Rolling In . . . Ginger?

This past Thursday afternoon, I came home to find a most welcome surprise waiting for me on my doorstep -- a package from The Ginger People! It was the prize for winning their holiday cookie contest hosted by the Leftover Queen. If you remember, I made some ginger biscotti, which snagged me this sweet reward.

I knew in advance that I would be receiving their full line of crystallized ginger products, and they were definitely not kidding! Opening up the shipping box, I found a beautiful gift basket full of crystallized ginger goodness. Here's the run-down starting from the top left corner of the basket and traveling clockwise:

• baker's cut crystallized ginger chips (I think I'll be using these for an upcoming Tuesdays with Dorie recipe)
• premium cut crystallized ginger (presumably the same as the baker's cut chips, only larger)
• organic crystallized ginger
• crystallized ginger in medallion shapes
• ginger sweeties (shaped like hearts!)
• ginger candy canes (can these shapes get any cuter?)
• ginger babies (shaped like little people -- apparently the shapes can get even more adorable!)

Of course I had to dig into one of the jars right away, so a few ginger babies quickly took up new residence in my belly. Not only are they as cute as can be, but also perfectly moist and spiced. Delicious!

So I'll be rolling in crystallized ginger for quite some time. I'm not sure what I'll be doing with my spiced booty, aside from baking more biscotti as well as muffins, breads, or even a cobbler. The can of premium cut crystallized ginger recommended using the ginger as a straight-up snack, a palate cleanser, in a cup of tea, or as a topping for ice cream, yogurt, cereal/granola, and salad. How intriguing!

I'm especially excited by the idea of using some ginger with ice cream. A part of the Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park that stuck out to me when I read the book as a kid was when, in the midst of despair and facing a whole freezerful of melting ice cream due to lost power, one of the characters digs into some ginger ice cream for a little comfort. I might have to follow suit (sans the dino-related depression, of course!). And as a huge fan of yogurt and granola, the idea of that combination plus some top-of-the-line ginger sounds amazing.

If you could pick any use of ginger, either fresh or crystallized, what would it be? Post your recommendations in the comments section! And, once again, a huge thank you to Jenn, the wonderful Leftover Queen, for hosting this in conjunction with The Ginger People.