I Am Obsessed With Ginger

I have had a love affair with ginger for some time now. I love ginger candy and all of its brothers and sisters. Recently I made ginger ice cream with Crystallized ginger I had purchased at Whole Foods when on Vacation in the Portland, Oregon area. Alas, I am in Missouri now and I do not have a store near my home to buy it in bulk. I need it in bulk....I love it that much!

Last weekend we had a trip to Kansas City. I had not been to a farmers market in some time and thought " Hey! Let's check out what a Missouri farmers market has to offer "

Well among a lot of wonderful things I found an amazing amount of fresh ginger that was not an astronomical price. I thought to myself  " Self? You could totally make crystallized ginger. Right? "

Well I did, but it took a little tweaking. Here is how my final recipe ended up.

Crystallized Ginger

2lbs raw ginger pieces
8c water
8c sugar
plus more sugar for coating

Recipe:

1. Place water and sugar in large saucepan
2. Boil until sugar dissolves ( making a simple syrup )
3. Add ginger and cook for roughly 2 hrs on med high heat
4. Strain ginger onto baking sheet and coat with more sugar
5. Transfer into a large deep skillet or saucepan and cook medium, watching and stirring frequently
6. Continue to cook until most of whatever liquid you began with has dissolved. Thus creating a candy coating on the soft ginger pieces.
7. Transfer back to a baking sheet to cool

At this point, after cooled, you can coat with more sugar or just transfer to an airtight container for storage. Or do like I did and eat a hand full of it first to enjoy to fruits or " candied roots " of your labor.
note- I chose not to coat mine after the last cooking process...hence it is not very " crystalie ". I am also sure that is probably not a real word.

I am also not really the type to waste much of anything. I make lots of kitchen sink meals to use up leftovers and such. Staring into the pot of ginger syrup leftover from the making of the delicious ginger candy I thought of a wonderful use for it. An adult alcoholic beverage!!!! How about a ginger Mojito of sorts? So I made one and it was AMAZING! Here is its recipe, along with the picture of the jarred syrup for later use. Sorry no pic of the drink itself.

Ginger Mojito Recipe

1. 3leaves fresh mint
2. juice of half a lime
3. 3Tbs ginger syrup
4. 3 ice cubes
5. 1/4c light rum or other alcohol of choice
6. seltzer or lemon lime soda

Start by placing mint and juice of lime in glass. Using a muddler smash leaves to unleash their minty wonderfulness. If you do not have a muddler you can tear the mint and add it to the glass. It will still add a hint of flavor.

Add 3 ice cubes and pour rum over top.

Next is the syrup.

Then top with seltzer.

Give it a little stir and enjoy.

 







What's Up Chicken Butt

One of my first adventures in my new country life was undoubtedly going to be in chicken keeping. From laying hens to meat chickens. Eventually it will span to all kinds of poultry. In the spring I plan on raising some Guinea Hens ( as little ones they are called Keets ) to help with the large tick and bug population around our property. There will also be Pheasants, Ducks, Turkeys, and I am sure others as well.

I spent hours researching chicken breeds. Finding out which would be best suited for our climate to the color of egg they lay. I excitedly picked out my new baby chicks to raise and decided on Ameraucanas, Ausralorps, and Golden Laced Wyandottes.

They have been nothing short of fun and amazing to watch grow up and develop there own little personalities. I am kind of a crazy chicken lady now.

We built them a mobile chicken tractor to live in until they were bigger and we finished the coop.

I am quite proud because it was made almost entirely from materials we already had on hand. I know it is not the cutest thing out there but it is quite functional.

The birds have as of two days ago been moved to there new coop. They are much larger than in this picture. They grow up so fast (I am feeling verclempt ...please take a moment while I gather myself )

Ok, I am better now. We can continue.

Soon I will share the chickens in there new house. Til then you will have to gaze at the wonder of our super cool hodge podge tractor