Fresh ginger can add a breath of fresh, spicy air to any dish that needs a bit of waking up. But when the holiday season rolls around, ginger takes a starring role in pies, cookies, and of course, gingerbread. So when Rachael Ray posted a video to her Instagram showing how to properly peel and store fresh ginger, we thought it was vital to share ahead of ginger season.

“When you go to peel fresh ginger, you should clean it with a teaspoon rather than a vegetable peeler because you’re going to throw away half of the ginger that you just bought [if you use a peeler],” Ray said in her video — or worse, a paring knife!

It doesn’t actually take much effort to peel ginger, and the duller edge of a spoon works perfectly to gently scrape off the rough bark without removing any flesh.

“Once you get it all peeled up, whatever is left, keep it in the freezer,” Ray said, adding that frozen ginger grates up easily. “If you leave it in the fridge, eventually, it’s going to look like, I don’t know, the witch that got the house dropped on her or something. It’s going to be all gnarled up and moldy and you’re going to be like what the heck was that?”

A post shared by Rachael Ray (@rachaelray)

Then, when the holidays roll around, you’ll be ready to go. You can add fresh ginger to most ginger snap and gingerbread recipes, including the Gingerbread Loaf recipe from Ray’s website. This recipe calls for both fresh and ground ginger, as well as apple cider, molasses, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves — talk about a perfect fall/winter treat! It bakes up in about 45 minutes and is the perfect pairing to a pumpkin spice latte or spiked apple cider.

With expert ginger preparation knowledge in hand, go forth and make this holiday season the zestiest one yet.

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