Sniff. Cough. Ginger. Gin.

I am not very well. I have a sore throat, sore ears, an unpredictable-squeak-or-growl voice, and a runny nose. This was my ailment of choice during my youth – if memory serves, I pretty much took antibiotics from November to February every year until someone took pity on me and took my tonsils out, after which things got a little better – so I know the drill. Take It Easy And Drink Plenty. Which I am trying to do. But, despite all of the practice I’ve had over the last couple of years – maybe because of it – I’m doing it with a very bad grace. Yesterday, I told Alan and Joy that ‘I hate being ill’ so often that it’s a wonder I wasn’t sent to sleep in the studio.

So. I am going to try to be a good girl today. I’m going to see the doctor in a bit, then I might well do some writing (on the basis that I can write when I’m sick – this blog is testament to that – and it might take my mind off things a bit), then I expect there will be knitting and a few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, to which I have come late but with great enthusiasm. (I’m up to Season 5.)

And I will be drinking my favourite health-giving drink, the recipe for which I share with you here. I wish I’d had it during chemotherapy – I think it would have been great for a dodgy stomach.

The Bah! Betterness Drink

Take a tall glass and half-fill it with pomegranate juice. (Actual juice, not ‘pomegranate drink’, which is largely water and sugar. Pomegreat is good.) Then add some ginger cordial – Belvoir is fab – about 4 tablespoons to start with. Now top up the glass with your dilutant of choice: I use fizzy water or diet lemonade, depending on what’s to hand. Still water also works: tonic water probably would though I haven’t tried it. Give your drink a stir and taste it, adding more ginger if necessary. Voila!

For extra wellbeing, drink through a straw, preferably one in a cheerful colour.

This is also good in a mug, topped up with boiling water.

And, when better, celebrate with a Bah! Ginger Sling: replace the pomegranate with a double measure of decent gin, replace the ginger cordial and dilutant with alcoholic ginger beer (like ), add lots of ice (crush it if you can be bothered), a dash of angustora bitters, and the juice of half a lemon.

Cheers! Here’s to feeling better. Soon.

6 Responses

  1. Gaby says:

    Get better soon! The drinks sound wonderful – I hope they do the trick.
    xx

  2. Claire says:

    Am sitting here sneezing along with you. My three weeks of swollen glands have become a cold. I would rather have brain surgery again than have an actual cold, most annoying thing in the world apart from a paper cut.
    Hugs and sympathy and keep those fluids going.xx

  3. Margi says:

    Hot Ribena with freshly grated ginger and a pinch of cinnamon.

  4. Stephanie says:

    Thanks everyone, and ooh, that’s a nice idea, Margi. We are past the days of always having Ribena in the house but I will get someone to get some tomorrow!

  5. Rachel Pearce says:

    The drinks sound great although I don’t think I have ever seen pomegranate juice in Derbyshire. I think I would prefer the alcoholic version, even with a cold! I hope it has done the trick and you are now feeling much better.

  6. Stephanie says:

    I’m getting there – I feel much less like the walking dead today!

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