An Ounce of Prevention...

Today was another foggy, rainy day on the Bayou. I made my trek to the pier early hoping to catch the sunrise but soon realized that the sun had other ideas..it was a no-show! After getting pretty much drenched in the drizzling rain or heavy fog (whichever it was), I headed back to the house. Once inside, the thought hit me that standing out in the messy weather was perhaps not the most brilliant of ideas. I had always been told, "Don't stand out in the rain, you will sure catch your death of a cold!" I am not sure that "death by cold" has ever been proven but sometimes the misery makes you believe that you are not far from it. With this in mind, I set about creating a "preventative" remedy! Or at least something that might ward off an oncoming sore throat or congestion. (Neither of which, I am happy to say, has happened!)

The ingredients that were to be used in this remedy? Ginger root and lemon! Both of these are highly powerful in treating cold symptoms. My goal was to create herbal "throat lozenges" or "cough drops". I set about peeling and dicing the ginger root. I wanted to make sure that the chunks of root were small so that during cooking, they would become tender enough to eat. Sometimes the ginger root can be a mite fibrous or tough and I wanted it to be "chewable". After peeling and chopping, I added this to a syrup mixture of two cups water and two cups sugar. The sugar was necessary to make the ginger palatable. For anyone that has not tried taking a bite of straight ginger root...don't! It is quite potent! Personally, I like it but many folks say it is too "hot" for their taste. The syrup had been simmering in the slow-cooker for about fifteen minutes or so prior adding the ginger root.

Then came the lemon! I simply washed and sliced the fruit into four thick slabs. I did not remove any seeds or the rind. This was tossed into the slow-cooker with the rest of the ingredients. Everything happily simmered away for the next couple of hours since I was in no hurry. While this was doing its thing, I visited with my sister-in-law. She and I chatted over cups of coffee as the ginger/lemon concoction filled the kitchen with delightful aromas! I tested the ginger root occasionally for tenderness and once it was satisfactory, the next step was to coat the chunks to keep them from sticking together when they were stored.

The root chunks were lifted from the juice and allowed to drain for a few minutes on paper towels. In the mean time, I poured about a half cup of turbinado sugar (coarse ground brown sugar or raw sugar) into a container with a tight fitting lid. After the candied root pieces drained for a few minutes but before they cooled, I poured about a cup of them into the container. The lid was replaced and the container was shaken vigorously to coat the pieces. After the coating, they were again placed on paper towels to dry. I repeated this step with the remaining chunks..each time adding more coarse sugar to the container. After these dry at least overnight, they will be placed in airtight containers. They will keep for several months and will be on hand if needed.

Now..I am ready! Just in case I contract a sore throat or that good old dry throat feeling that forewarns of the onset of a cold, I will merely grab a couple of these throat lozenges and beat it to the punch! To test for flavor, I gave a few to Mark. He said that he really liked the blend of ginger and lemon and he did seem to think they would be soothing to a sore throat. Success!

Oh..as an added note..these are also good for heartburn or indigestion! Ginger...the wonder herb!