Honey Lemon

I am proud to say I can choose a good lemon 90% of the time. My definition of a lemon is one that is citrusy but with a tinge of sweetness. 

The trick is to look for a rounder lemon, rather than the usual one with pointed ends. Next, look for one that does not feel too hard. There are lemons which are really hard and simply refuse to budge even when you really press it. You want to get one which would yield to your pressing, but yet still firm. 

I am a fan of hot lemon water. And a good lemon is essential to a cup of hot lemon water. 

I am sure there are plenty of benefits to a mug of hot lemon water, but I just like it for the taste and smell of it. Ya, sometimes, I am that superficial ;>

I had a pretty bad case of congested chest recently, and it is still lingering. I do not like this feeling for the most obvious reason - it feels too familiar to pnuemothorax. The same chesty cough and the same suppressed breathing. It made me worry enough to have an x ray taken...

With google, I think a lot of people has started to self medicate, and so have I :) Glad to find out lemon and honey can help to expectorate phlegm! I am not a sugar person, but honey I can live with. Apparently, the mixture is good for sore throat and cough too. 

Talk about good luck, my mother-in-law somehow bought us some honey when we went back to Batu for our long overdue home trip! Wonder of the law of attraction :)

Stuff you would need for two, three weeks of supply:

• A jar that has a rubber seal or use a good mason jar. I usually get mine from Ikea - the type that has a rubber seal to prevent leakage 
• Two lemons
• Honey

Clean your lemon well - brush it, scrub it. Make sure the skin is clean because we are keeping the skin. Thereafter, slice it up. I like to slice it as thin as I can, so that the marinating can be more thorough. Cut it however you like it - one full slice or half it. I do a bit of both, just to make sure I can stuff the halves into corners to make full use of the honey.

As I start to stack the lemon it, I would drizzle some honey along the way. Then I would lay more lemon slices and drizzle more. I like it this way, than top load when all the lemon slices are stacked in. 

Once all slices are in, I would drizzle more honey over the lemon slices. By the time I am done, I can see the lemon juices and honey hovering at about 1/3 of the jar. Somehow lemon juice would start to fill up close to half of the jar when I am done, even though no squeezing is involved. 

I let it sit for about 2, 3 days in the fridge, turning it upside down whenever I open the fridge to just mix it up properly. Hence the need for a lid with a good rubber seal. 

After about a month or two, the entire mixture turns a bit gooey. I scoop it out and mix it with warm water. You can take it with cold water or tea too. Take care not to mix it with water that is too hot. It would end up destroying the properties of the honey. 

Lemon has a beautiful chinese name - 宜母果. It simply means "beneficial fruit for the mother". This is mainly because of the vitamins and nutrients in a lemon, plus the sourness that a mom-to-be would really appreciate!