I love my grandchildren but I wish they weren’t so keen on giving me their snotty colds. Primary schools and Pre-school groups are a hot bed of germs! I spent a Sunday afternoon with the two nearest in November and then had the 3 year old Middle grandson here for the following day and sure enough, by the Wednesday afternoon I was sneezing, snuffling and snotty just like him. It only lasted a couple of days but left a tickly cough that hung about for another few days. Thankfully that went too.
This is one remedy – it’s not a cure but does make you feel better while drinking it. 2 slices of lemon (I always keep a sliced lemon in the freezer), a spoonful of local honey, a pinch of ground cinnamon and a smaller pinch of ground ginger or some ginger syrup or a smidge of easy-ginger from a jar. Pour on boiling water and drink as hot as you can with a couple of paracetamol.
Nicer than a proprietary Lemsip sachet and without the possible side effects of phenylephrine hydrochloride!
After that I made a batch of ‘cold cure’ soup. It’s mainly a tomato soup using onion, grated carrot and a tin of tomatoes plus added garlic cloves, a little lazy ginger and a red chilli pepper. I made this first a few years ago from a Jack Monroe recipe but made it way too HOT as I’d added too much ginger and chilli powder. This batch, with just one fresh chilli pepper was more edible – I had one bowlful and have 3 servings in the freezer for another time. While looking back to find the recipe I found another idea that came from one of my books ‘From Mother to Daughter’ by Vivienne Bolton.
Cider and Rosemary Cure
Boil a large sprig of rosemary in some cider for 5 minutes. Strain into a glass and carry up to bed, get under the covers and drink. This cure is said to induce sweating which will kill the cold.
That sounds quite good. I shall steal some Rosemary cuttings from one of several Rosemary plants I’ve seen growing (churchyard, car park by a village hall, car park by a supermarket) recently and try and grow a plant .
Behind the first door on the advent calendar was a kingfisher perched on a bush. I hope the rest also fit in with the picture. I’m not keen on Advent Calendars that have random things like a toy trumpet in the middle of the sky!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
