LEMON AND GINGER TEA

Good Morning to you,

As I sit down to catch up with you, there is a waft of sausages and bacon floating through the air. George is cooking breakfast today and I have been given strict instructions that I have a limited amount of time before my breakfast is ready.

Natasha and Danielle will be reading this and I know they will be smiling, as George never used to cook.  It was a standard joke in the family, that when I was away,  "How would dad cope???" "Who would make his bacon sandwich in the morning???"  I think the thought of me not always being around to make his breakfast, has spurred him on, to learn how to do a little cooking.... well I think that is a slight exaggeration, it has spurred George on, to learn how to cook sausages, bacon and eggs, but I have to be fair, I have shown him how to poach an egg, and do you know he now makes a fabulous poached egg. Now there's a thought, maybe I should show him how to make a few more meals.

Anyway, I had better get on as our time is limited before breakfast is ready.

Do you remember last week, when we made the Greek Olives I said I would tell you what I did with the remaining three quartered lemons, well, this is what I make with surplus lemons,

a refreshing cup of lemon and ginger tea.  I enjoy this tea when it is warm, as if the tea is too hot, you cannot appreciate the flavours.

So, it's on with the apron and the music I am listening to today, I know you will love.

Alfie Boe.... he is the most wonderful singer. Normally, when I listen to this Cd, I will lay down on the settee, close my eyes and just get lost in this beautiful music.  When Alfie sings "Bring Him Home" it brings tears to my eyes.  My other favourite song is "Come What May".... what am I saying, the whole Cd is wonderful. If you have not heard of Alfie, please, go to UTube, I am sure you will be able to find a clip of him singing "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserable.

Right, that is enough of me waxing lyrical about Alfie, let us get on with the Lemon and Ginger Tea.

INGREDIENTS

2 quartered lemons

 1 1/2" piece of root ginger

METHOD

Juice the two quartered lemons

Scrape off the brown skin from the ginger,

I find it easy to use a teaspoon for this.

Cut into small pieces

place in a heatproof bowl

add the lemon juice

Add enough hot water to make two cups of tea,
one for me and one for George,

and stir.

Transfer the lemon juice, water and ginger to a 
saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer,

allow to simmer for ten minutes,

but remove any foam which forms.

Return the lemon and ginger tea, from the saucepan to
the bowl and place a plate on the top, to 

allow the tea to steep for five minutes

Strain the pieces of ginger,

then pour yourself a cup of lemon and ginger tea

and sit back and

enjoy.

As I mentioned earlier, we made enough lemon and ginger tea for two cups.

For me, this is the perfect flavour, I can taste the lemon and there is a lovely background hit of ginger.  When you first taste the tea, you might think, mmm, there is not enough ginger for you, take a second sip and then a third, and you will find the ginger is most definitely there, you will enjoy a lovely ginger aftertaste.

I started making my own lemon and ginger tea, because a while ago now, I bought the dried tea bags and I found the taste of ginger was too overpowering and I did not enjoy the tea.  This way, I can adjust the flavour to my own taste.  Which is what I know you will do, maybe you do like an intense ginger flavour, then certainly add a little more ginger.

I don't discard the ginger straight away as I  use the ginger a second time to make tea, but only within the same day.

Just a little tip.  I used to find, that as I do not use a lot of ginger in my cooking, when I bought a root, if I was not in the mood for ginger and lemon tea, that as often as not, the ginger would go off. Now you know how I hate waste, so I tried freezing the ginger, I felt I had nothing to lose and do you know it worked.  It was easy to slice a piece of frozen ginger, my knife cut straight through it, without any difficulty.The piece of ginger I used today was frozen, it also made it easy to remove the skin with a teaspoon.  A teaspoon may sound a strange implement to use for removing the ginger skin, but because I always use such small quantities of ginger, I find the pieces difficult to handle and I did not want to cut myself with a knife, so I tried using a teaspoon and it works beautifully.  Give it a try and you will see what I mean.

You may be asking yourself what I did with the third and final piece of lemon..... well, we ate the first batch of Greek olives which I made last week and we do love Greek olives in this house, so I sliced the third piece of lemon and added the slices to another batch of olives, so nothing was wasted. Truly with a little thought, there is no reason to throw away any food.

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

This week I will be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways

and
Diane Wants to Write
and

Brenda from Cozy Little House

and

Kathy from Creative Home Expressions