Maybe it should be obvious, but I have to ask - Is the ginger in the ingredient list ground ginger, fresh, or crystallized?

I'm in the camp that really, really likes ginger!

sorry, it's powdered! I used Penzey's, which might have been why my first run at the original recipe, with a few extra tsp of ginger was a little too gingery.

With the changes you made this looks really good. I will make it for a special occasion.

Jim

I love fresh ginger. I don't wear perfume, but if there was one that smelled like fresh ginger I'd wear it! Powdered ginger, meh. I don't even put it in my pumpkin pies.

Mmmmm, I love ginger. I love fresh ginger and powdered ginger and crystallized ginger. I eat pieces of Penzey's crystallized ginger right out of the bag, so this looks delicious to me!

I'm definitely copying and pasting....

Annie

I LOVE Ginger too, especially the crystalized kind. I eat it like candy.

Another ginger fan. I found a ginger candy made by The Ginger People called Gin Gins I purchase as a treat for myself occasionally. I'm not much of a candy person, but I love this stuff. I first found them at a World Market in St. Louis and that's usually where I get them when we travel through St. Louis a couple times a year.

I use fresh gingerroot to make homemade ginger ale. Lovely stuff with a real "bite" to it.

Toss a chunk of crystallized ginger into a cup of tea, or put some thin slices of fresh gingerroot into a tea ball and make a pot of ginger tea.

I will definitely be making Pomegranate Ginger Bites. What a fun combination. Thanks for recipe!

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Gin Gin Candies

Okay, a pomegranate virgin here with a really stupid question. Are the seeds edible then, or are they for decoration? I thought people just strained the juice and pulp out of the pomegranate, and didn't eat the seeds. I know, one of these days I'm going to have to actually buy one and eat it, just to see what all the fuss is about. Oh, and do you just get the seeds from a pomegranate, or do you buy the seeds already prepared somehow? (I did say I was a virgin in this regard!)

I hate grenadine, though, so I've never thought I'd like pomegranates. Those bits sound delicious, though. I do love ginger.

Sally

sally2-

Check out the link below for some helpful pomegranate information.

When I was a kid I would use my allowance to buy a pomegranate, while other kids bought candy.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: eHow - How to use a pomegranate

I love ginger, too. Last week I had a glass of ginger ale made with lots of fresh ginger. It had quite a kick but was the most delicious I've ever had.

That recipe looks tooooo good.

Sherry

I love ginger...........fresh ginger. I just bought some some at the Farmer's Market yesterday. The stalks and leaves are edible also. You don't even have to peel it because when you first pick it the skin is thin - like a plum. Only one drawback. It's $10 for a rather small bunch. I'm going to try growing my own next year. It takes 10-11 months and I may start some in my sunroom soon.

"Posted by teresa_mn -------I love ginger...........fresh ginger. I just bought some some at the Farmer's Market yesterday. The stalks and leaves are edible also. -----"

Ginger flowers are edible (not all ginger flowers are). Ginger is more than just tasting good, it has many medicinal uses. Since I don't want to give medical advices, you can do you own research.

dcarch

Like Nan, I love freshly grated ginger, it adds such a nice sparkle to food, but powdered ginger doesn't do much for me.

Years ago I had a dinner in a restaurant in Anacortes, WA. Salmon with ginger pasta. They'd made the pasta with freshly grated ginger and I can still remember how wonderful each bite was with the taste of the fresh ginger filling my mouth.

I'll have to look into growing my own, how lovely that would be.

Grainlady - I think The Ginger People make my favorite ginger chews from Trader Joe's. They are addictive!

Sally, pomegranates are delicious. The seeds are juicy with a little tang, but mostly I love their beautiful jewel color. Like an edible ruby!

AM

Renee used to toss in a handful of some yummy ginger chews with my coffee order from BVC years ago. Copied and saved AM! I'll be making this soon with all of the holiday gatherings just around the corner. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

David

My stupid question:
". . . golden syrup or rice syrup" ???

I'm not sure what this is? Pancake syrup?

The recipe sounds great and I'd like to try it, but this stumped me.

That's not a stupid question at all...

Golden syrup is one wonderful product (in my spoon-licking opinion) and is made with cane sugar syrup, not high fructose corn syrup. It has a rich "buttery" flavor. Lyle's Golden Syrup is the brand I use, and it is commonly used in the U.K. This syrup is much thicker than plain old pancake syrup, and MUCH tastier.

