Thursday, February 23, 2006

I Make a Hot Toddie

I was seized in the middle of class last night with coughing fits and a fever. I took some Dayquil, which is just never a good idea for me. Bouts of drug-induced paranoia and hysteria always soon follow. This time I began spouting something about "the foundation of my house is cracking as we speak!" (I don't even own a house) and "I just had a kid with three arms. I can't lose my job because how will I pay for my three-armed baby?"

Now yes, we were participating in an exercise that made the first comment at least slightly on-subject but there was no cause for the three-armed baby comment, as was demonstrated by the hysterical laughter that gripped the students for the remaining ten minutes of class. I fear my outbursts took the steam out of my dear friend Whit's class project. Bad Dayquil-drunk Tina! Bad!

When I got home I continued to be wracked with coughing, the deep chestal kind that rattles your whole rib cage. The damned Dayquil wasn't even doing its job, beyond making me act like an ass in class. So I decided what I needed was a good hot toddie. I researched toddie recipes as I have never had a hot toddie before. Here is a nice, easy-to-make one that was mmm, mmm yummy and did an excellent job of making my cough subside:

1. Take your favorite tea cup (or if you are like me and don't drink tea, coffee cup will do). I spent a bit of time deciding on whether to use my "Howard Dean for America" one or my "Is there life before coffee? Kitchen Little Eggstrordinaire" one. The latter is one of those cheezy white with blue writing mugs that I bought from this excellent breakfast place in Mystic, CT. You simply must have breakfast there if you are in Mystic. But I digress....

2. Take a bag of Chamomile Tea and add about 4 oz. of hot water. Let it steep for a minute or two.

3. Dig in the back of your refridgerator for honey. Put the honey in the microwave for ten seconds, pull it out and then read on the label where it says, "Do not microwave this container." Shrug your shoulders and add about two teaspoons of honey to your cup/mug.

4. Resume digging in your refridgerator until you find lemon juice (or if you happen to be Domestic Goddess, cut slice of fresh lemon and squeeze this into cup/mug). For non-Domestic Goddess, wipe dried ketchup off lid of lemon juice, briefly consider how old said lemon juice is, and whether lemon juice goes bad; then realize that when fruit goes bad it merely ferments, making it by dint of now containing alcohol better fruit, and then squeeze some lemon juice into your cupped/mugged concoction.

5. Get: Whiskey/brandy/dark rum. I chose whiskey. Of course, if you are indecisive, I see no reason why not to add all three. Fill the remainder of the mug/cup with alcohol of choice. Now, here is where the size of your container comes in. While most recipes call for two oz. of alcohol, I posit that whatever the size of the container, you simply must fill the container. SO if, say, your "Is there life before coffee? Kitchen Little Eggstrordinaire" white mug with blue writing holds 12 oz. of liquid, you are of course forced to add at least another 5 oz of alcohol to fill the mug.

6. Stir. Smell the aroma. Sip. Ah.

Of course, the flaw in my plan was the fact that I was still high on Dayquil. Last I remember was greedily gulping the last of my concoction before I must have passed out drunk/high. This morning I find the empty mug, a bottle of water, and my alarm clock scattered across the floor.

That was a good hot toddie.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

You lost me on the title - Hot Toddie......??????

Tina said...

hehehe. I did not SLEEP with a man named Toddie.

Hot Toddie is a drink, silly, that you make when you are sick.

Anonymous said...

ok, havent heard of that

have you NOT HEARD of lemsip........

Tina said...

Yeah we don't have lemsip in the U.S. though it sounds like great stuff and I am jelous! I guess I'll have to keep making the hot toddies in the meantime.

Tina said...

Well you see, I never actually made a hot toddie before so the recipe is new to me as well and I apologize profusely for the bad timing of my toddie experience in relation to your own needs.

But now I am remembering thanks to Jenna that I own codeine laced cough syrup but I wonder if it's expired? What happens when it expires? It's at least 2 years old. Perhaps I should take it and see.

Anonymous said...

I have had a couple of hot toddies
all made by a neighboring bar
owner/bartender named Scottie
alas: Scottie's Hot Toddie
He never did give me the recipe.
Now he has sold the bar and I am
left in a quandry as to the ingredients. It worked!!! I know
whisky,lemon,honey, I wish I had
paid attention!!!!
It was sweet and yummy.

Cherrybear said...

I am 32.
I had a major cold and major sore throat. Looked all over for the "Hot Toddie." Thank you It is late and now sore throat is gone. My Mother Age 70 is in bed and would not wake her for this. I remember having suck harsh sore throats as a child she would make this for me. It always helped.
Thank you again!
-Misty

Cherrybear said...

whoops ment such not suck... haha the toddie worked. Thank you again! -Misty

dianaAR21 said...

I got quite a laugh about your description about making a hot toddy, especially the part where you are wondering about the use of aged lemon juice!!! too true!!!

Tina said...

This one continues to be a favorite of visitors, especially during cold and flu season. Thank you all for enjoying the recipe and I hope you stop by my blog again sometime.

Kelli513 said...

My husband and I are suffering from flu/sore throat/coughing tonight and were surfing for hot toddie recipes and I came across this. After a week of consistant coughing (I am loosing control of my bladder during these fits now not real pleasant) I am ready to try anything. I HATE liquid medicine of any kind and I have been sucking down the generic brand of Nyquil like it is going out of style however that stuff makes me high then I pass out, so with a 1 year old I can't really do that all day long. Now the delima is....we have no lemon juice. also walked to the convience store across the street ... coughing all the way and they had no lemon juice either. Who makes a convience store with no lemon juice??? SOOOO in another article/blog someone mentioned they had no lemon juice and substituted orange juice. We are trying that. Hopefully we will sleep like babies tonight

Anonymous said...

Going to give this a go. It's a cold, rainy, and windy night here, I need a little warmth. Thanks for the recipe.

Anonymous said...

"Have you not heard of Lemsip" ... sigh. The great hot toddie, drunk for centuries by people all over the British Isles. Lemsip? gah!