Lemon Remedy
May. 24th, 2008 01:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_pretentiousJuice of one lemon
One garlic clove (core removed for prevention of heartburn)
Several leaves fresh mint
One tablespoon honey
One teaspoon fresh ginger
Light sprinkling crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
One cup boiling water
Zizz with hand-held blender until honey dissolves and ginger and garlic chunks are cut to tiny smidgens.
Optional: Zest the lemon before juicing it and add the zest.
This is a much-embellished variation on a family remedy that appeared about ten years ago in the Washington Post. I'd credit the author, but I don't remember her name.
When I was a grad student, my dissertation director once gave me a cup of her family's traditional cold remedy, hot rum with thinly sliced raw onions. Not the tastiest combination. I suppose you could add rum to the lemon remedy. At the moment, though, its main virtue for my purposes is that I can take it while nursing. Lots of over-the-counter stuff is not so great for nursing mothers, or, more to the point, their babies.
Gareth's scary fever is much reduced. As long as he's in physical contact with Dan or me, he's his usual easygoing self, but if we step away, the poor kid panics. This is the second time he's ever been sick. Two colds in seven months is not bad, for a beginner's immune system.
For ourselves, Dan and I have even resorted a couple of times to another traditional American remedy for upper respiratory infections, the television. Funny thing, it turns out that television works better on colds if you've already got a lot of television built up in your system. Ours has been an almost television-free household since the baby was born, so it's not doing much for us. The lemon remedy definitely works better.
One garlic clove (core removed for prevention of heartburn)
Several leaves fresh mint
One tablespoon honey
One teaspoon fresh ginger
Light sprinkling crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
One cup boiling water
Zizz with hand-held blender until honey dissolves and ginger and garlic chunks are cut to tiny smidgens.
Optional: Zest the lemon before juicing it and add the zest.
This is a much-embellished variation on a family remedy that appeared about ten years ago in the Washington Post. I'd credit the author, but I don't remember her name.
When I was a grad student, my dissertation director once gave me a cup of her family's traditional cold remedy, hot rum with thinly sliced raw onions. Not the tastiest combination. I suppose you could add rum to the lemon remedy. At the moment, though, its main virtue for my purposes is that I can take it while nursing. Lots of over-the-counter stuff is not so great for nursing mothers, or, more to the point, their babies.
Gareth's scary fever is much reduced. As long as he's in physical contact with Dan or me, he's his usual easygoing self, but if we step away, the poor kid panics. This is the second time he's ever been sick. Two colds in seven months is not bad, for a beginner's immune system.
For ourselves, Dan and I have even resorted a couple of times to another traditional American remedy for upper respiratory infections, the television. Funny thing, it turns out that television works better on colds if you've already got a lot of television built up in your system. Ours has been an almost television-free household since the baby was born, so it's not doing much for us. The lemon remedy definitely works better.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:32 am (UTC)A British Chinese schoolfriend told me that brandy in which sliced raw onion had been soaked for a year is a powerful traditional Chinese remedy. Never tried it.
"As long as he's in physical contact with Dan or me, he's his usual easygoing self, but if we step away, the poor kid panics."
That sounds eminently reasonable to me.
"Funny thing, it turns out that television works better on colds if you've already got a lot of television built up in your system. Ours has been an almost television-free household since the baby was born, so it's not doing much for us."
Weird, isn't it? It has so much more conscious impact when it's rationed out, but it doesn't feel like it's necessary any more.
Get well soon!
no subject
Date: 2008-05-25 05:47 am (UTC)