For those fortunate enough to work in retail during the holiday season, you know that inevitably there is a frenzy of activity coming your way. (Personally I’d rather fish than shop any day, and I mean any type of fishing, though that’s just my naive preference…)
She Who Must Be Obeyed manages a local retail establishment (an Orvis store of all places) and has been nothing short of astounded at the shopping feeding frenzy ongoing this Holiday Season within the four walls of her domain.
Days are often long and always busy; when she came back to the house bleary eyed and scratchy throated one night last week, I knew it was time to break out the best our home remedy and modern science lexicon had to offer to stave off the pesky virus knocking on her door.
One of the things I searched around for was a new spin on the Hot Toddy; legions of folks (and not just southerners) have long imbued the hot toddy with medicinal benefits, even if those benefits are a touch of rum to aid sleep and a sweet libation to coat a prickly throat.
This recipe for the Honey Bunny Hot Toddy popped up on the Garden and Gun website and made all of us feel better around our camp. Use fresh-squeezed lemon juice too – it’s chock full of vitamin C.
She Who Must Be Obeyed was able to fight off that flu knocking on the door too. It must have been the Toddy.
1 quart filtered water
1/4 cup peeled, sliced thin
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cinnamon stick
1/2 lemon juice, fresh squeezed so much better
2 oz. Corsair rum
Prepare the base. In a small saucepan, heat one quart filtered water, add the ginger and simmer for 15 minutes. Whisk in the honey until dissolved; add the lemon juice and cinnamon stick and simmer another 15 minutes (simmer mind you). Strain into a thermos to hold or into a pyrex cup if you’re going to consume all eight of the toddies the base yields.
Toddy time. Into your toddy glass pour 2 ounces of the rum and 4 ounces of the ginger-honey mixture. Stir with a fresh cinnamon stick and garnish with a piece or two of candied ginger if you’re in to that sort of treat.
Enjoy.
