When winter and cold weather finally manage to ‘surprise’ us in Shanghai in December, and although back in our home towns we, or at least myself, used to live normally with 20 Celsius degrees below zero, still, 10 degrees here is REALLY cold. And when he have to undergo this horrible shock of sudden temperature change and we sneak out from hot rooms and offices into dry and chilly streets then to boiling hot subway again, this is when our wellbeing is jeopardized. I try to be especially careful during this ‘change’ season: both fall/winter and then winter/spring .Even if I am not sick or I don’t start feeling sick, most people around start sneezing, coughing, spreading colds and other undesirable diseases! And this is when my secret weapon steps into action. So first of all, I hate being sick and secondly, I refuse to stuff myself with all kinds of chemical drugs, unless it is something as serious as food poisoning. But when it comes to cold, I will definitely stick to ‘home made’, natural remedies that not only help you recover but also strengthen your immune system. When I was a kid, my grandmother used to give me ’natural’ syrup made of chopped onion and sugar and that was the only reason why I loved having ‘ganmao’( cold) . But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I started drinking the magical, anti cold potion. While living in Stuttgart, southern Germany, I was lucky enough to have a really cool neighbor, who taught me a lot of interesting things about ‘housekeeping’ and the magical, anti cold potion is one of the best pieces of advice she gave me. I always start drinking it when I feel like I might get sick or when many people around, especially at work, start falling ill. So to protect myself, just run to Lady Avocado to buy the INGREDIENTS: A PIECE OF GINGER MEDIUM SIZE ONION ONE ORGANGE WHOLE HEAD OF GARLIC 1.I peel the skin from orange ( because it is the skin, in fact, that contains the most vitamins – that’s why it is so bright orange!), chop the whole onion, peel and cut all the cloves of garlic ( you can also press them in the garlic press, up to you) and peel and slice ginger. 2. Next I put all the ingredients on the piece ( can be roughly 10X10 cm) of gauze and tie its diagonal ends together to form a little ‘bag’. 3. Finally, I ‘cook’ this bag until water turns yellow. 4.I drink it hot , TWICE A DAY, with a tablespoon of honey. If you are sick already, you can add spicy, powdered pepper to kill bacteria.
I will use the same ’bag’ for 3 days in a row, the ‘stuffing’ will keep producing yellow juice. Some people like it, some not that much, but it is a real vitamin bomb and you know, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger;)