Rice Syrup is made from cooked rice and isn't as sweet as other syrup products. I think it has a slightly bitter taste to it.

For more information, check the link below.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Cook's Thesaurus - Liquid Sweeteners

Grainlady: Thanks so much. This is something I knew nothing about, and the website was quite helpful. I doubt if Lyle's is available anywhere around here (and besides, why would I buy a whole can for just 3 Tbsp.? I don't generally make anything for myself where I would use this.)

Tomorrow I will explore the syrups aisle at the grocery store and read labels.

Thanks for once again sharing your vast knowledge.

maxmom, if you're near a World Market, I've seen it there. If not, I'm told you can easily substitute Karo with similar (although not identical) results.

I use ginger for upset stomachs, when I was a kid Grandma gave us gingerale for stomach upsets. When I went whale watching I just chewed crystallized ginger and had no problems at all, although I do sometimes get motion sick on boats. The little girl next to me was eating it like candy too, I think she, Ashley and I were the only people on the whole boat who didn't get sick!

Yes, I remember Renee sent me Ginger Chews too...

Annie

yep, you can certainly substitute either light or dark Karo syrup. There's so much ginger, it won't make a huge difference. Lyle's golden syrup is also the brand I use; it's delicious!

AM

"Posted by annie1992 ----I use ginger for upset stomachs, when I was a kid Grandma gave us gingerale for stomach upsets. ----------
Annie"

For upset stomach, my mom would have one bottle of Coke, 1/2 cup of fresh chopped ginger and boil to half volume. The ginger would be discarded.

Worked like magic.

dcarch

BTW, I assume everyone knows ginger can be kept very well in the freezer.

When I was in Bermuda a while back, I tried their famous ginger beer (when in Rome...). I couldn't drink it--had way too much bite. I did, however manage a few "dark &stormy cocktails. I have found that ginger beer sold in the states is less sharp, but much more gingery than gingerale. It was funny though, when the cashier asked for id when I purchased it.

I just made a batch of Tomato Preserves over the weekend..the recipe called for a hunk of fresh ginger... I've never even had tomato preserves before but the flavor turned out amazing.
So much so, I'm going to make another batch today. They are very gingery and the lemon comes thru...hard to describe but it totally changes the tomato taste.

Nancy

Annie: LOL! When I was a kid and sick in bed, my mom would give me gingerale, so my conditioned response now to gingerale is to get sick! But I love any other kind of ginger, and make those wonderful ginger snaps and put crystalized ginger in them.

Another stomach remedy my mom would give me at first onset was Syrup of Pepsin. Bet they don't sell that anymore, but it tasted good to me then. I would hope that the Syrup of Pepsin would cure me so that I wouldn't have to drink gingerale! She also liked peppermint for an upset stomach and would carry a little bottle of it around and mix it in water and make me drink it. Ugh! I don't like peppermint now either!

Grainlady, thanks for the link, but it didn't work. However, I will do a search for just that topic when I have more time. Maxmom, thanks for asking that question, too, about the syrup. I didn't even notice it in the ingredients.

Sally

Ginger's okay. I prefer Mary Ann.

Count me in as a ginger lover. When I was young, my Dad used to make ginger toast for me. Same as cinnamon toast, but with powdered ginger instead of cinnamon - I loved it! If you are a fan of candied ginger, and you ever find yourself in Canada, get thee to a Purdy's Chocolate shop and get some dark chocolate covered ginger.(They make milk chocoalte too, but dark is my choice.) Purdy's chocolate is smooth and creamy and coupled with the ginger...oh my. I can (and have) eaten an entire box without sharing.
J

Here is a link that might be useful: Purdy's

:) @ Arley!!!

Arley, my brother always preferred Mary Ann too, I was just too busy wondering why the Professor was so smart he could make a nuclear reactor from a coconut but couldn't get 'em off the island, LOL.

maxmom, fortunately, I love gingerale. (grin) But lacking that, Grandma also gave us baking soda stirred into hot water, now THAT was nasty!

Jane, thanks for that link, I love ginger, I love dark chocolate, how could it be anything but superb?

