Sick!?

Oh, no, I'm not sick. This post is for all you readers out there who are or will be sick.

I was sitting on my couch watching Cutthroat Kitchen in my pajamas trying to think of an eloquent post about writing when my significant other messaged me telling me his mother was home sick with a cold. And a lightbulb went off. There's a tea that I make when I have a cold, and I thought, why not share this with you here.

For this simple tea you will need:

1/4 cup of Ginger(fresh or dried but not ground)

1 1/2 tablespoons Cinnamon(ground or stick if stick add two)

1/2 whole Lemon

1-2 tablespoons of Honey(preferably raw)

Bring about a cup and a half of water to a boil. While waiting for your water to boil prep your ingredients.

Slice the lemon about a quarter inch thick. You want them to be thin but not so thin that they are reminiscent of paper.

Peel and grate your ginger. If your feeling particularly lazy just slice your ginger or get the dried ginger from the store.

The other two ingredients don't need to be prepped so just wait for your water to finish heating up. Maybe read a few pages of my book or any of the other books I recommend. Hey, if your feeling generous maybe leave a review? Let me know what you thought of the book.

Once the water comes to a boil take it off the heat and put in the ginger, lemon, and cinnamon. The honey will be added last. Take a wooden spoon or any other mash like tool and stir and smash your steeping ingredients. Your water should not be clear! If it is clear add more of the ginger or lemon. You want to be very careful with how much cinnamon you use.

Let your baby tea steep for about ten minutes till it can be considered an adult tea and you won't be arrested for drinking young tea, you law-abiding citizen.

While you wait, get your cup and pour your honey into it. Open up a good book and see if you can finish the chapter before your tea grows up.

Once steeped, strain the liquid through just about anything as long as you aren't getting chunks of your ingredients into your tea, unless this is something you don't mind. I use this mini colander we have, but you can also use a cheesecloth, maybe ladle out the liquid, or use water bending to float the liquid out. You can do anything if you set your mind to it!

This tea is no miracle cure. You won't wake up the next day with no cold. But it will help you feel better faster while relieving you of a couple of the symptoms for a while. Each ingredient is packed with beautiful chemical compounds that help fight off the bacteria causing your cold.

Warning! This tea will feel like its burning the back of your throat while you are drinking it. This is most likely because of the cinnamon hitting your raw throat caused by the cold. But the beauty of the mix is that while the cinnamon burns the honey will soothe.

I hope this does help you the next time your immune system is being ransacked by the common cold.