Woke up with a terrible head cold.

I guess the lesson here is always have good stock, honey, lemon and ginger and bourbon or brandy in hand. The extras are just that, extras!

Thanks everyone. I had some really good chicken stock in the freezer. I defrosted and added ginger, cayenne, tofu chicken and onions. That alternated with tea, honey, lemon and ginger. And a very strong bourbon, lemon honey in the evening, I slept well and repeated today. I feel great!

Try the 'two hats cure'.
Make some tea (as mentioned) with ginger, honey, lemon.
Put a Hat on the door knob of your bed room.
Fire up an audiobook on the bed side player and have a sip of tea.
Follow that with a shot of Bourbon.
Look at a Hat.
Have another sip of tea...and a sip of bourbon.
Repeat until you see two hats.

These remedies bring back wonderful memories of my grandmother's never-fail hot toddy cure. She also used brandy, lots of fresh lemon, hot water and when we were little, a drop of honey.

Old family remedy - Strong cuppa of black tea, spoon of honey, bit of lemon or lime, goodly splash of brandy. The brandy is actually my addition, after a doctor (No really, my GP family doctor said this) suggested I try brandy instead of cough syrup for a nasty cough. Apparently there is something in brandy that makes a great cough suppressant and calms a sour through, that is once you get over the initial shock of drinking brandy. Rotgut works best, the expensive stuff is too smooth.

Of course, if driving or anything important like entertaining the inlaws, best forgo the brandy until after, when you have a chance to relax.

By the way, love the soup ideas in this thread. Curious to see if whisky or gin works as well as brandy. Suddenly I feel a sore throat coming on.

Supposed to be anti inflammatory, but it may not be in your pantry.

Chicken soup/honey, whiskey, and lemon juice in in equal amounts w/ hot water or tea, lots of fresh ginger chopped and steeped, then sipped slowly (it's strong). Tamar Adler had a tonic soup in the NYT magazine a few weeks ago. I have a tonic recipe that includes fresh turmeric , which is s

Boil some water and add fresh lemon juice, a bit of ginger and honey. You'll feel better in no time.

i grate ginger into marmalade like "tea" with honey and lemon at the beginning of each winter so that whenever i have a cold, i have a ready made remedy at hand. :)

1) chicken soup (chicken, carrots, celery, onion, leeks if you have them, salt, peppercorns in a teaball, simmer, skimming, at least an hour)
2) hot toddy
3) lemon honey tea
take your choice!

Heidi Swanson has a wonderful Immunity soup recipe that I have used so many times, even when not ill. The first few times I made it I didn't include the white pepper or tofu as I didn't have either, and I have found that you can substitute or omit. The key ingredients seem to be the ginger, garlic and onions and having it really hot. Hope this helps.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/immunity-soup-recipe.html

Reading lots of Dickens one winter when I had lots of colds (Dickens and Proust - great for long winter reads), I noticed that all those London characters were inviting each other in for "hot gin." Sounds good, never had it. Looked it up in my handy-dandy James Beard drinks book. Voila! Mix in a heat-proof mug approx the following - juice of half a lemon, 1-2 teaspoons sugar, 1-2 tots gin, top with boiling water, mix and drink. Your cold is not gone, but you don't care anymore. And, oh yes, you'll sleep. Like adult-rated Neo Citran. Enjoy!

You need "Jewish penicillin" - a steaming bowl of chicken broth or soup. I also use Dona's recommendation of green tea with honey, lemon, ginger. Haven't tried cayenne - doesn't it make your nose run even more? :-)

For me, there is nothing more healing than stock (aka bone broth in my home). I always have it in my freezer. When I am feeling poorly, I like cooking the broth with carrots, celery, onions, garlic and ginger that have been caramelized in ghee. I blend all that up well. Then it goes back into the pot with sliced cabbage until the cabbage is to my liking. If those vegetables aren't in my house, I just do a version with what I have. Sometimes it's stock, ginger and onions with a little sherry vinegar to brighten it up.

Feel better.

I just got over a bad cold, here's what got me through -
Green tea, honey, lemon, ginger and a pinch of cayenne.