Husband came down with a head cold late last week. He really suffers when he has a cold. His allergies seem to make cold symptoms worse than normal. He spent the weekend doing nasal irrigation and concocting soup to ease his symptoms. We had quite a bit of the turkey brodo I make from The Splendid Table cookbook, and he doctored it up with lemon juice, poached chicken, turmeric, hot peppers, and Penzey’s Bangkok seasoning. He said it helped, and he feels he is on the mend.
My mother never did much when we had colds. They were just things you suffered through without much fuss. A fever might warrent some aspirin, but there was rarely any Vapor Rub or other over the counter cold medication in the house. My father took a different approach. In the fall and winter he always had a bottle of peppermint schnapps in the freezer. If I had a particularly bad cold he would slip me a shot of the icy schnapps at bedtime. It was really aromatic and put me into a restful sleep
I still tend to ignore cold symptoms and don’t use cold medications. I don’t use schnapps, either, although a hot toddy can be nice at times when the symptoms are bad. I rarely get colds, though, having become immune to many cold strains through 30 years exposure to drippy-nosed preschoolers in the play therapy room.
How did your family deal with colds and flu? Got any good home remedies?
Trail Baboon 
We’ve used echinacea over the past several years to help reduce cold symptoms. Doesn’t relieve them, but I think minimizes them or staves off me getting the infection from my wife. At least it’s worked a few times. But we’ll use whatever we think necessary: decongestants, cough syrup, antihistamines, aspirin, etc.
We both got particularly long-lingering colds back at Thanksgiving. Me first, then Sandra a week later. But we didn’t pass the germs on to the in-laws who were visiting during Turkey Week. Go figure. I still have a “cold” cough a few times a day, and Sandra is still hacking and wheezing a bit.
My only home remedy is gargling with warm salt water for a sore throat. Mom taught it to me as a kid. It still works better than anything to ease the throat pain. Even if it’s psychological, whatever works, works, right?
Chris in Owatonna
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My mom was a clinic nurse and our home medicine cupboard was well stocked with pharmaceutical samples – especially cough syrup. We also had lots of Vicks Vapo Rub and Mentholatum, which were used liberally when we had stuffy noses or chest congestion.
These days I rarely get a cold (knock on wood). When I do come down with cold symptoms I use decongestants, sometimes cough syrup, sometimes antihistamines, or a long hot & steamy shower.
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Naps – and lots of liquids, maybe cut back on the caffeine.
As a kid, I do remember the Vicks Vapo Rub once or twice, but that’s about it. Luckily I don’t get many colds now…
In the early 70s, I learned of Bieler’s Broth – not for colds, necessarily, but a cleansing and detox soup I used several times.
You can find many versions of Dr. Bieler’s broth on the internet. Here is one version of the ingredients:
3-4 medium Zucchini, ends removed and chopped
1 pound String Beans, ends trimmed
3-4 stalks Celery, chopped
1-2 bunches Fresh Parsley (flat-leaf or curly), stems removed
4 cups Filtered water
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