Chicken Soup and Afternoon Tea - The Remedy for a Cold

What to do if it’s the day before a holiday, and you’re sick with a cold? The situation calls for a bit of pampering…

We started by pulling out some homemade chicken stock from the freezer. (Yes – there’s enough room in a fifth wheel trailer freezer for a few things!) Then we added an entire bulb (8+ cloves) of garlic, 2 onions, some carrots and celery to the thawed chicken stock, and let it simmer in the 6-quart crock-pot for a few hours. Add some noodles, and that was lunch. It felt good on the throat.

Now what?

Afternoon Tea!

We like to drink coffee in the morning, but the afternoon is reserved for tea! On a normal day, Tetley Orange Pekoe is our first choice. And if there are any ginger snaps to dunk, then it’s even better! But we weren’t feeling so well…

What to drink when you’re sick?

Today was different. Sniffles. Sore throat. We needed something to enhance our health! What’s good to drink when you have a cold?

Hot lemon and honey, right?

I got the honey and lemons out, and heated some water. But just those two ingredients seemed a little boring. (Many of you would consider adding a dash or more of whisky, wouldn’t you… Sorry. We’re keepin’ it family friendly here.)

I looked in the cupboard, and the ‘fridge to see what else was available. Eventually I decided on adding a few more ingredients, known for their healing properties. Here’s what I ended up doing.

Lemon Ginger Crock-pot Tea dressed up with a hint of Cinnamon & Mint

In a small crock-pot add:

30 oz of hot water (using hot water speeds up the process)
2 lemons
- start with just the lemon peel, and try to avoid the white pith – I used my potato peeler.
- remove the white pith from the de-nuded lemons – cut it off or peel it
- cut up the rest of the lemon into chunks & add to the water
an inch of fresh ginger, sliced thin
a cinnamon stick (or more)

Let the mixture heat – but not boil, in the slow cooker/crockpot. My small slow-cooker does well on high – yours might need to be on low so it won’t boil. (I find every slow-cooker/crock-pot is different.)
Let it heat for about an hour!

You can drink it just like that, but adding some honey to sweeten it is even better.

Or dress up the Lemon Ginger Crockpot Tea!

In your cup, first put in:

Pour the hot Lemon-Ginger tea into your cup, over the teabag. Steep the tea bag for a short bit (just a minute or so) for a zing of minty-ness! Use the cinnamon stick to stir the honey to your desired sweetness.

Enjoy!

We left the crock-pot heating all afternoon, and enjoyed at least six small cups of the lemon-ginger tea. You’ll need to strain the last bit of liquid – to separate it from the lemon/ginger.

It ended up tasting so good, I’m going to make this again, even if we aren’t sick!