Just had to share this photo I snapped of Tracie P last week. Isn’t she lovely? :)
The day after Thanksgiving, we recycled her scalloped potatoes as a spuntino for out-of-town guests who came over for a visit…
Did I mention that the girl can cook? ;)
A little bubbly helped to wash it down…
I always love the focus and precision of Jacquesson… one of our favorite houses (among those that we can afford!)…
1 Comment | 
de cibo, de rebus familiari, de vino | Tagged: Champagne, Jacquesson, scalloped potatoes, Tracie Parzen | 
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Posted by Do Bianchi
Photo by Riccardo Zanotto.
I’ve been weepy all day since Alfonso and I took her to the airport this morning and she departed for Texas.
We had such an amazing “second honeymoon” in Italy. The sun has never shone so bright, the colors have never been so brilliant, the flavors and aromas have never been so satisfying and rewarding… Just yesterday I gazed upon her by the clear, fresh, and sweet waters and today I have only my salty tears to console me in the emptiness she leaves behind…
I just can’t smile without her…
4 Comments | de rebus familiari | Tagged: Tracie Parzen | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
our first anniversary! :-)
12 Comments | de rebus familiari | Tagged: anniversary, Italy, Jeremy Parzen, Tracie Parzen, Venice | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
There’s more to come… but first I just had to share this photo I snapped of Tracie P and Tony V, who was our host for the New Year’s eve holiday.
In our family as in his, we love to talk about food and when Tony V and Tracie P get together, I can guarantee that they will engage in finely calibrated discussions of how and when onion and garlic may be applied (never in tandem!) and how al dente al dente should be. The above photo is clear evidence of this phenomenon!
More on what we ate and drank later…
1 Comment | de cibo, de rebus familiari, de rebus italicis | Tagged: Tony Vallone, Tracie Parzen | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
The other day, when I was having lunch with BrooklynGuy in Brooklyn (of all places), we chatted about my life Texana and the wonderful “humanity” I’ve found here, even in places coastal dwellers wouldn’t expect in this mostly red state. At a certain point, he stopped me, looked me in the eye, and asked with a smile: “you’ve really fallen for Texas, haven’t you?”
Anyone who follows my blog knows that I love my wife dearly, I love my life Texana, I love my Texan family (from cousins Joanne and Marty to Mrs. and Rev. B) and I love Texas. But Texas has a problem.
Texas does not allow out-of-state retailers to ship to Texas. Technically, it has to allow them to ship here. But the big wine distributors’s shime-waza on the Texas legislature has allowed them to create a logistical obstacle, making it virtually impossible for out-of-state retailers to ship here (I’ve written about it, with documentation, here).
As a result I cannot get my beautiful wife (above) the unyeasted, unmaloed Falanghina that her heart calls out for. Please read her most recent post where she plaintively writes:
Get this woman some unyeasted, unmaloed Falanghina STAT!
In other news…
Yesterday, we officially launched a new project I’ve been working on, also close to my heart, a blog I’m writing for Houston restaurateur Tony Vallone.
We’ve been working on it for a month and I’ve really come to look forward and cherish our weekly hour-long chats where we talk about a day in the life of an Italian restaurateur in America. Check it out. I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Buona lettura, ya’ll!
7 Comments | de cibo, de vino, de vinographia | Tagged: Falanghina, Tony Vallone, Tracie Parzen | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
Tracie P is blogging again! :-)
Click here to read her post on the wines and grapes of Campania, the first part in a series on Italian wines.
1 Comment | de vino, de vinographia | Tagged: Campania, Tracie Parzen | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
Every since we got on a plane, two Wednesdays ago, to leave for La Jolla for our wedding, life has been nothing but a dream: the preparation for the wedding, the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony (the incredible moment the stunningly gorgeous Tracie P née B appeared to walk down the aisle!), our first kiss and embrace as wedded couple, the reception, the Bollinger NV rosé (and the 1998 Grand Dame!), New York, Sant’Angelo in Colle, Bologna, Barolo, Barbaresco, Rome, and then finally the long trek homeward. At the end of those two weeks, Tracie P and me were ready to come home.
The best news? Next week, we finally move into our first home together, a little house we’ve rented on the north side of Austin.
As hard as it is to come down from the high of the last two weeks, we’ve been enjoying the afterglow of these magical days, cooking at home and staying in to watch movies at night.
The other good news: the first official wedding photos, by our lovely and immensely talented (you’ll see) friends Jennifer (Tracie P’s childhood friend) and CJ Nichols, are here!
In Tracie P they found a cover-girl as their materia prima. In me? Well, they found the same old schlub I’ve always been. But, hey, Tracie P must see something in me, right? I guess she loves me for my brain… ;-)
Enjoy the wedding photos here!
4 Comments | de austinopoli, de photographia, de vino | Tagged: CJ Nichols, Jennifer Nichols, Jeremy Parzen, Nichols Photography, Tracie Branch, Tracie Parzen, wedding photos | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
Photos by Alfonso.
Words could never capture what I felt the moment she appeared…
Tracie P gave me those vintage cufflinks to go with my wedding suit.
Thanks, Alfonso, for these photos!
Today, we leave NYC for Italy!
5 Comments | de vino | Tagged: Jeremy Parzen, Tracie Parzen | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
Click here to add a comment or query to my Italian Wine Terms Project.
The series of posts began with a post devoted to Italian winery designations. With your help, I hope to create a series of posts that will become a stand-alone glossary.
