Ponder this:

Monday, November 21, 2011

Clearing out the sinuses

The week before last, Husband went to New Jersey and brought back a head cold. He stayed home and slept for half the week. On just the day he announced that he was feeling better, I began to sniffle, and took a day and a half off from work to tip over into sleep. Our household has, for the last couple of weeks, been a house of sleeping shifts.
This New Jersey cold seems relatively painless. It knocked out each of us for seventy-two hours and now sits quietly in our sinuses, not dripping, not hurting, just there. It did not sneak down into my bronchi and morph into a chest cold. You can't imagine how grateful I am for that favor.
Over the weekend I made a pot of chili con carne. I wanted it very very spicy hot. I bought fresh jalapeno peppers and chopped up several of them, making sure to throw in every seed. It fell short of my hopes. It was very tasty chili but it did not sear the linings of my sinuses, making it necessary for me to hold a paper towel at my nostrils while I ate. 
Sunday evening I baked russet potatoes for supper with a little buffet of various toppings, one of which was chopped fresh jalapeno pepper. With the seeds. Delicious. But still not paper-towel-at-the-nostrils material.
Perhaps what I need is to stuff the peppers with potato and eat that.


A friend recommends Ponaris, which for some reason I keep remembering as Peloponnesus. I'm not sure I wouldn't prefer to keep experimenting with food.

11 comments:

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

And how's the stomach?
My father swore by eating a large , finely sliced , raw onion sprinkled with vinegar . That didn't work , either .
But clearly some form of torture is felt to be neccessary , everywhere . Here , they advise sniffing salt water up your nostrils .
Anyway , I wish you a swift recovery !

Wanda..... said...

Try canned San Marcos Chilpotle peppers in Abobo Sauce...if that doesn't work...I'd be surprised! There's always a can in my cupboard and some in the fridge!

June said...

S&S, my stomach can withstand just about anything, so no worries there! The onion, the vinegar, the salt water . . . they all sound as if they'd be mildly effective.
But Wanda! The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce! Now we're talkin'! I need to make a stop at the supermarket!

DJan said...

Habanero peppers do it for me, June. Fortunately for me, I can get them in three different strengths. Oh, and a Neti Pot might do just the trick for you! I am a firm believer in those things.

Olga said...

Good grief, my nose started running just reading about your chili.

Friko said...

I'd be dead if I ate fresh jalapeno peppers, or any kind of hot chili.

Grandmother Mary said...

It's not me but my Honey raises hot peppers on our balcony and then roasts them and puts them in olive oil to add to everything. He loves the spice daily, I like it occasionally.

Vicki Lane said...

Some like it hot... and so do I. Chicken broth with lots of hot sauce (Sriracha is a good one) is great for a cold.

Tom said...

That reminds me ... gotta get my flu shot!

Morning Bray Farm said...

Perhaps you should try some habanero peppers, June? The hotter the better for us here too.

Poor Don has had a terrible, terrible chest cold for two weeks now (please, please, knocking on wood that I don't get it!).

Hope you feel better (and hotter) soon. :)

Rubye Jack said...

All the peppers are supposed to be really good for you. However, I have a hard time eating them on a regular basis any more.