Radishes and Redecorating

Freshly picked from the Garden

As the summer progresses so does the garden.  It doesn't really matter that the heat index has been over 100 degrees for over 20 days and I have been hiding out in the A.C.!  It still is growing!  These are the last of the radishes plucked and ready to be braised.  As I type this out I wonder if I should impart a life lesson or a quick recipe.  Well I am tired and in a creative funk. So we will see where this post takes us.  

My parents are due this weekend and I am busily tearing up my house to redo things instead of cleaning it!  Does any one else do that?  I constantly do things like this--then on midnight the night before they are due to arrive I throw things back together knowing they won't know that I spent a week repainting the back hallway and weeding the yard so things are "just so" when they get here.  And they are left wondering why I am so tired and haven't slept in 3 days! 

Just like the garden growing when I am busy hiding out in the A.C., life is happening while I am in the middle of self-imposed chaos.  My family is coming and they don't care about anything else but being with my house of three and three (3 people 3 pets)!  But as a child we learn early, "best foot forward" so on I go! 

When I design for people they always want me to come see the final project when it is all shiny and new and ready for photography.  To me this is not my favorite time.  While I love a pretty photograph and find it easy to stage one, it is not the time I like to see the space.  I love to be there when it is a utter mess and they are working in it.  I love to see them happily moving about their much improved space.  That is the greatest reward!  It is much like the sneak peeks we get behind the scenes in blogs and magazines.   

I have had many spaces published in magazines, won several local awards, was fortunate enough to have worked with a National Award Winning Design firm, had my spaces on HG TV and while all that is exciting it doesn't hold a candle to running into a customer in the grocery store parking lot while she shouts out across it, in the rain--because yes this actually happened, "I love my Kitchen, THANK YOU!" 

So as I act crazy getting ready for the parental visit, I will try to keep in mind that my parents are like so many of us, me included, they want to see us as we are and not the magazine picture of us that we want the world to see (remember the scene in Sex and the City where Charlotte was having her house photographed?) but I doubt it will stop the chaos I felt necessary to undertake a mere few days before they arrive. I will take note.  I will try to take it easier on myself and let my parents see my three and three living in our space as it is! 

And for the radishes, well braising them is the best way to eat them. Clean and cut off the tops.  I leave stems on them about an inch or two.  Put in a deep skillet with a generous pinch of sugar and a pat (or two) of butter.  Add Chicken Stock, enough to come up the sides about halfway.  Bring to simmer.  Cover and simmer until tender about 10 to 15 minutes.  When tender take off lid and cook off liquid until syrupy.  Serve warm.  Utterly delicious.  Braising them mellows the sharpness and you won't want them on a salad anymore! 

Recipe and life lesson all in one swoop!  Create, don't drive yourself crazy doing so, and eat something really wonderful!  Whew, who knew!