Pinterest Review - Homemade Cough Drops

I rolled them in powdered sugar so they hopefully
won't stick together

I searched Pinterest for some cough drop recipes that I could make for my sister.  She's allergic to soy and apparently most cough drops on the market have soy in them.  When she gets sick she pops hard candy to suck on so she isn't always coughing.  I heard that she's been fighting a cold for the past couple weeks so I committed to making these tonight.  They won't get to her for this cold, but I see her in a week so I'll be packaging them up and giving them to her when I do see her.

I don't know if these cough drops are going to be effective at halting her cough, but they sure are yummy and they've got to be at least as good as sucking on hard candy.  I mean, they are hard candy, but they're tea, honey and lemon hard candy!

I originally found the pin on Artzcool's Blog and I'm not going to steal her recipe and share.  Click on the link to get to her recipe.  Visit her site!  I will, however, add some comments/experience that I gained by making this recipe.

I didn't use the medicinal/cold-type teas like she brewed.  Not that it would be a bad thing to do**, but I just never liked the taste of them so instead I used my favorite tea...orange pekoe!  I also used some local-ish Colorado honey.  I didn't use the 1/2 lemon.  I never seem to have them just lying about so I grabbed the bottle of lemon juice from the fridge and used 1 tablespoon.  They aren't really lemony so I may add more next time.

Cough drops hardening in powdered sugar.
The light brown tops on some are bubbles.

I love her idea of using powdered sugar on a cookie sheet and carving out indentations with a measuring spoon to shape the candies...ahem...cough drops.  I believe she said that she used a 1/4-teaspoon.  I used a 1/2-teaspoon for mine and this made 54.  I can tell you that I had to grab some more powdered sugar and another pan and make about 24 more because there was still so much left in the pot!  That's not a bad thing, but I was unprepared.

Her blog says that when you spoon the candy into the little indentations that it will just fill the nearest hole.  True, but you have to be relatively close for it to just slide on in there.  As you can see from my picture I've got little drippings in between cough drops.  Naughty little things!

The mixture does harden quickly, but not so much that you need to freak out and rush and proceed to spill liquid sugar on you.  That would be bad people!

My choice of tea and honey

Also, that whole bring to a boil and in 10 minutes it'll be done.  Bullshit.  OK, I am cooking at altitude and all, but um...no. One, she doesn't say what setting to bring it to a boil over.  High?  Medium?  Low?  In between?  So I brought mine to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently and then lowered to medium-low.  Candy thermometer stayed in there the whole time and while I didn't time it, I can tell you that bitch cooked for at least 30 minutes.  Don't just assume it will be the same for you and walk away, but be prepared for a long wait.

Overall, I'd have to say that I'm incredibly pleased with the results.  Whether they stop the cough or not, they're certainly tasty!

UPDATE - You should probably keep in mind that if you don't like the taste of honey...you won't like cough drops with honey in them.  I loved these, but both of my children who don't ever put honey in tea, didn't like them.  Oh well...more for me and my sister!

**Always remember to check ingredients on herbal teas...well, on herbal anything.  Just because it's an herb or "all natural" doesn't mean it belongs in your body.  Check with your doctor regarding the herbs used in herbal teas (and anything else if you're on meds or pregnant).  I have seen other recipes with slippery elm in them and this can cause miscarriage!  Think before you drink (eat...whatever)!

Halupkie - A Family Favorite

Halupkie....Mmmmmmm

(This post is originally from my genealogy blog HaveYouSeenMyRoots?)

My mom would make Halupkie when I was little.  Halupkie is another one of those family dishes that my mom made that had nothing (that I'm aware of) that had anything to do with my family history.  Or perhaps I should say it had nothing to do with her family history.  My mom's 100% Irish.  Halupkie (as we spelled it) or Halupki (as I found on the inter-tubes) is apparently a dish of eastern European origins and is quite popular in northeastern Pennsylvania.  

Get a cabbage leaf ready for stuffing

My father's side of the family was from Lithuania so perhaps this was a recipe that my mother made for him because he had it growing up.  My father referred to them as "Polish hand grenades." As I mentioned he wasn't Polish, he was Lithuanian, but I should still give my mom a call in the morning and check to be sure if she learned to make them for him.

She loved collecting recipes from her friend Linda Moyer's mom and would make them for us.  Perhaps this was one of the Moyer recipes if it wasn't from my dad's side of the family.  We grew up with family recipes that had nothing to do with our Irish heritage.  I tried corned beef once...perhaps that's why she branched out...YUCK!

Either way, this is a lovely family recipe that reminds me of happy times with my mom when I have it. She would make a much larger batch than this and would cook it in one of those large blue or black roasting pans...you know the ones with the little white flecks on them.  I wish I still had mine.  I'd post a picture.  Either way, any large roasting pan with a lid will suffice.  I altered the recipe to fit my crockpot.  It worked too.  Same taste and I love crockpot recipes (especially the ones that don't burn and this didn't).

Add a good scoop of meat (how much depends on the leaf)

One bad thing that happened was that the liquid started spitting out of my crockpot.  It was about 1/2-inch from the top when I started cooking, but it all expanded during cooking which resulted in tomato soup on my hardwood floor and on seat of a nearby chair.  Oh well.  You live, you learn.  Less liquid next time!


Halupkie

1 large onion, diced 
4 stalks celery, diced
2 lbs ground beef
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1-1/2 c cooked rice
1 large head of cabbage
1 (50 oz) can tomato soup
Olive oil

Fold the sides over the meat mixture and roll up

Place the beef in a large bowl.  In a pan with some olive oil, saute the onion and celery.  Add to the bowl with the beef.  Add salt and pepper.  Generously shake Worchestershire sauce over the meat (this is not a precise measurement.  Shake enough in until it smells good and Worcestershire-y).  Add the rice and mix well with hands.

Boil cabbage until bendy.  Carefully remove cabbage from pot and remove the outer leaves of the cabbages to line the bottom of a large roasting pan (reserve some of the leaves from the center of the head of cabbage that are too small to use to cover the top of the halupkie in the roasting pan).  Continue removing leaves from the cabbage.  When this becomes difficult you can return the cabbage to the hot water and boil until it softens.  I brought my cabbage to a boil, let it boil for about 5 minutes and then turned it off and just let it sit for about 30 minutes in the pot.  It worked wonderfully!

Fill the cabbage leaves (not the ones reserved for the bottom and top of the pan) with about ½ cup of the meat mixture on the leaf and roll.  To roll the cabbage, place the meat in the center of the leaf then fold the left and right sides in, then bring the bottom of the leaf up over the meat and roll up.  Place seam-side down over the layer of cabbage that is lining the roasting pan.  Continue to make the halupkie in this manner until done.  Place the second half of the reserved leaves over the top of the halupkie and tuck the sides into the pan.

A nice cabbage roll

Pour the tomato soup into a large bowl.  Fill the empty can with water and mix with the soup.  Pour the mixture over the halupkie being careful not to overflow the roasting pan.  Cover with the lid and bake at 350 degrees (F) for about 2 hours.

NOTE:  You need to get really good sized cabbage for this recipe otherwise the leaves will not be large enough to roll the meat in.

Crockpot variation - Make the halupkie as directed above, but when adding the tomato soup/water mixture stop pouring when you get about an inch from the top of the crockpot.  Make sure the crockpot is not near anything of value or that would stain if it starts to splatter.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.  As an adult I enjoy cabbage.  As a kid...not so much, but I'd always eat this cabbage!

Remember to put cabbage leaves on the bottom!

More cabbage leaves on top

Pour the tomato soup mixture leaving space at the top