I am getting over my second cold of the year, after slowing the healing process by the scientifically proven method of resorting to the cocktail recipe book.

People in books are always drinking hot toddies and feeling tremendously refreshed and invigorated, and I agree that the mixture of whiskey, lemon juice and honey does tend to take your mind off the fact that your head is filled with so much mucous that you can’t actually breath. Unfortunately, this effect tends to wear off, leaving you feeling much worse than before. My mother advised me that perhaps leaving the whiskey out of the recipe might result in a drink better suited to curing yourself of a cold, and I tend to agree. Although I don’t think it would have quite the same spirit-lifting qualities.