On the Side

7-Up While Down for the Count

You know you're in trouble when you start getting that distinctive body ache. You start hoping and praying that it'll just go away quietly. If nothing else, you hope you'll suffer through little more than mild congestion for a day or two.

But this winter, it seems just about everyone has been struck down by a bug of some sort. This was the case for me all last week: a severe case of the flu, the doc determined on Wednesday when I thought I couldn't take another second of it, when I was convinced it would never go away, that I would never get better, and that my nose would fall off. The only prescription I could be given was verbal: ride it out. And so I did, on the couch, with lots of Puff's Plus as the spouse retreated to the spare bedroom to avoid my plague.

Of course, during a time like this, the fact that you can't breath or function productively is also punctuated by the fact that you can no longer taste anything. And you don't really feel like eating much anyway. What is a food blogger to do in such a case? Why, resort to items consumed during childhood sicknesses. And that, of course, meant sucking down 7-Up.

What is it about 7-Up that makes us feel better? Is it just the carbonation or is it the crisp lemon/lime flavor? Whatever it is, I consider it a flu staple, even for viral flu that's not affecting my stomach all that much. It was my best friend when even the Majestic Domestic (our cat) had abandoned me.

No one really knows where the name 7-Up came from, but it is generally agreed upon that Charles Leiper Grigg invented it in 1929. He initially called it "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" and in order to compete against the ever popular Orange Crush, he sold it to underground speakeasies because it seemed to make for a nice mixer, like ginger ale. In 1967 the brand went public and began promoting itself as the "Uncola."

What do you eat and drink when you're feeling under the weather?

Thanks, Frank!

Driving downtown yesterday at 7:30 p.m., one of the bank clocks claimed it was 100 degrees out. Whew! That's a spicy one! And from what I hear, the heat wave isn't supposed to abate for the next several days. August 2007's debut has certainly caught our attention, hasn't it?

And it got me thinking about the kind of hit-the-spot cold treats that we generally all love during these dog days. A swim first came to mind, along with Chic-o-Sticks, microwave cardboard pizzas and the chemical taste of Fla-Vor-Ice circa 1980s at the Mt. Vernon Community Pool. Then it hit me - popsicles.

A quick Google search revealed this frozen concoction on a stick was invented in 1905 by 11-year-old Frank Epperson - in SAN FRANCISCO, of all places. One day, no doubt bored out of his gourd, Frank mixed powdered soda and water, then abandoned it on his porch with the stirring stick still in it. That night San Francisco saw record low temperatures, but created something nifty for Frank to tell all his friends about. It took Frank 18 years to take a shot at selling his "Epsicles" in seven fruit flavors at his amusement park lemonade stand in Oakland, Calif. (that boy sure liked his fruit juices), which eventually made him a gazilionnaire. And there's your history lesson for the day.

Ideafinder.com says the Popsicle Industry claims there are over 30 different flavors to choose from now, but that the overall favorite throughout the years has remained "taste-tingling orange." I'm partial to the green ones. How about you?