Cider Toddy for a Cold

1 glass dry cider
1/4 oz root ginger
1 dessertspoon honey
lemon peel

Heat the cider, bruised ginger and a twist of lemon peel in an aluminium, stainless steel or enamelled saucepan until bubbles just begin to rise in the liquid. Quickly remove from the heat, stir in the honey and strain into a warmed glass. This is excellent for drinking just before bedtime. Drinking it in bed and taking two aspirins is said to prevent a cold. Even if this is a false hope it certainly induces sleep.

Source: Home Made Wines, Syrups and Cordials, The National Federation of Women’s Institutes

News: Home Remedies

“At a time when federal advisories on drug risks and side effects are common and health-care costs often high, you might be tempted to turn to home remedies to treat your children.

Sometimes parents can soothe children’s symptoms just by using something from the pantry — perhaps learned from their mother or grandma.

“Each culture has its own little set of remedies that they use; it’s just part of the upbringing,” said Dr. Lynn Smitherman, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

Full story: The Courier-Journal, March 6th 2008

Hoarseness, Successful Remedy for Adults

“Take two ounces of fresh scraped horseradish root, infuse in a close vessel in one-half pint of cold water for two or three hours; then add four ounces of acid tincture of lobelia and one-half pound of honey. Boil altogether for one-half hour, strain and take a teaspoonful four times a day. This is a very good remedy, especially for adults.”

Source: Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remidies from Mothers of the United States and Canada, T. J. Ritter

Constipation in Children, Soothing Syrup Made by a Mother in New York for

“One-half ounce spearmint, one-quarter ounce lady’s slipper, one-half ounce rhubarb, one-quarter ounce cinnamon powder; pour one-half pint boiling water on the whole, mix and let stand to boil fifteen minutes, strain and sweeten well with syrup or honey. Give a teaspoonful every half hour, diminishing as the pain subsides.” This will be found very beneficial in children, and may be used without any fear whatever, as it is perfectly harmless.

Source: Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remidies from Mothers of the United States and Canada, T. J. Ritter

Ingredients: Barley

Hordeum Vulgare — common Barley — is chiefly used in Great Britain for brewing and distilling; but, it has dietetic and medicinal virtues which entitle it to be considered among serviceable simples. Roman gladiators who depended for their strength and prowess chiefly on Barley, were called Hordearii. Nevertheless, this cereal is less nourishing than wheat, and when prepared as food is apt to purge; therefore it is not made into bread, except when wheat is scarce and dear, though in Scotland poor people eat Barley bread. In India Barley meal is made into balls of dough for the oxen and camels. Pearl Barley is prepared in Holland and Germany by first shelling the grain, and then grinding it into round white granules. The ancients fed their horses upon Barley, and we fatten swine on this grain made into meal. Among the Greeks beer was known as barley wine, which was brewed without hops, these dating only from the fourteenth century.

A decoction of barley with gum arabic, one ounce of the gum dissolved in a pint of the hot decoction, is a very useful drink to soothe irritation of the bladder, and of the urinary passages. The chemical constituents of Barley are starch, gluten, albumen, oil, and hordeic acid. From the earliest times it has been employed to prepare drinks for the sick, especially in feverish disorders, and for sore lining membranes of the chest. Honey may be added beneficially to the decoction of barley for bronchial coughs. The French make “Orgeat” of barley boiled in successive waters, and sweetened at length as a cooling drink: though this name is now applied in France to a liqueur concocted from almonds.

Source: Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure, William Thomas Fernie

News: Remember days of home remedies?

“Modern medicine could be spelled m-i-r-a-c-l-e, and I wouldn’t object. It seems that even as more and more unbelievable strides are made, the gains come even faster and faster.

I still marvel at the progress of medicine even in my lifetime. When I was a kid, medicine had not stumbled much beyond home remedies, some of which worked, and some didn’t.”

Full story: Beaumont Journal, 13th February 2008

News: Home remedies passed down through generations

“Home remedies: We asked, and you answered.

It seems every family has one or two favorites. Many of them incorporate vinegar, salt, whiskey, Vicks VapoRub or honey. Some have been passed down for generations.”

Full story: Utica Observer-Dispatch, 7th February 2008

Colds, Honey for

“Eat honey. I have tried this many times and it is very good.” The honey is very soothing, but if a little hoarhound or lemon is added it would make it much more effective. This is a good remedy for children, as they most all like honey.

Source: Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remidies from Mothers of the United States and Canada, T. J. Ritter

News: Culinary curatives for chills, sniffles

“Feeling achy and feverish? Have a bowl of Mom’s tom yum soup. Or maybe some warm milk with melted lamb fat.

Chicken soup may be the all-American cold and flu panacea, but around the world people turn to all manner of culinary curatives for the chills and sniffles.”

Full story: London Free Press (Canada), 23rd January 2008

News: Honey Used As Remedy For Coughs And Colds

“Mary Poppins may have said it first — a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. But now with the FDA advising against over-the-counter cold and cough remedies for kids under two, the sugar may be one of the best options parents have left.”

Full story: WFMZ-69 News, 21st January 2008