Homemade Cough Syrup: Easier Than You'd Think

I made this syrup for The Child last night because Its coughing was keeping it up and making It (not to mention everyone else) miserable at night...it ended up being surprisingly effective, so I thought I'd share it. It's still a rough recipe, so feel free to play with the proportions:

Emily's Cough Sizzurp for Children

3 handfuls dried rosehips
1 large pinch dried spearmint leaf
2-3 large pinches dried nettle leaf
4-5 cloves crushed garlic
1-2 in. section of fresh ginger root, chopped
2 dashes cayenne pepper

Add enough water to cover all ingredients by a centimeter or so, bring to a boil and simmer until volume is reduced by 1/3-1/2. then stir in:

juice of 1 tangerine or small orange (I used a mandarinquat and some tangerine)
1/8-1/4 cup of raw honey*

Strain mixture through a fine sieve and let cool.
I've been giving 2 tsp. at a time and it's working beautifully!
For adults, feel free to stir in 1-2 Tbsp. of whiskey at the end; that really bumps up the expectorant properties!

*Warning: NEVER give honey or products containing honey to children under 1 year of age!! If the child is younger than 1 year old, *please* contact your doctor instead of the interwebz!

The Infection Connection

Just realized that about the only times I've had free to blog lately are the times that I, The Child and/or The DH are sick...so yeah, in case you were wondering, we're sick. Again. For a change.

This time around, I mostly just feel like I had one too many cocktails...in a bad way. Everything's just all swimmy and dizzy and far-away feeling, but without the painful-sounding seal-bark cough that The Child has.

I was hoping to blog about our recent wonderful family-visit-Catalina-weekend trip, but even typing is a bitch at this point. So just know that Catalina is awesome, I want to go back, and in fact I keep clawing my way awake from weird sick-dreams thinking I'm still at the delightful Avalon Hotel. No such luck...