_Ag0.htm