Health knowledge made personal
So I went
looking for a non-alcoholic version of a hot toddy and came across so many
versions (mostly alcohol laden) that I now had a fuzzy head too. I finally
concocted my own version of a Hot Toddy. So that’s something good that came out
of my sore throat – a recipe for Hot Toddy that I would happily drink even if I
wasn’t well. Refrigerate this Toddy and serve it cold in summer for a
delightful thirst quencher. And since it is tea and fruit juice based, you can
serve it to children as well.
For freshly
brewed tea, use a tea of your preference though I would suggest a mildly
flavoured one rather than a strong tea. The same goes for honey, so use a mild
flavoured on or it will change the flavour of the Toddy. You can also use
jaggery or brown sugar if you prefer, instead of honey.If you can use unsweetened and fresh fruit juice use that otherwise whatever is available is just fine. The amounts of honey and spices in this recipe are just a guideline and please feel free to adjust it all to suit you. This Hot Toddy also turned out to be perfect for me to join Simone’s monthly photography challenge . This month’s theme is “ Food/ Drink in a Glass ” and as usual, I’m just in time to meet the deadline. An excellent way to shoot liquids/ beverages in a glass or glasses (and thought to be the best way by most photographers), is to use back light. This means that the main light comes from behind your subject and shines through the liquid lighting it up and showing it to perfection. One of things I learnt from a photographer and friend who taught me some of the basics of photography was that it was good to know the “rules/ guidelines” of photography but it was even better to break them if one could, but successfully. 
And that is what
I have tried today. All the photographs in this post were shot hand-held, with
a 50mm/ f1.8 lens, as I had reasonably good light even though I had to shoot a
slightly higher ISO of 640. Of course, I would have been better off shooting at
ISO 100 on a tripod but my camera handles ISO 640 quite well so I took the
risk!
The light comes
from the right and a little at the back (about 1:00 - 2:00pm position). This
works for me because my Hot Toddy is a bit “cloudy” and there is no “texture” in
my drink or on the glass that I would like to highlight in particular. I could
have blocked out the “highlights” on the glass but I prefer to think they add character
and an “au naturale” feel to the photographs.
And here’s the
recipe for my Hot Tea Toddy. Go on; don’t wait till you have a sore throat to
make it.Non-Alcoholic Hot Tea Toddy Ingredients: 1 cup apple juice 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup pineapple juice 1 cup freshly brewed tea 2 tbsp honey/ brown sugar/ jaggery (or to taste) 1/2 tsp freshly powdered cinnamon 2 cloves powdered 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp powdered star anise 1/2 tsp powdered dried ginger 1/2 tsp freshly crushed black pepper 1/2 tsp chai masala Method: Put the tea, juices and honey in a pan and bring it to a boil on medium heat while stirring frequently. Add all the spices, and let the Toddy simmer for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and let the spices steep in the toddy for about 5 minutes. Strain the Toddy into a jug and pour it out into four Toddy glasses or glass mugs of your choice. Serve hot. This recipe makes 4 cups of Hot Tea Toddy. You can double the proportions for a double batch if you’re planning to serve more people or as a chilled beverage.
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t has been my experience, many a time, that good things come out of not-so-good situations. Both my food blog and my photography have been the results of times in my life when things could have been better.