Well, I knew it would happen... playing with my little nephew, him crawling all over me, coughing, sneezing and snotting away, so now I've got his cold. Besides that usually happens when a gig is coming up with the other group I play with occasionally. I felt the tickle in the throat coming on last night so I tried to head it off with a good heavey shot of rye. It works sometimes, but not this time.

Last winter, I had a pretty bad cold in the middle of a gig weekend. Came down from the first set looking and feeling like 5 pounds of shit in a 3 pound bag, so my buddy the bartender asked if I wanted a Hot Toddy. Of course I did. He made one for me while the regular patrons waited.

"Here. My grandmother's recipe. Get that in ya!" he said and slid it over.

"You're a lifesaver, Ike. Thanks."

And he was. I felt great for the second set and the rest of the night too. I asked him how he made it. He said it was hot tea, lots of honey and lemon juice (freshly squeezed), plus a good shot of Irish (and another secret ingredient he wouldn't tell me. I'd always made mine with hot water, lemon, honey and gin or whiskey, but now I use tea. I'm having one now before I turn in (got a practice tomorrow night and 2 nights playing this weekend).

Anybody else have a good hot toddy recipe suggestion?