Hope Dougherty – Recipe for Romance – Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Hope Dougherty shares a recipe for Lemon-Ginger Tea to cure what ails you during cold season. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for an autographed copy of her latest Contemporary Romance, Forever Music. Deadline: Dec 12th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Hope:

I love this time of year and the baking that comes with it. I’ve shared many of my family’s favorite cookie recipes on my blog, but this time of year also can bring coughs and sniffles.

A lemon ginger tea makes an appearance in my latest novel, Forever Music. After running in a rainy, freezing 5K, Josie Daniels drinks steaming cups of it to warm up. This recipe has become like a medicine in our house. At the first sign of a scratchy throat or stuffy nose, I make sure to grab the ingredients as soon as I can and brew up a batch. The lemon and honey are perfect for colds, and ginger is always good for what ails you.

My cousin, Fred Thompson, included the original recipe in his book, Iced Tea, and suggests drinking it cold, but this tea is wonderful sipped hot for a sore throat. Here’s my adapted recipe:

 Lemon-Ginger Tea

8 cups water
2 lemons
1 cup peeled and thinly sliced fresh ginger
½ cup honey (or less to taste)

1. While the water is coming to a boil, juice the lemons. Add juice and lemon rinds to the water.
2. Peel and slice the ginger. Add ginger with lemons and water.
3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and steep for 10 more minutes, covered.
5. Strain the liquid into a 2-quart heat-proof pitcher.
6. Add the honey and stir.

This tea is really good any time, so don’t wait for a cold to make it!

About Hope: Hope holds a Master’s degree and taught at East Carolina University and York Technical College. Her novels include Irish Encounter, Mars…With Venus Rising, Rescued Hearts, and Forever Music. She’s a member of ACFW and RWA. Residing in North Carolina, she and her husband enjoy visits with their daughters and twin sons. Learn more & connect: 

Hope’s Website              Hope’s Facebook             Hope’s Goodreads

Hope’s Pinterest            Hope’s Twitter              Hope’s Instagram

About the book – Forever Music: College history instructor, Josie Daniels is good at mothering her three brothers, volunteering in her community, and getting over broken hearts, but meeting aloof, hot-shot attorney Ches Windham challenges her nurturing, positive-thinking spirit.

Josie longs to help Ches find his true purpose, but, as his hidden talents and true personality emerge, will she be able to withstand his potent charms or will she lose her heart in the process?

Rising star in his law firm, Ches Windham is good at keeping secrets.

He’s always been the good son, following his father’s will to become an attorney and playing the game for a fast track to partnering with a law firm. Lately, though, his life’s path has lost what luster it ever had—all because of his unlikely, and unacceptable, friendship with Josie. He struggles between the life he’s prepared for and the one calling to him now. Opposing his father has never been an option, and spending time with Josie can’t be an option. The more he’s with her, however, the more he wants to be.

When a crisis tarnishes his golden future and secrets are revealed, Ches is forced to reexamine the trajectory of his life. Will he choose the path his father hammered out for him or the path that speaks to his heart?

Question: My family always kept bees and harvested honey. What recipes do you make with honey? What’s your favorite lemon recipe? I’m always looking for new cookie recipes. What’s your favorite?

Come back Dec 8th for Terri Reed!