For What Ails You

I've been under the weather this week, sniffling and snuffling through the days, my nose needing assistance every single second, my head foggy, and my malaise reaching sky high levels. You know how this goes. 

Mothers know best, of course, and mine tells me to rest and sleep and hydrate my pants off. And I do. But, dear GOD, do I get sick of tea. I love tea, I do. But I reach a breaking point. I know there are other drink choices out there, but here's the thing. I'm an obsessive water drinker when I'm not sick, but the very thought of plain water when I am sick makes me queasy. And juice? For someone as sugar-obsessed as I am, you'd think I'd love the stuff. But no. It's too cloying, too sweet, too much. (Unless it's combined with liquor. Which is a different, more satisfying story altogether.) And soda? Forget it! The too-sweet law applies here as well. This leaves us with very few options, I realize. Which is why, when you are sick, you are to visit the grocery store, where you will purchase some knobs of fresh ginger root and some seltzer water. You will come home, limp your ailing body into the kitchen, slice up that ginger, make yourself a simple syrup with it, and add it to seltzer in any amount you can dream of. Yes! Everyone is happy! Suddenly, you're not quite so sick anymore. It's magic.

This really is a miracle beverage, and I'm predicting that it will be a very large part of my winter beverage collection this year. (Can someone in an important food magazine please pay me to use that horribly pretentious phrase I just made up? My winter beverage collection. Ha! Beautiful.) First of all, store-bought ginger ale is really not my thing, so if it is also not your thing, withhold judgement if you would, and make this homemade ginger ale anyway. It's entirely different, entirely better. Second, everything is better with seltzer water. Bubbles, you know. Bubbles! Third, well, you will soon understand that this ginger ale will be right at home in a cocktail. Andy and I are plotting our Thanksgiving cocktail for this year, and so far, we know this: The Turkey Tail! Featuring ginger ale and liquor! (I'm thinking bourbon with the ginger ale, and perhaps a little bit of mint and orange?) So, family, get yourselves ready for that!

It's incredibly useful to be able to control the amount of sweetness in a soda-type beverage, and that's what you can do with this ginger ale. I've been using a tablespoon or two per pint of seltzer, and it's good, although sometimes just a splash of the simple syrup makes me happy. Oh, and did we mention that ginger is the thing that makes bellies so freaking happy? It's a miracle, this root and this ale. I'm really excited to share it with you. Now, for crying out loud, go get sick so that you can really appreciate the wonder of your very own ginger ale!

Homemade Ginger Ale

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C peeled, sliced ginger root

1/2 C water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Cool. Pull out ginger pieces, place in a glass jar, and strain simple syrup into the jar. 

Notes:

You can also just pour the whole panful into the jar for storage -- it's up to you. It will look a little more rustic if you don't strain it, but it's fine for everyday use. I'd suggest straining it if you will be sharing it with guests or using it in cocktails. 

This makes enough for either a full pitcher of ginger ale, or 6-8 glasses of the stuff. After I made my first batch of this size, I opted for a much larger amount the second time around. Just double, triple, or quadruple to your heart's content. I also like to add a piece of the ginger to each glass of the ginger ale, but I've also found that you can recycle your old ginger pieces by using them in your new batch of simple syrup. 

You can also use honey in place of the sugar, if you'd like. And, while I did sort of bash hot tea earlier, I must say that this simple syrup is killer in a mug of green tea. Or in iced tea. Or in any drink at all, really. Or in a dirty old shoe. Or slurped from an upside-down Lego. (And, ahem, you wonder how I got sick in the first place.) Anyway, bottom line is, you can't go wrong. It's magic.