Cold-beating brew.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Your expirience with herbs to cure cold
From: bcarter.awinc.com (Bob Carter)
Date: 6 Mar 1996 00:44:46 GMT

I missed the origonal post, so excuse me if I'm off on a tangent. ;-)

My favourite Herbal Cold Beating Brew:

1 qt water
1 inch of peeled and grated ginger root
1 tsp (or a bit more) ground echinacae root
1 T honey (or to taste)
juice of ½ lemon

Bring the water to a boil, then turn down to warm
Add the ginger and echinacae root and let steep 40 minutes
Add honey and lemon, stir, and strain into your cup and enjoy
Drink at least ½ quart, more if you like

This tea has done wonders for me and my family, stopping colds in their track if taken at the first sign of illness, and helping to speed recovery if the cold has progressed beyond this point. I can recall many instances when I felt the grip of a cold coming on, brewed and sipped this wonderful and deliciously soothing tea, and by the time my cup was empty felt totally recovered! In addition to the healing qualities of the echinacae and ginger, part of the 'cure' may be in ceasing from a busy schedule, taking the time to slow down and give oneself some needed attention.

Echinacae is very easy to grow and a beautiful flower as well. We have a lot of it growing in our garden. You can harvest the root after the second year. Now if we could just locate some hardy ginger!

Robust health to all!

From: elizper.aol.com (ElizPer)

My experience, when I'm down with a cold or flu bug, is to make the following broth, and slowly sip it while it's steaming and hot (breathing the steam in as well as drinking it...)

1 Quart Boiling Water, or Vegetable or Chicken Stock
2-3 Cloves Fresh Garlic, Cut in Half
½ Tsp. Dried Thyme
1 Fresh Lemon, Cut in Half, Squeezed, and Juice/Peel Both added to Stock
¼ C. Dried Dulce Seaweed
Sea Salt, to Taste (optional)

Add all to boiling stock/water. Cover and let steep 30 minutes. Strain out herbs. Rewarm until hot and steamy. Slowly sip & breath it in.... Ahhh!
Elizabeth

Newsgroups: rec.food.veg.cooking
Subject: Re: In need of Soup (Nasty Cold)
From: awoods.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Alan Woods)

>Help! I have a really nasty cold, and would like a nice veggie soup recipe, something yummie with no milk.

Luckily, the weather is turning warm in Central Ohio, so hopefully your cold will improve. In the meantime, here's a basic garlic soup, roughly adapted from the Moosewood at Home book:

4 cups veggie broth
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
pepper and salt to taste

put it all in the pot; simmer for at least 30 minutes, adjust seasonins, and serve. You can add any other herbs you like (we often add oregano and basil, but we tend to add oregano and basil to most everything). Some thinly sliced silken tofu added in the last five minutes is also nice.