Been making a cold remedy--it works, too! [View all]

One long ago, when I was waiting table in a restaurant and bar, if any one of us came into work with so much as a sniffle, the boss would pour us a shot of extra sharp ginger brandy and have us drink it. I could never just bolt it down like some could, but even though I sipped it, the stuff seemed to cauterize the throat and get rid of germs. My theory is that no germs can tolerate the stuff!

Fast forward to today. I can't get the extra sharp stuff here in Virginia, so my method has changed. These days I have to buy regular ginger brandy at the ABC store and jack it up with chunks of peeled ginger in the bottom of a pint. So today I've been doing exactly that---two for friends, plus re-upping ours which had about an inch of brandy left from last year. I think we are safe, and so are my friends Dena and Natalie!

True story. Once a friend had just returned from a stint with the Peace Corps in India, and we were having a welcome-home for him at above-mentioned restaurant and bar. Someone had the bright idea to order him a shot of extra sharp ginger brandy. He upended it. Tears literally shot from his eyes! When he got his breath back and could speak again, the first words out of his mouth were, "Order me another!"