…the infamous Convention Crud. I think the fires and the smoky drive set us up for it. It’s respiratory, and I’m chilled, dizzy and feel like heck, but improving. I laid out this morning and just rested. Now I’m feeling a little better…but Jane’s started coughing.
We were worried when we read that our good friend Mike Moe, who was also at Fencon, had come down with something a few days ago. We had a longer incubation, but this is not (cough*cough) pleasant. Been a while since I’ve caught anything at a con. MAY-be we should’ve gotten our flu shots before we went. I think we will certainly get them after we get over this stuff, in the theory that we may not have met the real flu yet. This responds to Dayquil/Nyquil and Mucinex—Theraflu, not so much: tried that first.
Chicken soup helped: the quick way to semi-homemade: fill saucepan with Swanson’s No MSG Chicken Broth, add Foster Farms Honey-roasted Chicken Strips (frozen); two heaping tablespoons of cooked rice (I tend to cook up a lot at once, then re-heat servings over the next several days, with various toppings;) or bean-thread (Vietnamese); or raw spinach leaves; or pre-cooked pasta; or raw green peas; add black pepper, add celery salt (except with the Bean-thread, use the Vietnamese sweet chili sauce instead, when serving); bring to boil. Serve. It will save you from the plague.
Jane did the chicken and rice number and I immediately felt better.
My grandmother swore by honey, but afaik used it only as a sweetener or oral homeopathic medicine, home remedy. She was a big believer in vitamins, fresh foods, and health store / herbal medicine.
I always thought she just preferred honey as a sweetener, but I see I was missing her other reasons. Wish she’d said why else.
If it works, there’s generally a solid reason. Herbal health or folk medicine, used wisely, Western or Asian traditions, well, if it works, fine. I’m gaining more appreciation for the simple old ways lately. Yes, the doctor and modern medicine and tech are fine, but sometimes, the older ways are as good or better…and that’s where much of the modern high-tech medicine started from, anyway.
Moe honey on the grocery list too.
Make sure you get it from a local source. Check your county’s Agricultural Extension Office for a list of beekeepers in your area. Not only does it support the local economy, you also know where your honey has been made and what’s been done to it, and you get the benefit of local pollen sources, possibly helpful in treating allergies. I don’t treat my honey, I simply strain it to get out the wax cappings and occasional piece of debris and then I bottle it. No chemicals, no pasteurization (honey doesn’t need to be pasteurized, the water content is so low that it dehydrates any mold or bacteria spore that lands in it, as long as you keep it tightly sealed when not using it), just pure honey. It’s also useful as a bandage for cuts, burns, and scrapes, since it seals out infection. Just be prepared to be popular with hornets, wasps, and other bees. LOL.
Jane’s birthday is coming up, so she’s got some things coming…
And I’m glad you’re enjoying the bread machine! Italian Bread is my favorite, with the admixture of a little wheat bran and some rice flour, which gives it a bit of crunch in the crust.
The Italian bread base makes a great pizza dough if you go 1 cup of water instead of 1 1/2 for the pizza: the dough needs to be stretchier.
*Italian Bread*
@-@
I weep… Gluten intolerance has robbed me of some of the best things in life. Add a touch of Gluten to the dough, or use a hard winter wheat to get the best ‘chew’ and steaming in the oven at the beginning of the bake helps the crust a great deal also.
*sniff!*
In re: chicken soup, also use black pepper when you make it. I was told that chicken is a very digestable meat as meats go, and a ready source of protein your body doesn’t have to work too hard to get at, sparing energy for combating the nasties. The pepper helps the mucus membranes, as does the steam. If you are coughing a lot, what I’ve found helps me is to get a cup of hot tea and a glass of cold fruit juice and alternate taking sips from each. I find it very soothing.
@ Jane: Have you ever though about using a cellphone or MP3 player or such like that has voice recording capabilities to record these story ideas when they hit you? Kinda like marking your place in the thought process — ? You’re talking into a device that looks like a phone, so nobody would think that you might be part of the aluminum foil chapeau crowd. And if you suddenly whip out the device and start talking into it for no apparent reason, obviously the ringer was set on vibrate –. If you happen to be actually behind the wheel at the time, the passenger can activate and hold the device while you talk and drive. Just a thought. . .