I always plant too much.
I plant too much because, sometimes, it’s not enough.
Any gardener knows that all a family of two needs is one courgette / zucchini plant.
Maybe two.
But I like to have enough to make soup for the freezer for winter. So I plant four. Everyone knows that If I only planted two or three, two of them would die. If I plant four all four thrive.
Last year, to cut back, I only planted one row of spinach and one of radishes. We barely had a taste of either.
This year I planted two rows of each. Yes, you guessed it – we’re inundated with both.
This is our favorite ‘We have too many radishes’ salad.
White Bean, Radish Salad
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups (15oz, 450gr) white beans (cannellini), drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup sliced radishes
- 1 tbs fresh, snipped chives
- 1 tbs fresh, snipped tarragon
- 1 hard boiled egg, chopped
- optional lettuce for serving
- Vinaigrette:
- 1 tbs tarragon white wine vinegar
- 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbs snipped fresh chives
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
- 3 tbs salad olive oil
Instructions:
- Put garlic, vinegar, lemon juice and mustard in a bowl. Whisk well.
- Slowly add oil whisking constantly. It should incorporate as you add it. If it does not, stop adding oil for a few moments and just whisk. Continue until all oil is added.
- Put beans, radishes, herbs and egg in a bowl.
- Add vinaigrette and toss gently.
- Serve on a bed of lettuce – or not.
Ah, color….
If you look at a group of French women, at least a third of them will have some shade of red high-lighting their hair.
Another third have blond highlights.
I’ve been starting to feel a bit, well, boring….. Bland, even.
I have never colored my hair. I’ve never bleached my hair. I never even used the fake sun-enhancers of my youth. I’ve never had high-lights or low-lights – unless you count the gray. (I refer to the gray as my high-lights.)
At most I have allowed my hair to get naturally bleached by the sun every summer.
I’ve been toying with the idea of doing something fun. Maybe it’s time to be a little daring… to be more French.
Not red though…. Red has never been my color. But blue could be nice. Or purple. Or lavender.
So, as I do when I have a new idea, I did some online searches.
Obviously, I want something temporary.
I found a likely product by a well-known hair-color line.
Then I read the bit about doing a 48 hour test to make certain one didn’t have an adverse allergic reaction.
48 hours!?!?!
Adverse allergic reaction?!?!?
I have a condition known as exercise-induced anaphylaxis. I am very familiar with severe allergic reactions. I might skip this one.
BTW – for any of you who color your hair or have it professionally colored: Is this always a risk? Seriously?
On to the next idea: hair chalk.
This had potential. Most products were safe for children, could be applied easily and did not require an allergy test.
I was getting quite excited by it all – until I read the part about sleeping on an old pillowcase as the color rubs off and may stain.
Wha!?!?!
Wouldn’t that mean it would stain clothing as well? And towels? And, maybe, the shower? And the dogs?
Apparently, skipping blithely through the summer with lavender locks is not for me.
Maybe I could braid some pretty ribbons in my hair.
Sigh…..
I tried to be daring.
Though I can’t speak for all hair dyes, I can tell you the one I use carries the same disclaimer on all of their printed material. “Do the allergy test.” I have never done the allergy test. I have never had a problem. I have lots of problems with other things but not hair dye. Go figure. All I can say is, go for it! You’ll never know until you try.
nighnstmusic, I freely admit I am not very daring,,,,, I’m still thinking about it, though. My sister had no idea what color her actual hair was. I think she started coloring it when she was in early teens.
Working in a community Pharmacy both full time and after hours for most of my working life, I have seen some horrible skin reactions but never heard of a case anaphylactic shock. I have to be careful with skin creams etc so have never been tempted to try using any hair colouring. After hours when all the hairdressing salons are closed, I have seen some disastrous results when the guide lines about the time interval between bleaching and colouring haven’t been followed.
I have been looking for recipes using white beans so I will be trying this as soon as I get some radishes at the market on Monday. The fence isn’t around my potager yet so I have concentrated on weed control and not risked planting anything . Unfortunately dealing with red tape, mowing the grass, purchase of materials, construction of a wood working bench and more grass mowing have intervened.
Gill, there is always so much to do in the spring it makes my head spin. Add to that red tape and it can be a nightmare lol Mowing – every 5 days at least….. Thankfully, that will stop soon. I love white beans – and radishes. Hope you enjoy the salad.
Try henna….its a natural product but speak to a professional and get it done in a salon is my advice
kate, defiinitely a professional…. now to find the time
Like you, I wanted to jazz up my hair a bit, so I asked my hairdresser and she put a streak of blue on one side. I get lots of compliments on it, and I like it because it takes attention away from the fact that my hair is very thin. I’d advise going the salon route – they are trained to use products that are safe. Also, I was warned that it might run off but it never has.
Zoomie, that is exactly what I want! Maybe purple…..
I’m like you’re sister, I’ve been dying my hair since I was a teenager. I never did the skin tests back then. I would encourage you to give it a try, it’s a lot of fun to change colors with the seasons (though nowadays I stick with different variations of blond now since unfortunately the blonder I am, the better I get treated both in France and in Asia). But I would recommend going to a hairdressers for your first time – as long as you don’t let them talk you into that horrible red, you should be just fine. 😉
Oh la honte, so many typos in my comment!
Typos… all the time! I have a French friend with black and red. She agreed I should have blue lol. She wears red and black all the time, too. Okay, I’m going to do this!