Feed a cold....

[Synergy]

The old adage says "feed a cold and starve a fever".

Well, I have a cold, and I've been craving old comfort foods from my childhood, like mac'n'cheese (the real kind, not from the box), or grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup.

How do you feed your cold?

[hummingbirdkiss]

hot sour soup...it cures what ails you that is for sure

hope you feel better soon

[jackal10]

My sympathy.

From George Saintsbury's "Notes on a Cellar Book", 1923

"Everybody knows that hot rum and water is sovereign for a cold, but perhaps everybody does not know how the remedy should be applied. This is the probatum. You must take it in bed; premature consumption merely wastes the good creature. It should be made, in a large rummer-glass, as hot as you can drink it (hence the advice of the rummer - for a mere tumbler may burn your hands), not too sweet, but so strong that you sink back at once on the the pillow, resigning the glass to the ready hands of a sympathising bedside attendant, preferably feminine. If you do not wake the next morning, possibly with a slight headache but otherwise restored, there must be something really the matter with you" .....

"The recipe intended for real punch is as follows:-

three parts rum, two of brandy, one of lemon juice and six of hot water, the quantity of sugar {I use honey} being quite a matter of taste. I never knew this mixture found fault with by respectable persons of any age, sex or condition, from undergraduates to old ladies, at any hour between sunset and sunrise"

[Lindacakes]

Won ton soup.

[Domestic Goddess]

Chicken congee soup with lotsa ginger. That'll get your sinuses running and cleared out in no time.

[feedmec00kies]

Chicken congee soup with lotsa ginger. That'll get your sinuses running and cleared out in no time.

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Mmmm, congee... though I used to associate it with being sick when I was younger because my mom made us eat it when we were sick (pretty neutral, pretty much no fat, etc etc), and I couldn't appreciate it at the time.

[maggiethecat]

I make a toddy, which, as it happens, contains ginger. Grate a tablespoon of ginger, place in mug with the juice of a lemon, a shot of Bourbon and big tablespoon of black currant jam. Fill mug with boiling water and inhale. When it's cool enough to drink, adjust sweetness with some honey.

Feel better.

I like nursery food too when I have a cold: rice pudding with lots of raisins, soft boiled eggs with toast "soldiers", meatloaf sandwich...

[Synergy]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I really like the ones that involve booze.

Maggiecat, do you think the Toddy would work using Canadian Whiskey instead of Bourbon?

[maggiethecat]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I really like the ones that involve booze.

Maggiecat, do you think the Toddy would work using Canadian Whiskey instead of Bourbon?

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It works like a charm.

[CaliPoutine]

Jewish Penicillian( Matza ball soup!!)

[Synergy]

I wound up making my version of a hot toddy using Canadian Whiskey (Crown Royal), hot water, fresh lemon juice and a soft ginger candy (from the ginger people).

I think I will make a second one just before bedtime.

[mizducky]

Hope you feel better!

My favorite sick foods are reminiscent of favorites already listed:

--congee or broth loaded with lots of garlic and ginger

--hot and sour soup--or for that matter, just about any seriously spicy dish. Really empties out those sinuses! Of course, the effect is short-lived ... but after several days of being stopped up, I find that experiencing clear sinuses for even fifteen minutes is a pleasure.

--this concoction my mom used to make for me when I was sick, called a Guggle Muggle: hot milk flavored with honey, vanilla extract, and warming spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, etc. alone or in combination), plus a good stiff shot of booze. The idea was that you were supposed to drink it down as quickly as possible while it was still quite hot, and then immediately jump into bed under a bunch of covers, to sweat out the evil humours or something.

[Poffertjes]

Don't forget about Pho.

A nice steamy bowl of Pho will set you straight.

Hope you feel better!!!

[Kouign Aman]

Chicken soup, doctored with tobasco and lemon juice.

Sort of a spicy mock avgolimino (sp?).

Chicken rice works best to my tastes, but when ya gotta cold, anything will work.

[Megan Blocker]

Anything with chilis and/or raw garlic!

Sometimes I just get a bowl of pho and put a little Sriracha in every bite. Does the trick.

[johnnyd]

Try two cups red wine with whatever and any sliced citrus on hand - bring to boil with two generous spoons of sugar. Grapefruit works best, but throw in oranges and lemons too. Turn off, let cool and drink - in bed. You pass out and wake up good as new.

Why not a stick of cinnamon?

[Lilija]

Pho and hot alcohol. I love the above mentioned concoctions, whiskey and tea, hot rum, any form of a hot toddy, mulled wine, all good ideas! Good for just about anything that ails ya. It's one of my confirmed migrane "cures" too. Not so much a cure, but it definitely makes riding out a migrane almost bearable.

Edit: Come to think of it, the above mentioned combo works for PMS too.

Edited March 14, 2008 by Lilija (log)

[Beth E.]

My grandmother's remedy used to be a cup of tea with a generous shot of brandy and lots of honey. Now my dad uses it as do I whenever I feel under the weather. There's something about the heat and the brandy that makes it put me right to sleep.

[MissAmy]

Tom Yum. Tell them to make it extra spicy!

Pho is also good, as is hot and sour soup. But only GOOD hot and sour.

[cathrynapple]

Hot hot milky tea with two sugars.

Lots of fresh oranges and mangoes. For me, comfort food doesn't mean slow cooked. It's things my mother gave me as a child when I was ill.

I also have cravings for a hot cereal I had as a kid. Malto - Bella? It's like a chocolate cream of wheat, but very thin.

[Rebecca263]

I adore any broth, with LOTS of garlic, and lots of fresh squeezed lemon. It really kicks a head cold in the 'butt', too!

I also find that quickly drinking a few ounces of hot rum, drunk with a raw sugar rock held between my teeth, knocks me out and, well, even if I don't GET any better, I certainly FEEL better!

For comfort, I make myself a strongly brewed, hot pot of Constant Comment tea, though. It's the tea that my mother's mother made for her, when Mommy had polio as a child. Consequently, it's the tea she made for me whenever I was 'under the weather 'n' under the covers' as a child. It's not my favorite tea, but it reminds me of being cared for, and that's such a comforting thing!

Reading everyone's posts so far, it seems that the consensus is that hot liquids, with alcohol, hot spice, ginger or garlic, are the proper weapons to wield against colds, doesn't it? Yay, they're all yummy cures!

[Synergy]

It certainly seems the consensus is hot broths/soups or hot booze.

Maybe next time, I'll try to make a super cure:

A red wine based soup broth with garlic and ginger, and some citrus fruits squeezed in, finished with a shot of whiskey.

If that doesn't cure what ails ya...

Edited March 17, 2008 by Synergy (log)