Lemon Ginger Toddy with Hot Pepper: Recipe to sooth a cough while the beets rest.

Should the beets rest? I don't know. But they have no choice right now because I have to.

I am a cough machine, fueled by the inconvenient necessity of oxygen. I would be sad to be sick all alone if it weren't for the equally inconvenient reality that before the heartbreak I was just as alone when I was sick so screw all that. And Molly's on her way over and that will be nice. And Pam and I did go out for a mimosa this morning -- a slight trail given my feverish state, ;-) but one I entered willingly (that's meant to be an obvious understatement -- I was to get out of the house) and have a mimosa)).

So the beets are still resting in the fridge and I'll tell you what: it's hard to find a medicine to make my coughing stop long enough to sleep! I'm trying all sorts of over the counter suppressants and none of them work at all. I just get groggier. Turns out, the old stand-by works. And it works like magic. I drink this, nice and hot, and the loveliest warming happens in the top of my chest, where the persistent tickling lives, and I stop coughing. Only trouble is, it wears off and I don't have the energy to keep myself in supply, jumping up and down to make the concoction over and over again. That's the Catch-22. Unlike what's in a bottle, unless you have someone around to make it for you, it runs out. But, if you have a loved one with a chest cold here's your ticket to soothing their cough. Just be sure that if you're giving it to a child you leave out the rum and the hot pepper, duh.

Honey, lime, rum, and cup of heaven. Below are the ginger and pepper after boiling in the pan, the water poured off of them.

This recipe is based on the classic Lemon Honey Tea that I brought my children up on. It is what should be given to children sick with colds. That over-the-counter stuff is crap. I never game them that stuff.

I'll give you both recipes. First, the basic one. Then, be punched up version. Both are fantastic.

Basic Lemon Honey "Tea"

1 T honey
juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon (or lime)
hot water

Stir together and drink up. Feel Better.

K, that was the basic. Here's the ultra-enhanced grown-ups only version:


Lemon Ginger Toddy with Rum and Red Pepper

And if you don't think this will put the whammy to a cold you're just nuts.

1 1/4 cups water
1 T honey
juice of 1 lemon or lime
several slices fresh or candied ginger
1 tsp rum
1 fresh or dried red pepper, undisturbed

Boil the ginger and the whole pepper together in the water for ten minutes or so.

Put honey and lemon juice in a mug, and pour the hot ginger-pepper water in.

Savour.