A syrup for all occasions

Wichita is being powdered with snow and whipped by wind as I type, cozily, from my home. I feel like I'm in a gingerbread house that's being coated with confectioner's sugar. We're getting about three inches of ski-perfect snow today, and the temperature shouldn't climb above 20 degrees.

Christmas lurks around the corner, and I'm enjoying some staples of the season: our tree is up and decorated, we're stocked with cocoa mix, most of my presents are finished, and I'm fighting the arrival of my annual Christmas cold.

Right now, it's a small invader, a small, irritated place in the back of my throat. If left unchecked, though, I'll no longer be the only healthy staff member at work. I will fight fire with syrup, then. Bring on the ginger and lemon.

I find fresh, cheap ginger at Thai Binh market year-round

I love this syrup because each and every ingredient soothes a sore throat and boosts my immune system at the same time. This syrup works as a cough syrup, as a tea, and as a sweetener for other herbal teas (like echinacea, chamomile, peppermint, etc.)

Lovely lemon-ginger syrup

• one large piece of ginger, cut into thin slices
• one lemon, sliced very thin
• 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups of water
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 clean glass jam jar with lid
  

Prepare fruit and ginger, then set aside. Place the jam jar on the stove, ready to receive the liquid when it's finished.

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, then add ginger slices. Let the ginger simmer for 10-20 minutes, or until the ginger has made the water cloudy, fragrant, and brown. Remove the ginger with a slotted spoon and add lemon slices. Simmer the lemon for another 10-15 minutes, until the fruit is wilted and its juice imparted to the solution.

Remove the lemon with a slotted spoon, then add the honey. Bring the solution to a medium boil and allow much of the water to evaporate. Reduce to about a little more than a cup of liquid, or until you reach the consistency of syrup you desire. If you need to add water to reach this consistency, that is fine. (Every stove/lemon/saucepan is a little different.)

Pour the syrup into the waiting jam jar, let it cool to about room temperature, then seal. The syrup will keep in the fridge for about two months. Take it straight or diluted in a tea. It also tastes great over vanilla ice cream...