Ginger Thyme Tea

I woke up Thanksgiving morning with the beginnings of a cold. Black Friday was even worse, with the irrepressible urge to nap setting in a mere three hours after I woke up. Yesterday, after getting over ten hours of sleep the night before, I spent the hours between six and eight pm dozing off on the couch with a purring cat on my stomach and a scarf wrapped around my head. I've gone through two pocket packs of tissues and finally had to cave and buy a full-size box.

Since I know a lot of people get sick around the holidays, I thought I'd share my favorite homemade remedy: a simple ginger tea.

I've always made this tea with just ginger, lemon, and honey, but my mom told me that a friend of hers from France uses thyme to make tea when she's under the weather. I tried adding a sprig to my tried and true formula, and loved the pop of green color and herbal undertones it added to the drink.

The ginger makes this tea nice and spicy--if you simmer it for long enough, it will burn a bit going down. However, for me at least, a little burn lets me know it's working. This tonic is equally good for both colds and sore throats, and can also help soothe an upset stomach.

This morning I mustered up the energy to make this tea, but ran out of steam before I could cook breakfast. I ended up getting out my emergency snack stash--a big hunk of Callebaut bittersweet chocolate.  (The only reason I can keep that chocolate in my pantry for any length of time is because I have to get out a cutting board and a chef's knife to chop off some pieces before I can eat any--if it were ready to go straight from the cupboard it'd be gone in an hour.)

Anyway, chocolate always makes me thirsty, so I washed it down with my second cup of this tea, and was surprised by how well the two went together.  Somehow the bittersweet chocolate and the spicy-sweet-citrusy tea were the perfect combination.

So, if you're not feeling well this holiday season, let tea and chocolate be your go-to remedy!  I bet you'll be feeling better in no time.

Ginger Thyme Tea
Yield: 4 six-ounce servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

One 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, unpeeled and thinly sliced
4 lemon slices
4 fresh thyme sprigs
Honey, to taste

Place the sliced ginger and four cups of water in a kettle or saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for five to ten minutes (simmering for longer will yield a more intense ginger flavor). Remove from the heat and steep for five minutes.

Put a lemon slice and a thyme sprig in each mug. Pour the tea through a fine-mesh strainer into the mugs. Season with honey to taste (I use about half a teaspoon per serving). Remove the lemon after a minute, or leave it in for a stronger citrus flavor. Enjoy hot and feel better!