Oh gang, I am sick.  Sicky sick sick.  The kind of sick where all you want to do is drink liquids and blow your ever clogging nose.  Today is day four of THE SICK and I do feel better, but not fantastic.  However, I have a magic elixir that I drink when I either feel a cold coming on or am in the midst of a full blown snot attack.  In the beginning throes of a cold, it usually snaps me out of it and during a cold, it makes me warm and toasty.  In case you are one who is prone to colds, I am sharing my recipe with you.  This is in no way medicinal, but I do find it very comforting to drink when I am sick. So to be clear, I am not a doctor or a medical professional and I don’t make any claims that this is any sort of medical advice.

To make my concoction, I first boil the water for tea.  I usually use Sleepy Time tea or some other chamomile tea.  While the kettle is boiling, I put the following ingredients  in my big, ole brown mug:

-about a tablespoon or so of  Bragg’s Apple Cider vinegar

-about a tablespoon of lemon juice

-a healthy squirt of local honey

-a few good shakes of cayenne pepper

-a double shot of brandy (This is optional.  Of course, only add this if you are legal and don’t hop in the car after you drink it.)

Next, I pour the hot water in the mug, add the tea bags, give it a good stir as the honey tends to stick to the bottom of the mug, sit back and enjoy.

Even without the brandy, the drink is soothing.  The cayenne pepper is a nice kick, although I tend to be a bit heavy handed when I make it for myself.  If you don’t like spicy things, just a sprinkle will do.

I hope to be on the up and up soon.  I have a fridge full of groceries and no energy or appetite whatsoever to cook or eat.  Although, I did make a big mess of sauteed red onions, hot cherry peppers, and garlic for dinner the other night.  I wanted something I could smell and taste and this totally did the trick.  I have some left over and I might eat that today.

Have a great, sickness free day and keep cooking!

Well, my hiatus lasted longer than I expected. I have missed this blog and although I don’t have a recipe to post tonight, I just wanted to stop in with an update.

I still haven’t been cooking much, but I have a few ideas that should be up very soon, including homemade croutons, spicy sweet jalapeno vinaigrette, and green bean and mushroom pot pie.

One thing I am dying to make is cranberry nachos. I had a flash of brilliance around Christmas and came up with the recipe. I froze the remainder of the cranberry tangerine relish I made and I hope to make them this weekend. If you have some leftover cranberry relish you froze or an errant bag of cranberries in your freezer, then this is the snack for you.  Keep your eyes peeled for the post, most likely on Sunday.

Well, gang, I am off to make tortellini with my Mom’s homemade sauce for dinner, but I promise to have a real food update this week.

Have a great night and keep cooking!