Thursday, September 09, 2010

this little herbie catches a bug

We're a week from the Nov/Dec publication deadline for The Essential Herbal, and of course the soap biz is crazy at this time of year, so coming down with a virus isn't good.
Last night I started feeling something going on in my throat, and took a good dose of elderberry with holy basil. This morning it was still there, so I repeated that.
And I got serious about kicking this thing.
My friend Betty Pillsbury suggested some sage tea. My pal Rosanne Tartaro said soup. Here's what I did....
First, I made a blend of tinctures:
elderberry
holy basil
ephedra
goldenrod
St John's wort
All of these are either anti-viral or will help with the head-clog, and very beginning of respiratory issues.
Then I started a big pot of ham and cabbage. This is something we ate all the time when I was a kid, and it is probably a standard PA Dutch dish. My grandmother and mother both loved cabbage, and passed that along to me. So far, the next generation does not share that love.First filling a big pot about 1/3 full of water, and then adding a large ham hock, I left that to simmer for about an hour until the meat came off the bone. To that, I added a nice chopped cabbage, a couple of onions, some turnips, and a few potatoes. That cooked for a couple more hours.
I went into the garden and plucked a nice sprig of sage, and put that into a pint mason jar, along with a slice of crystallized ginger and a licorice root stick, boiled water, and filled the jar, pouring the water over the herbs.Here's my lunch:It was really good, and it will be good again for supper :-).
I will continue the sage tea and the tincture blend every hour or so. This thing just cannot get a grip on me right now!
And now, to bed.

5 comments:

Carol said...

Hope you nipped it in the bud and you're feeling up to par. Getting sick is never good but when you have so much to take care of it's even worse.

Carol said...

PS.... That cabbage looks mouth watering!!!!

Anonymous said...

being of the polish decent your lunch looks like a little bit of home to me!

Anonymous said...

All I can say is Y-U-M! I love cabbage and this is something I'll just have to try!

Anonymous said...

By the way....elderberry is also one of my "good friends" LOL I buy it in the form of Sambucol brand. It works like a charm and tastes really good!