Jan 14, 2018

Ginger Lemonade

January 14, 2018|Annie Salness Artist|4 Comments|Blog

For my 2018 calendar, I invited friends and colleagues to contribute their favorite FLAVOR combination, along with a recipe and a story. I received 12 great combos and loved working with all these ingredients in my studio and experimenting with how to present them.

This month, I’m featuring the story and Ginger Lemonade recipe of the wonderful Portland artist, Ruth Armitage.

Ginger Lemonade Still-life

Ginger Lemonade, 12″ x12″ x1″, acrylic on cradled panel, by Annie Salness, $285

Here’s the story and recipe:

from the 2018 Flavors calendar…

January

Whenever any one of my three kids was sick growing up, I’d get a call from the grocery store: “Mom, how do you make that ginger lemonade?”

It is a simple recipe. One can even remember it in the throes of the flu. But it is comforting and relieves a sore throat, cough, congestion, and aches. This was just one of the terrific recipes I cut out of the Oregonian’s Food Day section, before the advent of foodie websites and blogs.

—Ruth Armitage, www.rutharmitage.com

Ginger Lemonade

1 1/2 T. fresh, grated ginger water 1/2 a lemon 1 T. honey pinch of cayenne pepper

Grate ginger into a mug. (Freeze ginger in a plastic bag for easier grating.)Fill the mug to within 1/2″ of the top with boiling water and steep for 3 mins. Strain the grated ginger out by pouring through a tea strainer or a sieve lined with paper towel. Add the lemon juice. Stir in honey and cayenne pepper. Drink hot!

Calendar Contributor Spotlight

My January artist, storyteller, and friend, Ruth Armitage has a very emotional approach to her painting. I’m fascinated by that because I feel I can be a very linear and technique-oriented painter. I’d love to learn how to harness more of the feeling—and look forward to taking a class with Ruth sometime this year.

Here’s how Ruth explains her painting process:

Teaching students what art IS often involves me teaching them what Art Isn’t. One of the reasons I share my process through demonstrations is to make it clear that my decision-making process is driven by the ideas behind the art. Students start to see that I’m not thinking about what the right way to express something might be. Instead, I’m considering how I feel about the paint and the story behind the art.