Soothed

Am I the only one emerging from a nasty cold that’s been lingering for more than a week . . .and counting? Oh, my aching throat! I’m so thankful to have discovered a simple, natural “cough syrup” that really soothes a scratchy, inflamed throat, costs little to prepare, and is all natural. Best of all, it’s not medicine, so it can be enjoyed any time.

With me so far?

Much has been said about the healing properties of honey, especially local (to you!) unpasteurized honey. Because my family keeps about seventy-five hives of bees, honey is something I always have plenty of.

The other ingredients are easy to find at the supermarket: a lemon, ginger root, and cinnamon sticks. They’ve all been touted as antioxidants and go together in a most delicious fashion.

For every pint jar of Lemon Honey, you’ll need:
About 1 1/2 cups of liquid honey
1 lemon, preferably organic
About 2 inches of ginger root
2-3 cinnamon sticks

If your lemon is not organic, lather it with dish soap, scrub it with a brush, and rinse it very thoroughly to remove pesticide sprays. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to wash an organic lemon, either! Then slice the lemon very thinly and place about 1/4 of it in the bottom of your clean pint jar.

Peel the ginger root and slice it thinly as well. Place about 1/4 of it in the jar. Toss in a cinnamon stick. Cover with liquid honey.

Repeat until your lemon, ginger, and cinnamon are all in the jar and capped with honey. Put a lid on it and set it aside to “steep.” Room temperature is fine, especially if you’ll be using it soon and often. The fridge is OK for longer storage.

The solid ingredients will rise in the jar. That’s fine. Just shove them down into the honey once in a while; maybe give it a stir. Notice that the lemon juice makes the honey much runnier than it was.

How do you use it?

Add a spoonful (or two!) of lemon honey to a cup of tea. I love it in chamomile. Hubby likes it in black tea. Or just add some to hot water, if you prefer. My aunt encouraged us to drink hot milk and honey to soothe a throat when I was a child, and the addition of the lemon and spices makes it even better.

Or simply stick in a clean spoon, and take it “straight up” as a cough suppressant. It works very well for children as well as adults. (Remember not to feed honey to babies under one year old.)

Now that my cold is nearly vanished, I’ll still enjoy lemon honey in my tea. I’ll simply add more honey to the top as the volume goes down.

What home remedies for colds do you pull out in your home? Please share!

Valerie Comer‘s life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local food movement as well as their creation-care-focused church. She only hopes her imaginary friends enjoy their happily ever afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters. Her first published work, a novella, was released in the collection Rainbow’s End from Barbour Books in May 2012. All ebook versions are on sale for $2.99 for the month of January! Visit her website and blog to glimpse inside her world.

Valerie Comer (11 Posts)

Valerie Comer is a fiction author and a blogger where food meets faith. She and her husband of over 30 years farm, garden, and keep bees on a small farm in Western Canada, where they grow much of their own food, preserving vast amounts of it by canning, freezing, and dehydrating. She believes taking good care of both the planet and her family is an act of worship and thankfulness to God the Creator. Valerie writes contemporary romantic fiction (such as Rainbow's End--Barbour, 2012) as a natural offshoot of her passions.