Neti Pots, jala neti, nasal/sinus irrigation, nasal lavage, whatever you want to call it. They sound weird, look gross, and work freaking wonders. I understand it's hit more of the mainstream because Oprah hyped it on her show or something, though I heard about it from my doctor.

Note: I'm not a doctor. I'm not a yoga pro, heck I don't know a single pose. I'm just recounting my experience. Any other necessary blather to free me from any liability is here implied.

If you don't know what a neti pot is, it's this little pot with a spout that has a tip about the size of a nostril. Into this pot you mix a saline solution at around body temperature. Then you bend over your sink (or something to catch the water,) tip your head to the side, and let the water run in one side of the nose and out the other. If you have allergies or stuffiness from a cold or whatever, do not say you just can't do this. Talk to your doctor or do your research or whatever, but don't just write this off.

My experience:
I have major issues with getting water up my nose. If I'm swimming and try to hold my breath to go under, water still makes its way up my nose and down my throat. When I was a kid/teen, the only way I could go underwater with both arms free was to wear nose plugs. Even in the shower I have to be very careful with the way I tilt my head. It's like I can't block it and boy does it burn.

Well, everybody has a breaking point, and I reached it with regards to my sinuses a couple years ago. Fine. I'll try it.

It took some getting used to, but once I angled my head just right, the water didn't go down my throat at all. It stayed right where it was supposed to. The saline level was perfect and didn't burn at all. When the temperature was right I could hardly feel a thing. After I was done it was like some tiny little creature had crawled up my nose, hauled out the gunk, and given my sinuses a nice little massage to boot. A gross simile, but anyone who's been there will know how nice that sounds once things get bad enough. About as nice as a personal vacuum for the sinuses, but gentler.

Unfortunately, my nose used to drip water all day afterward until I found out I had to *dry* the nose thanks to this site I stumbled upon a few months back. Hey, I'm not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, and I'm lucky I didn't make things worse. Now, I dry my nose thoroughly after doing a neti pot. It makes a significant difference. It also makes me incredibly light-headed. If you try it, take your time standing up.

I have tried the next step up, called Vyutkrama Kapalbhati (don't ask me how to pronounce it. It's also called sinus bellowing.) They don't recommend trying it without professional advice/supervision but I was desperate. Well, the clog cleared up, I swallowed most of the salt water, and my throat was raw for about a week. So yeah, I'm with the professionals on this - don't try it on your own if you can help it. It might work but it's not easy and the aftermath can hurt.

And for the record: I still have to hold my nose if I go underwater.

The Art of Brownies

After my happy success with the honey fudge, I decided to challenge myself by adapting a brownie recipe. I have a little cookbook called Cooking for Two and it has a nice little brownie recipe that only needs an 8x4 loaf pan. Sadly it's too cake-y and not chocolate-y enough for my tastes.

Then a few months back I was watching Chef at Home on the Food Network. The host (Michael Smith for anyone who doesn't know) has a very non-threatening approach to cooking that encourages the home chef to play with the recipes without fear of the kitchen crumbling down around them. It's great. So he starts talking about brownies and how there are different types and what makes them different. I search online hoping the clip is on youtube, but alas, it wasn't. So I look at the brownie recipe on his site, but it makes a huge 8x12 pan full. It's way too much for just the two of us but I make a mental note of how much flour he uses. Then I remember another great site. baking911.com I search on brownies there and get enough information to feel I can make an educated guess or two.

Back into the kitchen and my main recipe. I turn this baby on its head. I double the chocolate and reduce the flour from 1/3c to 1/4c. I tweak the mixing process by beating together the eggs and sugar and then temper them instead of just dumping everything into the chocolate. Finally, I lay down about half the batter and drop blobs of leftover raspberry pie filling on top before finishing with the rest of the brownie batter and then swirl the whole thing through.

Into the oven!

I think I added too much raspberry pie filling and it kept the centre from setting like it needed to. Consequently, the edges were a little bit overcooked and the brownies were a little messy with raspberry generously marbled throughout. They weren't very elegant and maybe not quite the thing to serve at a dinner party, but boy oh boy were they scrummy! I'll try it again (soon, hopefully) without the raspberry for just a plain, tasty fudgy brownie. It's so cool to have a recipe that I really made my own.