Category Archives: de rebus familiaribus

Way to GO brother Micah! Brilliant, simply brilliant… :-)

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Lots of reasons for smiles in the Parzen family these days. :-)

I’ve known for a week or so but had to keep a lid on it: brother Micah (right, giving a toast at our wedding) has landed what might just be his dream job, the Executive Directorship of San Diego’s Museum of Man.

Here’s what he had to say on his Facebook:

Micah David Parzen is OVER THE MOON to announce that, beginning August 9, he will be the new Executive Director of the San Diego Museum of Man in Balboa Park! Stay tuned–and jump on board–for great things facebook friends! I can use all the support I can get!

(Check out this link to an article in the San Diego paper of record, The Union-Tribune.)

Above: The brothers Parzen: Tad, me, and Micah. We sure clean up nicely, don’t we? ;-)

You see, brother Micah isn’t just a partner in one of San Diego’s top law firms. He also has a Ph.D. in anthropology. He filed his dissertation “‘Culturally Appropriate’ Mental Health Care: Wilderness Therapy for Navajo Youth” in 2000 at Case Western.

Dude, we are so stoked for you… Congratulations and double mazel! It’s simply brilliant. :-)

Maybe it’s the way she grates her cheese: Tracie P’s rice balls

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Maybe it’s the way she grates her cheese…

Above: When Tracie P asked me what I wanted for my Sunday night birthday dinner, I told her I would love her fantastic ragù. It was great as always, but she surprised me with RICE BALLS. Unbelievably good…

Whether its Faicco’s in the City or the Focacceria di Ferdinando in Brooklyn, Tracie P knows that I love me some Sicilian rice balls. On Sunday she made me one of my favorite dishes of hers, her ragù, but she surprised me with fried rice balls: stuffed with Brooklyn-style domestic mozzarella, using some leftover risotto alla parmigiana that I had made with Arborio earlier in the week for supper.

Or just the freckles on her knees…

Above: Did I mention that the GIRL CAN COOK?

She ALSO surprised me with a bottle of 2004 Sagrantino di Montefalco by Paolo Bea. This wine, at once extremely tannic and ethereal in the mouth, achieves that magic balance of simultaneous power and lightness in the mouth. It showed stunningly well last night and was such a great pairing for Tracie P’s stellar ragù alla bolognese (via Marcella Hazan).

Maybe it’s the scallions…

Above: Our favorite dried (pastasciutta) egg tagliatelle are made by Rustichella d’Abruzzo. Isn’t funny how Tracie P and I agree on the important things in life? ;-)

My good friend Charles Scicolone is not the only one “blessed” by his wife’s amazing cooking!

Maybe she’s Italian…

blueberry pie

Above: She also made me a DELICIOUS fresh blueberry crostata, a tradition for my birthday started by mama Judy.

My goodness, Tracie P, what a wonderful birthday week (I’ll have to hope my birthday falls in the middle of the week again next year!). I love you so… :-)

The lady sticks to me like white on rice…. She never cooks the same way twice…*

Above: We’ve been having so much fun with our new Polaroid 300 instant camera.

Rev. and Mrs. B and the B family gave me a power drill for my birthday over the weekend when we visited with them on Canyon Lake in the Texas Hill Country. We SO NEEDED it for our little home and the new library I’ve been setting up. :-)

Thanks, so much Rev. and Mrs. B and B family!

Birthdays used to be a nagging reminder of all the things I haven’t done yet in life. Now they remind me how lucky I am to be surrounded by wonderful folks who share such rich love and warm joy for living with me. Thanks again, also, to everyone for all the warm birthday wishes this week on Facebook, Twitter, and here at the blog… I’ve got so much to be thankful for this year… The words of support mean so much…

* “Eggplant” 1975 (same vintage as Tracie P!) by Michael Franks (my fellow La Jollan)

In other news…

Everyone in Italy is reading BrooklynGuy’s excellent post on old vintages of Vallana Spanna. Be sure to check out Alfonso’s comments to the post as well.

Congratulations Kate and Dan! Mazel Tov ya’ll!

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What a beautiful setting and gorgeous wedding in the Santa Ynez Valley!

This is just one of the amazing sunset photos that Tracie P took with our trusty Nikon.

Among other wedding duties, musical and otherwise, Dan enlisted me to play the hora.

I think it’s safe to say that I got the job done. ;-)

It was so great to see so many old friends, from NYC and LA, and to meet Kate’s family from Scotland.

Mazel tov, ya’ll!

Texas tones pair well with La Jolla sushi!

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HEARTFELT THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT TO SUPPORT THE GRAPES!

The Grapes had a blast last night playing our first gig at Zenbu Sushi in La Jolla. Nearly half of the graduating classes of La Jolla High 1985 and 1986 were there… What a night…

Who knew that Texas tones would pair so well with sushi? Well, then again, it makes sense that a little Tex Mex would jive with the Mexican- and Californian-cuisine influenced Japanese at Zenbu. That’s the “Mexicali Roll” above.

And the icing on the cake was Nephew Cole who sat in on 2 numbers and played like a pro! How cool is that?

Even Mama Judy got a dedication: “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard… ;-)

The first I remember knowin’ was the lonesome whistle blowin’
And a youngun’s dream of growin’ up to ride.
On a freight train leavin’ town, not knowin’ where I was bound
No one changed my mind, but mama tried…

Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleadin’ I denied
That leaves only me to blame cause mama tried.

Thanks again to everyone, family, friends, and La Jolla High School, for coming out to tap your toes to some Texas twang!

In other news…

Tracie P and I are headed to Dan and Kate’s wedding in Santa Barbara County, staying in Solvang tonight. Stay tuned…

Scenes from an East Texas 4th of July

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Watermelon lady Maria gets her melons from Pitkin, Louisiana, where the sandy subsoil and high potassium content are ideal for the cultivation of tasty watermelons, she said.

This sweet lady made her patriotic vest herself.

We saw this license plate on our way over to Port Arthur. Translation: “Oklahoma University girl.”

Tracie P and I went bowling with nephew Brady to celebrate his birthday (4th of July).

Purple hull peas, cooked with okra and served over crumbled cast-iron-skillet-fired corn bread was the highlight of dinner at Uncle Tim and aunt Ida Jean’s house on Cow Bayou. I had two servings of Tim’s award-winning potato salad.

Sunset on Cow Bayou. I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th!

On deck for tomorrow: the origins of the word “bric” and “bricco.” Stay tuned…

Rev. B’s birthday and the BEST chocolate cake

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Yesterday, we celebrated Rev. B’s 60th birthday in Orange, Texas, where Tracie P grew up, on the Lusiana [sic] border. All the Johnson and Branch families were there, all the children, the Croakers and even the Manascos were there, too.

Mrs. B made homemade chili for DELICIOUS chili dogs and all the fixings for perfectly sized hamburger patties.

Tracie P made what everyone said was the BEST chocolate cake ever (and it was), now our official family chocolate cake recipe (if you’re real nice, maybe I could be convinced to share the recipe).

Jason M’s key lime pie — made with 20 key limes — was pretty spectacular, too. He made it fresh, just for us. It was rich in flavor but wonderfully light in mouthfeel. If you saw all those tattoos on Jason, the thought of him holding a pastry syringe doesn’t immediately come to mind. But man, that dude has a way with whipped cream!

Happy, happy birthday Rev. B! Know that we love you a lot and that I couldn’t have asked for a better father-in-law… :-)

Did you know that Rev. B is a blogger, too?

Happy fourth of July, ya’ll!