Happy Father’s Day, These Ladies Adore You
June 16, 2013
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Posted by Do Bianchi
Why I went to Italy & why I still go back (thank you Sir Roy)
June 14, 2013
Above: Sir Roy Strong was the person who suggested I go to Italy and study Italian (image via the London Evening Standard).
Samantha’s heart-wrenching post this morning, “In the name of the father,” got me thinking of my own fatherless teenage years and a man who played a very important — however brief — role in my life, Sir Roy Strong.
People often ask me why I’ve devoted my life to the study of Italian language, history, and culture (before enogastronomy, I spent nearly more than ten years studying Italian prosody, narrative, and cinema, and lived and worked in Italy for most of that time).
The answer is Sir Roy.
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Posted by Do Bianchi
Parzen family expansion update mommy & baby p 2013 doing great
June 11, 2013
Yesterday, we had our 35-week sonogram and our doctor is really pleased with how things are going. Mommy and baby, I am thrilled to report, are both doing well.
Technically, we have five weeks to go, although everyone (including mommy) believes that Baby P 2013 will arrive early (partly because second births generally come early; “your body already knows what to do,” said the doctor yesterday).
For a few moments during yesterday’s sonogram, you could see the baby’s face and her hair. The most amazing feeling in the world to see our new baby girl! :)
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Posted by Do Bianchi
Jeremiah was a bullfrog!
June 10, 2013
Georgia P and I had a fun Saturday afternoon together while mommy and Baby P 2013 rested.
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Posted by Do Bianchi
spaghetti con crema di melanzane (spaghetti with Listada de Gandia eggplant sauce)
June 6, 2013
For this dish, I washed Listada de Gandia eggplant and sliced into rounds.
Then I tossed them in a light dust of kosher salt and let them purge their liquid for about 30 minutes in a colander.
Then I grilled them on our cast-iron stove-top grill with a brush of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.
After they had cooled, I tossed them with extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch of freshly cracked black pepper and chili flakes, and a “kiss” of vinegar.
After the eggplant had marinated overnight in the refrigerator, I puréed them, adding a thin drizzle of olive oil.
Before folding in the slightly undercooked spaghetti, I added about 3 tablespoons of the pasta’s well-salted cooking water to the sauce.
After folding in the spaghetti and allowing them to absorb the flavor of the sauce as they finished cooking through, I folded in a generous handful of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Georgia P’s has been insisting on eating with her fork these days. She still has a little bit of trouble getting the food to her mouth.
But what a thrill to watch her eat spaghetti with a fork for the first time!
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Posted by Do Bianchi
Baby P 2013 update (seven weeks to go)
May 23, 2013
We’re almost there… just another seven weeks or so to go until Baby P 2013 comes into this world. She’s been so active in Tracie P’s belly that sometimes we feel like she’s already here!
I’m certainly not the one who does the heavy lifting at our house these days: Tracie P is such a great mother and a mother-to-be (again), diligently regulating her diet so that she can maximize nutrition in these last months when it becomes challenging for expecting mothers to consume all the calories she needs.
In seven weeks or so, the world is going to change for little Georgia P, now seventeen months old. She really doesn’t know what’s about to happen but she loves to kiss and blow raspberries on her mommy’s pancione.
After my trip to NYC a few weeks ago, I’m officially grounded for the duration and it’s been wonderful to take over more of the shopping and cooking duties (and it’s SO great not to have to travel).
We’re so excited for Georgia P to have a little sister but we’ve also been enjoying these last months as a family of three, with our lives centered on a precious, beautiful, sweet little girl, who’s always ready to share a kiss, a hug, and a smile.
They are my tender grapes. And as tough as it can be to get up at 3 a.m. to change a diaper or soothe a teething toddler, my life has never been so rich… I love them so much…
Thanks to everyone for the notes of support and the thoughts and wishes! They mean so much to us. Thanks for sharing our joy…
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Posted by Do Bianchi
Thoughts & prayers for Oklahoma sisters & brothers
May 21, 2013The news of the Oklahoma tornado weighed heavily on Tracie P and me last night as we made dinner for Georgia P.
Our thoughts and prayers are for our Oklahoma sisters and brothers today…
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Posted by Do Bianchi
our new table
May 20, 2013I assembled her new table and chairs while she was napping…
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Posted by Do Bianchi
stars and guitars in her eyes
May 18, 2013
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Posted by Do Bianchi
they’re with the band
April 29, 2013From the department of “good girls go to heaven and bad girls go to Italy”…
Just had to share this photo, sent by one of my best friends, of the “band wives” on the night of the first of two shows that my band “the Americani” played earlier this month in the village of Cison di Valmarino in the province of Treviso (Veneto).
That’s Tracie P, second from right.
Now do you see why guys like me learn how to play guitar? ;)
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Posted by Do Bianchi
