It’s one of the 2 medicines I would request if stranded on a deserted island. Can you guess the other one? Many moons ago when I was in herb school our teacher introduced us to Ginger Syrup.  Most of us were brand new to the herbalist world & found many of the herbs & formulas strange to our taste buds. Ginger was an old welcome friend to many.  At the time there was a wonderful private own herb company that made a Ginger Syrup. Our wonderful teacher JoAnn Sanchez passed around a few bottles for us students to pour about a tablespoon into a juice glass. Then she passed around seltzer water. We made our own version of REAL ginger ale. It was so tasty, healing & a healthy fizzy drink.  A natural soda if you will. One the kiddos loved as well. After that day in class I fell in love & would buy many of these bottles over the years. Then when my herbal sister Tara opened her company Earthwise Herbals in Hill Country, she started making Ginger Honey Syrup & we sold a ton of it at Moon. Everyone that liked ginger(and some that didn’t so much) absolutely LOVED this syrup. Time moved on as it does in life. Tara moved away & took a break from her company which meant no more Ginger Syrup from her.  Life went on without Ginger Syrup & then one day I thought to myself, “I’m just going to whip up a batch myself.”  So I grabbed Rosemary’s book, flipped it to the Ginger Chapter & away I went.  It was sooooo easy & it made my kitchen smell lovely. I opted to leave the grated ginger in the honey because I wanted the entire plant.  I also made a little jar on the side with her instructions on making this into a jam.  They are both a little slice of heaven.  You can make your own Ginger Ale like we did in herb school, eat it right off the spoon, stir it into yogurt cups, pour it over coconut ice cream, drizzle it over chicken & fish dinners, cook it into your veggie rice bowls, add it to your hot teas instead of just regular honey, spread it onto your favorite toast, use it instead of maple syrup or even better WITH your real maple syrup on waffle & pancakes, put it on an almond or peanut butter sandwich, and these are just a few of the ways I’ve tried it.  Please let me know what other amazing ideas you come up with to use your ginger syrup!  It’s a yummy, fun way to have Ginger in your life.  I also added some flower & gem essences to my bottles because I like the idea of having even more healing to this syrup. So add what feels good to you if you’d like.  Here’s Rosemary’s Recipe so you can give it a try & a few step by step photos of the process.

Peel a large hand of fresh ginger root, then gate it & put it in a pan. (I used a potato peeler.

I used more than a hand full…maybe 3 handfuls & put it in our food processor too.)

Add just enough honey to barely cover the ginger. Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes, until the ginger is soft & mushy & the honey tastes strongly of ginger. You can strain the ginger from the honey if you dare, but it’s generally a mess, as honey doesn’t strain easily. I just leave the ginger in the syrup, as it’s soft & adds texture & flavor.  Pour the ginger syrup into a glass jar.  Refrigerated, it will last for several weeks. For Jam: I’ve made a simple jam from this recipe.  While the syrup is still warm, pour it into a blender.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder(We carry this at Moon) or organic cornstarch for each cup of syrup, as a thickener, and blend, which turns the mixture into a delicious ginger jam.  To Use: Use 1 tablespoon as needed for a cold, stomach cramps, and menstrual discomfort. Or add 2-3 tablespoons to 1 cup hot water for hot ginger tea.   It is a very tasty remedy for motion sickness and stomach distress, colds, coughs, overeating, and other maladies, as well as being a sweet treat on toast.

You can find this recipe & all of Rosemary’s books at Sacred Moon.  For a limited time(until we sell out) they are all personally signed by her because she was just in Texas for the Mother Earth News Fair in February. So you get an extra free bonus because she was kind enough to sign around 40 books for Moon. Literally, she’s that kind of a soul to do things like that. We are lucky to have her as one of our amazing mentors in the herb world 🙂