“Mommy, I don’t feel so good”

In between the yearly influenza epidemic, springtime pollen and environmental allergies, here comes the swine flu!  What to do?  How can we carry on when faced with body aches, fever, sore throat, cough and the general miseries?  Few of us here have the luxure of cocooning into freshly washed linens, while Mommy rubs Vicks Vap-O-Rub onto our chests and brings us little trays with glasses of ginger ale and Ritz crackers to ease our tummy aches.    Some of us are the mommies whose little ones need coddling and cosseting.  Some of us just have to be grown-ups and take care of ourselves.  Let’s talk about sickroom recipes and home remedies. “Feed a cold and starve a fever”, “drink lots of liquids” – whatever the scientific validity of these gems, it doesn’t hurt to follow the advice of grandmothers and Aunt Gussie (who used to prescribe blackstrap molasses with a drop of kerosene to cure “wormy” children).  Here are some classic sickroom recipes to cure whatever ails us.

M.F.K. Fisher is one of my favorite cookery writers, and her recipe for milk toast is a classic.  I love the way she insists upon “a pretty bowl” to nourish the soul while the milk toast feeds the body!

1 pint milk, part cream if the person is not forbidden that.
4 slices good bread, preferably homemade.
Sweet butter, if butter is allowed.
Salt, pepper, if not a child or very ill.
Procedure:
Heat the milk to the simmering point. Meanwhile have ready 4 freshly toasted slices of bread. Butter them generously. Heat a pretty bowl, deeper than it is wide. Break the hot buttered toast into it, pour the steaming but not boiling milk over it, sprinkle a very little salt and pepper on the top, and serve at once.

Drinking lots of liquids is very important when we are ill.  Our bodies need water to help dissipate the heat of a fever, and the body loses lots of free water in respiratory secretions.  But plain water is boring to the peckish sick child, so making the best lemonade will encourage adequate fluid intake.
1 tbsp. fresh grated lemon peel
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. boiling water
1 1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
In a covered jar, combine lemon peel, sugar and boiling water. Cover and shake until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice. Store tightly covered in refrigerator until ready to serve. Makes 2 2/3 cups syrup base. Use 1/4 – 1/3 cup syrup for a glass of lemonade (12 oz.). For a pitcher, mix full recipe with 5 cups cold water. Makes 1 3/4 quarts.

So, bubbaleh, you have a cold?  You need something warm, something nourishing, something that Cousin Moishe (he’s a doctor!) would prescribe to anyone, Jew or Gentile.  You need Jewish penicillin, that cure-all, that wonderful concoction some would call chicken soup!

JEWISH PENICILLIN (CHICKEN SOUP)
Fresh chicken wings, backs and necks
6 c. water (enough to cover chicken)
1/8 c. parsley
2 chicken bouillon cubes
Celery, sliced, cut up into bite-size pieces
Onions, sliced, cut up into bite-size pieces
Carrots, sliced, cut into bite-size pieces
Pinch of saffron (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
In large pot, put chicken pieces and water. Bring to boil. Skim off brown foam and large yellow patches. Lower flame, add rest of ingredients. Cover and simmer 1 hour.

Remove the chicken and allow to cool enough to pull the meat off the bones.   Put the chicken back into the pot, and now add the onions, celery and carrots.  Cook over medium heat until the carrots are just cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with Ritz crackers.

Now that we have gotten down some basic nutrition and lots of liquids, we still must replenish our stores of carbohydrates and fat – and we cannot forget that some sickroom foods taste divine even for the worried well and the disgustingly healthy folks who never get sick!  There are some very delicious foods that are as tempting in the sickroom as they are fondly anticipated on a rainy day.  Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup fill the bill.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
4 slices white bread
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 slices Cheddar cheese

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Generously butter one side of a slice of bread. Place bread butter-side-down onto skillet bottom and add 1 slice of cheese. Butter a second slice of bread on one side and place butter-side-up on top of sandwich. Grill until lightly browned and flip over; continue grilling until cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining 2 slices of bread, butter and slice of cheese.

Tomato Soup

5 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups milk
1/2 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups tomatoes, chopped (fresh or canned)

Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the onion and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the onion is softened but not browned. Sprinkle the flour over the butter mixture and continue to stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, bay leaf, sugar, and salt and continue to cook and stir until slightly thickened. Stir the baking soda into the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the milk, and bring just to a simmer. Remove from the heat and put through a strainer. Taste and correct seasonings. Reheat before serving.

Mommies who are taking care of sick children need to take care of themselves as well.  Truly, the fabric of the family would fall apart should Mommy have to take to her bed with exhaustion!  But the worry and stress of being the caregiver can make it difficult to wind down and relax, and besides, there is not much in the pantry or the kitchen to throw together something that would be good for that – but fear not!  What is soothing and relaxing for the ailing offspring or spouse is good medicine as well for the Mommy.  Who would argue that a good hot toddy would not be just what the doctor ordered?

lemon juice
boiling water
Rye Whiskey
Honey

Put water on to boil. In a large beer mug, put in a big spoonful of honey, 2 good shots of Rye and about 2 heaping tbsp of lemon juice. Pour boiling water over mixture to fill mug about half. Stir until everything is mixed and honey is dissolved. Add more boiling water to fill the mug. Drink it as hot as you can handle it. (If it gets luke warm, it’s not so good) If you have two of these, you should be out for the night! Works for me! Serving Suggestions Whenever you feel a cold coming on or sniffles. Or if you are just feeling chilled this will warm your inside up.

Everyone has their own sickroom concoctions, from mustard plasters to gargling with aspirin water for a sore throat.  Please share your own home remedy or recipe to cure what ails you!

Tags: Food, Recipes