SWEET SUMMER’S END

Nannette Brown
5 days ago
8 min read

Enjoying What’s Left of August While Looking to September

Last week I said I was going fishing and metaphorically, I did just that. I flew down to Tennessee and rested and ate (at Loveless Cafe above, celebrating my mother’s birthday) and sat, on a screened porch, no less. And talked, and walked a lot.

Through the farmers markets, the fields, the mountain we own, I went. I walked and thought and got the much-needed rest I needed. But with all that space came a recurring question: how do I step back long enough to take inventory of what I’ve built with The Living Edit this past year while still imagining what it might become in the future? As much as I was there to reset, I couldn’t stop thinking about the business. So, back and forth I went.

As un-relaxing as this might sound, it was actually heaven. I had the time and space to think and simply, be. They say our best ideas come when we are our most relaxed.

As I approach one year here on Substack and, generally, one year into this grand design experiment of my own life, not to mention the humongous risk of launching The Living Edit and the world of Life Architecture, where do we go? With the content, with the business, with our dare to ask others to get into the weeds of being human with us in a world that’s increasingly virtual?

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no shortage of ideas or question that we’re moving forward, full steam ahead. It’s more: how do I turn this into something larger than me, a scalable business, while still providing you something that leaves your heart filled, your mind nourished, and brings you a sense of comfort? How do I ramp things up, switch something like Substack to paid subscriptions, create digital products, ask you to pay for these things, and still maintain that sense of authentic connection?

Because more than anything, I want you to feel a sense of hospitality here. The same way a good home makes you feel. It’s what I’ve always aspired to do: make others feel at home.

Over the next week or so, I plan to share more about how this all started, with hopes that it inspires you in some small way, if the time comes, to take a leap of faith of your own.

And maybe that’s why these last days of August feel particularly fitting. They come with their own back and forth, and a stark reminder from childhood: back-to-school time always signaled that summer has an expiration date. Those fabulous, slow, unstructured days must always come to an end. And as much as we’d like to hang on to them, we know it’s time to start thinking about what comes next.

September calls. And we all know there’s no stopping Mother Time.

I’m attempting to celebrate what’s left of summer, including, by the way, something I haven’t done yet: sharing one of my favorite summer interiors I designed and a few favorite fashion moments, along with a favorite summer garden food and a few thoughts about what lies ahead.

So here goes.

SUMMER DESIGN EDIT

Interiors And Fashion

My thoughts about interior design and fashion over the summer months are summed up this way: keep it simple, yet with a feminine sensibility (a word I don’t often use when it comes to interiors or fashion), and keep it cool and comfortable.

With regards to fashion, I say feminine for a few simple reasons. First, summer allows us the ease of simple shifts, skirts, and dresses that are inherently feminine. And oversized, shapely hats that, to me, are feminine. Golden skin kissed by summer sun is, well, feminine to me too. The colors and smells of summer, the beautiful sandals and heels, which require perfectly pedicured toes, also feminine. The flair comes by way of accessories: the stack of summer bracelets, a colorful scarf or shawl wrapped around your waist, fabulous summer handbags, or a statement piece.

And interiors? Cool fabrics, cool spaces, for sure in the summer months, but comfortable is something that matters to me year-round. Summer just has a way of making us want things to feel a little easier. Less formal. Less precious. Rooms you can walk into barefoot, screen doors you can leave open, fabrics that can take a little wear, and spaces that connect as much as possible to whatever is happening outside.

My reference point was always the Hamptons. Interior design there is distinctly its own. For all the uber-modern houses that have come to define the Hamptons over the past decade (I love them), there’s still the more classic Hamptons architecture of shingle houses and roofs, along with crisp white shutters and trim. Mind you, it’s different from the architecture and style of Nantucket or other East Coast enclaves. My memories lie in these older houses, I suppose because I owned a few, and the particular kind of old fashioned and relaxed summer living they represented.

Having said this, I felt like pulling some photos from one of my favorite summer house projects from a few years ago, which isn’t exactly modern, or a classic Hamptons shingle either. Instead, it was stucco, yet somehow it fit right into the Southampton architectural vernacular. I loved this house. And I loved the project and its clients.

The original ranch house had undergone a renovation about 25 years earlier. Interestingly, that build-out had more of a midcentury vibe, which, to me, always felt like a bit of a conflation between the old ranch, this newer midcentury tone, and Southampton where the house was located.

Our mission was essentially to build an entirely new house. There was very little architecture worth inheriting, other than the basic slab and an assortment of spaces that still offered some value from a building perspective.