Annie

Here you go Sally, how to take the seeds out (below). Yes, you eat the seeds. The little red jewels can be eaten without eating the seed. Removing the flesh would be impossible! Besides, the seed isn't hard and crunch is part of its appeal. remove the space though. Sheesh! No one is selling anything Big Brother!

http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qfQ3_N7S6Y

Arabella and Annie:

From Wikipedia:

The question of which one men prefer, and to a lesser extent, who women view themselves to be more like, has endured long after the end of the series.[19][20] It has inspired videos, essays,[21] a 1993 Budweiser beer commercial,[22] and even the occasional sermon.[23] By most accounts, the wholesome, low-maintenance Mary Ann has consistently outpolled the glamorous but demanding Ginger since the very beginning.

Yep, DH liked Mary Ann the best, too.

Thanks, Rob, I'll check out that video when I get to work. You-tube and other videos don't work on my computer.

It was 7-Up or Sprite at my house for upset stomachs, and yes, I hate them both to this day.

I could definitely go for chocolate covered ginger.

Sally

For all of you ginger lovers - if you ever get a chance to drink Vernor's Ginger Ale give it a try. I grew up in Michigan where Vernor's was the standard and I love it - since moving to areas where it's not available, other ginger ale tastes like dishwater to me. Vernor's is very gingery - and has so much 'sparkle' that it tickles your nose. YUM.

I love ginger! I recently drank some ginger-ale and it cured my upset stomach. That was the first time I've tried it for a stomach upset.
As for Mary Ann over Ginger - I read that Ginger acted and was much to same in real life as she was in that program.

Ginger is a staple in our household. DH loved it as a kid and made me a convert too. See's dark chocolate covered ginger is his favorite along with Buderim ginger from Australia.
Just last week, on a trip to Portland, we stopped into the Spice & Tea Exchange store where I bought ginger sugar. It was delish on this morning's grapefruit!

We also bought raspberry sugar (****), maple sugar,(***) alderwood salt( great on last night's grilled salmon), hickory salt, a spice blend to use for dips and chocolate salt--sadly a disappointment =( .

Another ginger lover here. If you've never had a ginger martini, they are fabulous. DH makes this recipe from Food Network a lot and I think the best part of it is the pulp. Basically, you're cooking together ginger, lemon, sugar and water and then straining it to make ginger syrup. After I strain it, I always save the pulp to add to cookies, cakes, muffins, whatever. In fact, even if I didn't like the ginger martinis, I might still make the syrup so that I could have the leftover pulp. I've even frozen it in ice cube trays.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ginger Martinis

Question for Arabellamiller:

I made these a few weeks ago and LOVED them, as did my family. However I did find that the glaze was not stiff enough to stay on the top once they were cut.

What would you do? Increase the powdered sugar? Don't want it too sweet. Decrease the butter?

I'd love to make them again and use on a party tray.

Hi maxmom, I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed them! Yes, I guess you could put in more powdered sugar. I've found that they cut much more neatly if you can let them sit a day first. My other suggestion is to cut them in bite sized pieces so that they aren't quite as messy to eat - just pop one in you mouth!

Hope that helps.

AM

Thanks AM

I'll try letting them sit a day or two before eating. (But that's so hard to do!) Hate to put in more sugar as I wouldn't want the glaze any sweeter.

Nancy

I picked up a bottle of gingerbread liqueur at the market this week it was with all the Christmas stuff. I have never seen it before but DH said to get a few more on my next trip to town. ItâÂÂs like a ginger cookie in a glass.

I absolutely love ginger, but I wasn't able to post to this before. I also love ginger flowers and have several types of ginger in my yard now. The blue ginger is blooming right now (see link below), but I also have red and white gingers, none of which are edible, but some of the flowers have very nice fragrances that are quite unique.

As for edible ginger, I keep a jar of ginger paste (from an Indian market) that I use in soups, marinades, and stir fries, but not desserts. For desserts, I use ginger that I keep in the freezer. I should probably grow edible ginger. I bought ginger snaps at TJ's last week-end (along with some other more decadent cookies), but I think I should have made them myself. They were good but not quite gingery enough. I don't have any dried ginger.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful:

Lars, that picture is stunning. What a pretty flower.

I'm going to look for that gingerbread liquor. That would make one fine drink!

I love gingersnaps. I have a great recipe somewhere with crystallized ginger, I'll have to look for it soon.

AM