Clearing My Head

with 100% natural seawater

100% “Natural” Seawater

I’ve been laid up with a head cold due to allergies, which are pretty off-the-charts this time of year in Paris. Thankfully it wasn’t Covid.

Beware of “bouleau,” aka Birch pollen!

The first pharmacist I went to gave me tablets that contained extracts of cinnamon, lemon, and clove, but when you’re nose is running non-stop and you’re in the middle of a two-hour he said/she said meeting refereeing between two contractors, a kitchen designer, and an excitable French partner, with everyone talking over each other, as usual, and your head feels like it’s filled with wet newspaper, I don’t need the ingredients for spice cake. I needed more reinforcement. So I moved on to something stronger to get some sleep, and to keep the sides of my nose from feeling like I’ve been wiping it with sandpaper. I also never thought I’d pay €8 for a bottle of seawater, but the pharmacist also told me to “bathe” my sinuses in seawater a dozen times a day, which I’ve been doing, although a vacation where I can submerge myself in a lot of saltwater would be preferable.

As the fog of my head clears, and I season my sinuses with salt, I’ve been working on a long post of Paris favorites - bakeries, restaurants, and other addresses - as well as an update on my appliance search, which ended a few days ago and is a big relief. A reader wrote “Stop overthinking things!” to which I say, “You’re right.” Stay tuned for those!

In the meantime, here are a few links I’ve been enjoying…

-James Beard’s house in New York goes up for sale, for $5 million. (NYPost)

(Speaking of real estate, this fabulous Lloyd Wright house in LA just came on the market, too.)

-Amateur Gourmet Adam Roberts launches a video cooking series, kicking it off with his take on a Caesar Salad. (YouTube)

-Eyeing this Oaty Golden Syrup tart. (Taste)

-Citadelle French gin launches cornichon-flavored gin just in time for summer gin & tonics.

-Tonight (April 20th) at 9pm/21hr the two French presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen face off in their only debate. You can watch it live, with translations, on France24 in English. (They also usually archive it on their website to view later. Expect a fiery debate…)

-Due to my sneezing and sniffling, I missed the book launch last night for Sweet Paris by Frank Adrian Barron, out now.

-How to clean your KitchenAid mixer, which I did a few weeks ago as it’s been leaking grease for years, and now looks amazing. (YouTube)

-Has Julia Child’s story been told enough? (Eater)

(Mini review: I’m in the middle of it and finding it different than what I was expecting it to me. The storyline, which begins after Mastering the Art of French Cooking came out and she moves back to America permanently, is more about Julia’s emotional state - and the state of her marriage - as her career in television takes off and she becomes a celebrity, which takes up 5 of the first 8 episodes. Would like to see a little more food and cooking, but the great acting by the entire cast and how the show takes a different tact on her life, makes it worth watching. I love Meryl Streep as an actress but in the Julie & Julia film, I thought Julia was overplayed and Julia Child doesn’t needed overplaying. It’s nice to see Sarah Lancashire nuanced portayal of Julia Child with more subtlety and tenderness, as well as how she tried to cope with her conflicted and shifting emotions while she rose in fame.)

-I’ve watched this video at least a dozen times…and know how this critter feels!