I’m sitting here thinking about all my backed-up posts and feeling somewhat crestfallen, but I want to tell you this, at least:  freeze a knob of “emergency ginger.”

When you buy ginger the next time, buy a large, fat root and break off half of it.  Peel (with a teaspoon), double wrap in plastic and toss into the freezer.  When you have a recipe calling for ginger and you don’t have fresh, simply grate what you need from the frozen piece and put it back.  While I would not use this for, say, a salad, it works just fine in most cooked applications.