The real challenge issued to us: open the entire back side of the house to the garden and pool area, take a double-floored screened porch and turn it into a kitchen tower (my favorite kitchen challenge to date—it was sooo dramatic), and generally open up the house to sunlight and expand every living space we could find or create, both inside and out. The family loved to entertain and wanted to enjoy the entirety of the property.

This project was particularly interesting because not only did I design the interiors, I designed all the exterior spaces too, including the landscape and its plant materials, along with a vegetable and flower garden.

And while the property was particularly well used in summer, it was built for year-round comfort and pleasure.

A dream. A great project.

FABULOUS SUMMER FOOD

Eat It While You Can—Especially The Corn!

No matter where your summer memories lie, summer food, whether you’re a foodie or not, has to be close to the center of them. Summer months are truly the best when it comes to eating simply and healthfully. I love the ease and freshness of summer food. Peak tomatoes. The very sweetest peaches. Fresh lettuces and herbs. Everything just tastes better in the summer.

I’ve shared a few of my favorite summer recipes over the past few months, but I wanted to share a few more. This time, I’m sharing both an old favorite and a new discovery, by others, that I think are terrific.

There are sooo many I could share here, but in my effort not to overwhelm, I’m going to zero in on my single favorite summer food staple: corn.

Corn is my north star in the summer.

So it’s only fitting that corn chowder, which I find delicious in both summer and winter months, is a recipe I want to share. And my favorite is Mark Bittman’s Basic Corn Chowder recipe from The New York Times. In the summer, when made with freshly picked sweet summer corn, I serve it chilled, or at room temperature, with a little drizzle of olive oil and fresh basil. In the colder months, there’s nothing better than serving it warm with toasty tomato bruschetta or a grilled ham and cheese with a little smear of Dijon mustard.

Here is Mark Bittman’s five-star, 30-minute recipe, which is the only one you’ll need. It has been on rotation in my kitchen for years.

MARK BITTMAN’S BASIC CORN CHOWDER

Ingredients:

4–6 ears fresh corn

1 Tbsp. butter or neutral oil

1 medium onion,

2 chopped medium potatoes, peeled and diced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped (optional—I often make it without)

1 cup whole or low-fat milk

½ cup chopped fresh parsley (in summer months, I always opt for fresh basil)

Instructions:

Shuck the corn and, using a knife, cut the kernels off the cobs into a bowl.

Place the cobs in a pot with 4 cups water; bring to a boil, cover and simmer.

Place the butter in a saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter melts, add the onion and potatoes, along with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about five minutes. If adding tomatoes, add them to the mixture and cook, stirring, for another minute or so.

After the corn cobs have cooked for at least ten minutes, strain the liquid into the onion-potato mixture. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. When the potatoes are tender, add the corn kernels and milk and heat through. Taste and adjust seasonings.

NB note: Once seasonings are adjusted to taste, I drizzle the chowder with olive oil and garnish with fresh basil. In the winter months, I often drizzle the finished chowder with fresh cream for richness.

Since it’s all about the late corn for me in August (I want to cook, eat and preserve every last ear of corn I can find), another really interesting recipe I came across last week was Krissy Downey’s recipe for corn butter. Krissy is a food stylist and recipe creator for the Today Show by day. And by night and on weekends, she whips up recipes for herself and friends from her small Manhattan kitchen. She is adorable, and her instinct for food, especially comfort food, is right up my alley.

I digress. How have I never heard of corn butter!?

This is on my list to make before summer’s end. She actually issued two social posts: one making the butter and serving it atop grilled or toasted sourdough with fresh summer heirloom tomatoes, flaky sea salt and basil, and then another tossing it with pasta. Yum!

Here’s her recipe for corn butter. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

KRISSY DOWNEY’S CORN BUTTER (@acrosskrissystable)

Ingredients:

6 ears corn1 package Kerrygold unsalted butter (or 2 regular sticks), softenedBig pinch of salt and pepper1 Tbsp. honey

Instructions:

Shuck the corn by removing the husks. Place the corn in a large pot, cover with about an inch of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat, drain and cool for 20 minutes.

Cut the cooled corn from the cobs.

Working in batches, place the corn in a mini food processor and pulse until it becomes a chunky paste. Repeat until all the corn is processed.

Combine with the softened butter, a big pinch of salt and pepper and about a tablespoon of honey. Keep it textured. Note: Krissy specifically says she did not place the butter with the corn in the processor, as she’d done it before and found it removed the corn texture she preferred.

Refrigerate overnight. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–5 days.