I use my microplane to zest, grind and grate nearly every day (it would appear that I cook a lot). I started out with the basic one that came with no handle, just a flat strip of razer sharp teeth that take a nutmeg and turn it into aromatic pile of shavings. Then I moved up to the flexible set which I love because you can swap out different levels of grater blades quickly and easily (if you're tempted by that prospect, you need to act fast as this set has been discontinued). Now there's a new microplane that I've got my eye on, and it's a cutie. Designed for spices, it catches the shavings in its little case, which makes it deadly easy to accurately measure your amounts (instead of eyeballing it or trying to scrape it off the cutting board and into a measuring spoon). Best of all is that if you buy it from the Spice House, they'll throw in a whole nutmeg, cinnamon stick, ginger and turmeric root. Go forth and grate!
Thanks K.F.!
Fresh ginger is notoriously difficult to grate. The root plant can be quite tough and is very fibrous, so it easily gets caught up in blades. Finely dicing ginger by hand works well in terms of getting around those fibers, but takes a very sharp knife and a steady hand. The best option is usually a microplane, the same kitchen tool used for tasks such as shredding parmesan cheese and zesting citrus, as its small and ultra-sharp grates cut the ginger down into fine fragments. If you find yourself grating a lot of ginger at home, however, a better gadget might be the triangular 
OXO is well-known in the US for their sleek designs and both the functionality and reliability of their products, but when they 
What Can I Get You Folks? - Eating Out for Thanksgiving
In Defense of Guy Fieri
'Top Chef Vegas' - And Then There Were Five
