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Sally Ketchum: In The Kitchen

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October 19, 2008

Sally Ketchum: Soothing mind, body, soul

By SALLY KETCHUM

More wordplay: When we say the word, "soothe," we can draw it out as when we say, "ooze." Then we end the word, "soothe" with a little puff that blows out some of our worries and misery. As a food writer, I'm supposed to know about food and drink. Both -- like most things -- can be for good, sustenance and pleasure, or the evil, indulgence and ruin of health.

Today, I write of the good stuff, soothing drink that calms us, lets us taste a little optimism, and actually might relieve pain, physical or emotional. For instance, 10 out of 11 people suffering head colds and who drank hot toddies said the toddies helped cure the cold. Perhaps, perhaps. Also today, I write a little about soothing distressed children -- old time stuff.

Anton Chekhov, Russia's great short story writer, accurately expressed what a lot of us are feeling now when he said, "An idiot can face a crisis -- it's this day-to-day living that wears you out." If he were here by my side, today, having a glass of strong black tea, I don't know whether he would mean the American economy mess (predicted to be long and day-to-day) or the coming American holidays or both. So here's to soothing stuff!

Glamorous (and sometimes ridiculous) cocktails aside, I'm thinking of sweet things like milk drinks and hot chocolate milk with a heaping tablespoon or two of Carnation malted milk. (I see malt coming back on grocery shelves as the economy struggles.) I think of steaming Earl Grey tea, too, hot because it is warming and bracing, Earl Grey because it has the herbal relaxant, bergamot, in it.

Two emergencies call for the tried and traditional restoratives --- serious drinks. First, when a person is very, very cold -- when you've sailed in the bay too late in October, when your car is stuck in a snow bank somewhere out U. S. 31, and the car heater goes dead. When you are finally home after being yanked from the bank, you need a serious drink.

Second, when a person who has a very bad head cold, he needs the serious stuff, too. (Flu is a different matter, different symptoms, and different bug. Alcohol is not advised.) So, whether being very cold or having a cold, hot toddies come to mind. There are many toddy recipes, but the one I concocted is the only one He-Who-Must-Be-Fed accepts after blowing six inches of Lake Michigan's snow off our drive.

The Ketchum Toddy: To impress the distressed person (or company), and make a delicious, soothing toddy, use a mortar and pestle to incorporate 1-2 dashes of Angostura bitters into a heaping tablespoon of sugar. (If no one is watching, you can use the back of a spoon. Works the same.) Spoon the mixture into a warmed cup. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon juice from a jar of red maraschino cherries, and one cherry. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir. Top with 2 shots (or to taste) of Canadian Club whiskey. Stir once. Drink in small sips over a long time. That's our soother.

However, toddy lovers have arguments over the alcoholic ingredient. Most swear their favorite spirit is the authentic one, including brandy, Scotch, whiskey blends, specific bourbons, and rum. If one adds butter to a rum or Scotch toddy, he has a Hot Buttered Rum (or Scotch). Also, I understand that some men who toddy claim adding brandy is a sissy thing, for ladies only. Further, some hard toddied men, use only intensive-care strength Jameson's or Paddy's Irish Whiskey, triple distilled, and you have to go to Ireland to get it.

Soothing a sick child is a much gentler task. But it demands some interesting elements: the food or drink, the dishes, the setting, the company, and most probably a suitable story. Traditionally, a suffering child can have weak China or herbal tea, juice and water. A sick child might like to use special china and a teapot or a straw. Company, often the storyteller, is a huge plus. A tea party with dad or a friend joining in a soda side tea party is especially soothing. Holding a hot cup of tea in a special cup is soothing. And, I know of a glass, especially thick, that is high in the cupboard, and it is for HWMBF only. It's his Hot Toddy Glass. I'll be washing it soon.

The Log House

Use soft white bread. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over warm, buttered toast. Trim off crusts (for elegance) and cut sliced into strips. Crisscross strips to build into a log house, 2 or 3 stories high, depending on number of toast slices used.

Traditional

An orange the way the doctor ordered it.

Use a very nice orange, and cut it deeply, but not in half, from stem to navel. Holding the sliced orange together, and careful with fingers, cut across the former cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices-- again, deeply, but not all the way through. Spread slices a bit, and sprinkle with sugar.

Folk cure

In Africa, peeled orange slices are sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, then a dash or two of orange flower water finishes the dish (optional). It is served as a salad.

Sally Ketchum is a northern Michigan writer who manages to get food and beverages into most of her work, whether columns, fiction, children's books or poetry. Readers can meet Ketchum when she signs her new book, "Bread Garden," at 1 p.m., Nov. 8 at Horizon Books in Traverse City.

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