What a harvest John!!! I am so impressed by your growing and cooking skills!!

I had ginger root growing years ago when I lived in Florida. I love the scent of the flowers, but am not a huge fan of the root. I do use it for cooking though...I think it adds an important flavor, but I always make sure it is not too overwhelming. Carrot cake and Indian food absolutely need it IMHO ;-)

I love candied/crystalized ginger root and one of my favorite parts of having a sushi roll is the pickled ginger that come with it. I was amazed at how much root the plant had grown in one season. Hopefully the roots I replanted won't rot between now and spring. I read varying recommendations on how to overwinter. Oh, I just had some of the candied lemon peel. The lemon came through strong and there was just a hint of ginger so I think you would like it. The ginger slices, on the other hand, bite back! Maybe I need to slice the ginger thinner.

John,

Love the harvest!

Ginger root and lemon tea is great served hot in the winter time, and is especially good for your health. I buy a lemon ginger tea, but it would never be as good as fresh ingredients steeped in hot water. Thanks for sharing. Btw, I also like hot yuzu ginger tea.

Thanks for the suggestions Suzu! John, how did you candy the lemon peel? Is there a particular recipe you like? I saw something interesting on the FB citrus forum yesterday. Someone said she takes all the zest from her citrus (don't remember which type), purées it to a liquid/smooth paste, then just adds water and sugar and cooks it like a jam until it's the consistency of honey. She then uses it to add to tea instead of sugar. I want to try it.

Wow, and I'll bet you can prevent or heal a Cold or Fever very rapidly with your expertise!! Great job and let me tell you, that is a hell of a lot of citrus!! Nice work John!

I didn't do anything by the book for the candied peel. I juiced the lemons, peeled the section membranes out of the peel and, since they were meyers and aren't bitter, I just cut the peels in narrow pieces. At this point, some recipes recommend boiling the peels in water and pouring off the water to reduce bitterness....I didn't in this case. I put the peel, two cups lemon juice, one cup water, and three cups sugar (I like Zulka) in a glass or stainless pot to boil. I boiled uncovered for an hour before shutting off the heat and letting it cool. Then I strained off the liquid (haven't decided how to use it yet...thinking sorbet) and put the peel in a bowl of sugar to help dry it. It still looked awfully wet so I spread the sugared peel out on drying racks with a cookie sheet underneath to catch drips. I put this assemblage in the oven set at 200F to help dry it. The drying steps need some work because it's a sticky mess. It's a tasty mess...but a sticky one :>)

Sounds delicious John! I will need to try that!

A kitchen dehydrator would work, too.

Thanks suzuchan, I probably should get a dehydrator.