A refreshing summer drink

Have you read Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Wilder lately? Maybe the title says "Winter," but in the first chapter of the book, Laura and Pa are working hard to bring in all the hay before the fall of the year. While they're working in the fields under the hot sun, Ma makes a special treat for Carrie to bring them: ginger water!

Barbara M. Walker's Little House Cookbook has historical information and recipes for old-fashioned foods featured in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. In the entry for ginger water, the cookbook says that ginger water is one ancestor of modern ginger ale. (The other main ancestor is ginger beer, a home-brewed drink that was sometimes alcoholic and sometimes not.) Another name for ginger water is "switchel."

The cookbook also notes that pioneers usually used powdered ginger because they lived far away from the tropical plant that ginger comes from.

Here's the cookbook's recipe for ginger water, to quench your thirst on a hot summer day:

Shake, stir, and dissolve 1/2 to 3/4 cup packed brown sugar and 1 teaspoon powdered ginger in 1/2 cup cider vinegar (the cookbook recommends homemade). Add 1 quart of cold water, mix, and serve.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe on LHCO. Come back soon!
Elizabeth