Category Archives: de rebus familiaribus

Happy days, sad days…

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mommy makes everything better

As our pregnancy “comes to term” and we finish preparing for the arrival of Baby P 2013 (any day now), I can’t help but feel a little bit sad about how Georgia P’s life is going to change.

She has no idea that our cozy little family of three is about to become a family of four.

She is such a sweet little girl, always ready to share a smile, a laugh, a kiss, and a hug. And I know she’s going to be a wonderful big sister (the two girls will be nineteen months apart in age).

But I also know it’s going to be hard for her at first, as she gets accustomed to the new and different rhythms that a newborn brings to a household.

We’re all ready for the baby to get here and it’s a very special and happy time for us. But I can’t help but feel a little pang knowing that Georgia P will have to settle into a new life where she’s not always the center of everyone’s attention…

Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing our family’s joy.

Gov. Perry stay out of my daughter’s vagina: Pasolinian thoughts on the abortion debate

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sweetest daughter

Above: Georgia P and I let mommy sleep in these days. Our new baby will be here any day now and so mommy needs all the rest she can get. Part of our morning fun (after breakfast) is self-portraits. Georgia P has no idea that a battle over women’s rights is being played out just 10 minutes down the street from our house in Austin, Texas.

Some will remember that twentieth-century Italian critical theorist and leftist Pier Paolo Pasolini took a stand against abortion. He saw abortion as one of the ugliest corollaries of the sexual revolution of the 1960s (when he was highly active as an essayist, poet, and filmmaker). I believe that he was right. But I also believe that a rational application of abortion does greater good for our society than its unbridled restriction.

This morning on the Twitter and the Facebook, I wrote, “Rick Perry, stay out of my daughter’s vagina.”

To that, my aunt Dianne — Tracie P’s biological aunt, whom I love because of our relation and because of the fact that she’s a really fun and warm lady — commented as follows:

How about those daughters that are murdered before even being given a chance at life? They are not banning abortion just not after 20 weeks. Why the outrage?

Here’s what I wrote back:

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any day now (Parzen family expansion update)

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any day now

Any day now…

Georgia P arrived nine days before her “official” due date.

Baby P 2013’s due date is July 15 but the doctor says second-time mothers generally deliver early.

So mutatis mutandis, Parzen family expansion could happen any day now.

Little Georgia P doesn’t know how our lives are about to change and we’re really enjoying these last few days as a family of three. She’s such a sweet girl and she sure knows how to make her daddy melt with her smile…

cutest little girl ever

Why I went to Italy & why I still go back (thank you Sir Roy)

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roy strong italy

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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Parzen family expansion update mommy & baby p 2013 doing great

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pregnant belly

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! :)

baby face sonogram

spaghetti con crema di melanzane (spaghetti with Listada de Gandia eggplant sauce)

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baby eating spaghetti

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!

Baby P 2013 update (seven weeks to go)

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tracie eight months pregnant

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…