Category — It Makes Me Happy!

I scoured the libraires for cute postcards on my recent return to Paris, somehow I missed one! But no worries: in the mail I received a thank you postcard from Paris friend @Parisbug.

This fab Merci carte postal is on Moi shopping list for my next visit to Paris!

á plus!

Moi tip: When you’re traveling, postcards make great souvenirs that you can share: stock up on birthday, thank you, get well: any note or postcards you regularly send throughout the year. Your friends and family will love to receive such a unique memory of your trip. Even Christmas cards! Joyeux Noël!

Sweet and Salty: the combination both soothes and satisfies me. Pretzel sticks dipped in nutella. Caramel ice cream speckled with sea salt. Kettle popcorn.

Finally the combo has gone mainstream: Pretzel M&Ms. I saw the commercials. I read the NYTimes piece. But they remained elusive: in NYC tracking down new products can be  tough. Grocery stores are small, and stock space extra valuable. It’s an island: getting things on and off is an expensive battle.

Our son Little M is scheduled to fly in Friday morning: I was at the point of begging him to track some down in Chicago and bring them along as rent. He’s safe: I finally scored a bag on Sunday at my local Duane Reade. They weren’t there last week. But they’re on the shelves now!

The verdict: worth the search. I couldn’t find any small individual portion bags, so I had to splurge on the big bag. I opened it the minute I exited the store. And had to sample several to be sure: pretzel M&Ms are a winner. Sweet, salty, chocolaty, crunchy. They make Moi happy!

Move over, peanut M&Ms: you’ve been replaced.

the details:

• 17 pieces 180 calories
• 30% less fat
• 9.9 oz for $4.29 at Duane Reid

Moi tip: The bright blue bag stands out on the shelf. Track down the small bag. TBG loved pretzel M&Ms too. Now how many calories were there in that 9.9 oz bag…

If you’ve been reading along you know I often mention things that make Moi happy: Starbucks tall skim chai, extra water, extra hot svp? Mignette? It’s the little things that just for one moment or all day long, make me happy. And occasionally I’m going to share some of them with you, and hope they make you happy too.

The temp in NYC is 94 again today and tres humide: perfect for a sweating glass of iced tea. TBG likes a touch of sweetness to his tea, normally he adds a squirt of honey. Newsflash: honey does not dissolve in a glass of ice cold tea.

To the rescue: simple syrup! I just opened a package from POSH Chicago with my new vintage French mineral water bottle: mine is from Aix-les-Bains. I don’t need a lot of decorative stuff cluttering up my tiny NYC apt, so I immediately put the bottle to good use by making this batch of simple syrup, which sweetens up TBGs tea, coffee, fruit salad, or even a cocktail.

Simple Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Boil sugar and water together in a heavy saucepan about 3 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved. Allow to cool, then decant into a bottle for serving. Stores refrigerated for up to 3 months. I leave it on the counter: its gone in 2 weeks.

Moi tip: Infuse herbs or flavors into your simple syrup by adding mint, basil, lavender, rosemary, lemon or other flavors when boiling. Then strain before bottling. Try the basil syrup with vodka over ice: so refreshing!

Santé!