Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Super Effective Homemade Cold Remedy

This week's Works For Me Wednesday tip comes to you courtesy of a wonderful friend, the very lovely Lea of Tales From The Labyrinth, who came to my rescue when I was felled by that tiniest of villains, the lowly virus.

So without further ado, I give you "Lea's Mother's Cold Remedy", fresh from a successful run at my house. Brew it up today to give your immune system the boost it needs to fight back.

Place the following in a mug:

- the juice of half a lemon
- one peeled clove of garlic
- one tablespoon of honey
- "as large a pinch of cayenne pepper as you can stand"

Add boiling water and steep for a few minutes.

Drink. Go ahead, drink it. It's surprisingly good. The taste actually grew on me and I continued drinking it for several more days, which I'm sure contributed to the speed at which I managed to kick my cold (well, except for this ridiculous lingering cough, but I think that has more to do with my late in life tendency towards breathing trouble. I should go brew up a mug right now, I'll bet it would help...)

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip.
Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year 2008!

deedee said...

I may try this next time. I made myself an onion soup last week for my cold. It seemed to help.
Happy Sylvester!

Phyllis Sommer said...

sounds kinda yucky but i'll trust you on this one:-) can you reuse the garlic clove or do you have to peel a new one each time?

Head Gaggler said...

Wow, that sounds interesting but I need to try that. We are all sick at my house right now. I'll let you know if it works.

Robin said...

I've been going for a fresh garlic clove each time. I figure the more potent the better...

Janet said...

Better than the store bought stuff with all the chemicals!

Shannon said...

I will use that for sure! Thanks!

Pieces of Me said...

I think I'll do this irrespective of having a cold or not. Just to boost up my immune system. Can I use regular pepper too or is the 'cayenne' pepper that does the trick?

Robin said...

It's the cayenne pepper. Jalopeno peppers are proven anti-virals.

Kim said...

Interesting, thanks Robin. Do you crush the garlic? or leave it whole?

Anonymous said...

Are ya kidding me? You live in the land of Jewish Chicken Soup! Ok, I'll make it next time I need it...but I'm also asking...do you crush the garlic? Strain the brew? Recite an incantation? :)

Jo said...

Sounds just like mine but without the cayenne (which I was reading recently is amazing stuff), so I will be adding that now. Glad you're better.

Robin said...

I don't crush the garlic, I just peel it, but I did see a similar recipe today that called for crushing it.

Tiffany said...

This looks interesting. I may try this the next time I get sick. Thanks for sharing!

Lydia said...

wow! this actually doesnt taste bad! hope it works!

Anonymous said...

Is it dried cayenne pepper you use?

Thanks,

Susan.

Robin said...

Yes, I use dried cayenne paper (the crushed, not the flakes - wouldn't want to drink those!)

Unknown said...

I'll be out buying whole garlic cloves this afternoon for this. Thanks for linking to it, I had forgotten about it!