To warm and soothe muscle aches and pains after exercise, I made a Ginger Cayenne Salve. I used an extra-virgin olive oil in which I had steeped ginger root, added cayenne powder for a second ‘fast infusion’, melted and stirred in beeswax, cooled a bit and added essential oil of ginger before pouring into half-ounce tins.

“Super simple salve” from LearningHerbs:

• 1/2 cup olive oil (I used a ginger-infused olive oil as mentioned above)
• Two heaping teaspoons of cayenne powder (or 15 grams).
• 1/2 ounce of beeswax
• 20 drops therapeutic-grade essential oil of ginger (I added this)

Infuse the cayenne into the olive oil. (I use the slow-cooker method: put the cayenne and oil into a pint jar with a small piece of cheesecloth held in place with the empty ring and put it in a water bath in the slow-cooker set to low for 24 hours to 2 weeks. If you do it for a long time, you need to replenish the water. This method is great for dealing with fresh or wet herbs in oil.)

Strain oil through a fine metal sieve lined with cheesecloth. You can cook up some stir fry with the left over cayenne.

Heat the beeswax on low or over a double-boiler until it is just melted. Stir in the infused oil until the beeswax and oil have been thoroughly melted together and combined.

Cool slightly, add essential oils and stir with metal chopstick or spoon (not porous wood and never plastic). Immediately pour this mixture into jars or tins. (Makes 4-1 ounce tins.)

Mine smelled like Thai food!