24 Hour Ginger Beer

Jami makes this ginger beer recipe every once in a while. It is quite good, though shown somewhat inconsistent appreciation by those outside our intimate circle of two. Last night we introduced it to some dear friends who actually liked it, so I'm posting this for their sake. I believe she got the recipe from Martha Stewart, but I won't swear to it. All I know is that it's not our creation.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs fresh ginger root
• 2 quarts boiling water
• sugar to taste
• soda water (optional)

1. Peel and grate the ginger. Grating can be done in a food processor or with a coarse cheese grater.
2. Place the grated ginger in a non reactive bowl (that means glass or ceramic), and pour the boiling water over it.
3. Loosely cover the bowl with foil for twenty-four hours. You want air to get in, but nothing to drop out of the sky into your drink.
4. After twenty-four hours strain out the grated ginger and compost it.

5. Refrigerate then sweeten to taste. Cut the ginger beer with soda water if you need to. I usually need to.

Sleepy Tea

This was another component of my installation Un Lugar Donde Comer Sopa. The tea (infusion, actually, since no parts of the tea plant are involved) contains ginger, red poppy petals, and hops, and relaxes or depresses your digestive system, circulatory system, and higher brain function. In other words, it's guaranteed to make you dopey. So don't use it every day. This recipe makes a lot (I was counting on giving it to about 20 people), so modify accordingly.

Ingredients

• 3 quarts of water
  
• 3 to 4 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1/2 cup dried red poppy petals
• 3/4 cup dried hops
• sugar to taste (optional)

Equipment

• um, a kitchen
• a strainer

1. Add the ginger and water to a large pot and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the hops and poppies and allow to boil another 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Turn off heat and steep 15 to 20 minutes.
4. The hops are bitter, and the ginger is hot, so you really might want to add some sugar.

Options: Remember, hops are a frontal lobe depressant, so don't use them with any kind of regularity. The amounts and proportions here are infinitely fudgable, so adapt them to your needs and/or palate.

Did you know that hops are in the Cannabaceae?