What to eat and drink when you have a cold?

My head's bunged up and I can hardly taste a thing, so I was wondering what kind of Tiki food and drinks to have when you've got a cold. Subtlety goes out the window when your tastebuds are on vacation.

Last night, I combined a shot of Cockspurs Rum,a small cup of milk, a teaspoon of maple syrup, and a few bits of cinnamon stick. Then I heated the mixture together, and drank it down while still hot. It soothed my head and sent me promptly to sleep.

Any other helpful recipes?

Trader Woody

I use a grog my mum used to make me :

White Rum
Lemon juice
lots of Honey

Drink it very hot and go to bed.

Mmmmmm....Nice one Virani. I think I'll try that to ward any colds off.

Aye, we call that (or at least something similar with whiskey) a 'Hot Toddy'. It's topped up with hot water and sometimes cloves/cinnamon is added. Good call! I'll have a couple before bedtime.

Trader Woody

to drink:
my suggestion for a hot toddy is very similar to virani's (except i recommend single malt whiskey rather than rum):

shot of lemon juice
shot of scotch
2 tspns honey
in about a cup of steaming water.

to eat (well actually slurp):
chicken stock w/ a dash of tabasco
or
miso soup
should do the trick!

get well soon,
c

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2004-10-06 10:30 ]

Oops, yes, I forgot the hot water !!!!

I successfully fended off a cold the other night by drinking half a bottle of red wine and going to bed with lots of pajamas and covers on - the wine soothed my throat and muscles then I sweated the toxins out and the next morning felt right as rain.

someone told me that alcohol is a natural soporific (?) which means that it suppresses allergy type reactions or something (?) i.e. any good excuse to drink is fine by me!

once I'm in a full blown cold I like to eat a large bowl of spicy Hot & Sour soup.

I've heard of a Russian remedy for a cold of going to bed for a week with a bottle of vodka but I think that will, in general, cure and cause any major problem (to paraphrase Homer Simpson).

On 2004-10-06 10:17, Tiki Chris wrote:
to eat (well actually slurp):
chicken stock w/ a dash of tabasco

Oh yeah, chicken soup - forgot about that and I was just reading about how it's been proved to work wonders with colds the other week. I just dug this up:

"Chicken soup -- as made by grandma -- contains several ingredients that affect the body's immune system, a team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center found.

They found that chicken soup and many of its ingredients helped stop the movement of neutrophils -- white blood cells that eat up bacteria and cellular debris and which are released in great numbers by viral infections like colds.

Neutrophil activity can stimulate the release of mucous, which may be the cause of the coughs and stuffy nose caused by upper respiratory infections such as colds.

"All the ingredients were found to be inhibitory, including the boiled extract of chicken alone," they wrote."

I feel like chicken (soup) tonight....

Trader Woody

squeeze a lime in the chicken soup for added taste & health benefits!

I like to warm up some cognac- the vapors alone will clear your head!

I also recommend Gluwein, which is a warm mix of red wine, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, lemons, and oranges

Matzo ball soup, from a good deli, with continuous shots of Hennessy cognac. Good soft music, a nice book, with my bamboo t-shirt on. Ahhhhh cant get better.

Just done the Danish Dynamite beer, bottle of red wine and now I'm on Irish Whiskey, honey, lemon juice and hot water. And I feel great!

On 2004-10-06 15:20, Kon-Hemsby wrote:
Just done the Danish Dynamite beer, bottle of red wine and now I'm on Irish Whiskey, honey, lemon juice and hot water. And I feel great!

And on a 'school night' too! Good work!

I'm just partaking of Virani's Grog (substituting lime juice for lemon) after a couple of glasses of home-mulled cider. Certainly beats the decongestant tablets......

Trader Woody

On 2004-10-06 10:41, Tiki Chris wrote:
squeeze a lime in the chicken soup for added taste & health benefits!

Mexican Tortilla Soup (Mexican Chicken Soup) often comes garnished with lime wedges, letting you add as much lime-y goodness as you wish.

Spiced Haggis(Spaggis)heavy on the oats, chased with a frew drams of malt based distillate served neet.

sleep in your woollies, like dangergirl sez... Sleep and swet...You will wake up weak, but better.

Tell your slumberchum(s) to sleep elsewhere until you're back on your game. Nothing worse than being woke by some do-gooder.

You put da lime in da coconut and drink it all up.

No, sorry, that's for belly aches.

If you have congestion stay away from milk or beer, which make it worse. Spicy food is always good. Capsacin makes a great decongestant, if only temporary.

The best thing to drink: hot sake.

And if none of it actully helps, at least you will have made being sick a little bit more enjoyable.

Whenever I feel sickness coming on I make my ritual meal of Pittsburgh style ribeye steak (charred on the outside, raw on the inside) with mushrooms sauteed in butter and basil. Bourbon on the rocks to wash it down. I'm not sure if it really works or not but it sure makes getting sick something to look forward to. :)