From Brooklyn (above), to Austin, to La Jolla, Tracie P and I wish you a happy and healthy new year!
Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear…
I’ll see you in a few days…
Category Archives: de rebus familiaribus
Champers and pizza? Hell yeah!
Parzen family dinner yesterday evening at the Parzen coterie’s semi-official pizzeria Mamma Mia began with a killer bottle of Bobby Stuckey’s Scarpetta Timido Brut Rosé, made from Pinot Nero and Franconia (drinking through some of the orphans from 2Bianchi Wine Selections). This wine is just so juicy and yummy and super food friendly. It was fantastic with pizzaiolo Cinzia’s awesome panzerotti.
Next came a bottle of Billecart-Salmon that had been gifted to brother Tad for his 50th birthday (I wonder by whom?). As BrooklynGuy likes to point out, Champagne is first and foremost a wonderful food-friendly wine and this delicious bottle delivered seamlessly: the bright acidity in the mineral-rich wine and its 12% alcohol were perfect with my prosciutto e funghi.
Tracie P and I were so happy to have three uninterrupted days and nights in San Diego with family and friends. Champers and pizza was the icing on the cake!
Happy birthdays brother Tad (August 17) and mama Judy (September 22)!
La Jolla brunch and new Parzen family member Daisy
Brunch at the Pannikin in La Jolla is a sleepy beach town classic. So yummy…
Bagels and lox, California style.
Parzen family welcomes new member Daisy, a rescue. That’s niece Amalia and brother Tad with Daisy. Amalia gave her her name.
Tracie P and I just had to stop for something sweet on our way back to the beach at Michele Coulon Dessertier, who made our wedding cake.
Did I mention that I LOVE BEING ON VACATION. We’re gonna take a nap now… yum…
Eating, drinking, and loving well…
at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego…
Many great bottles opened last night over a 5-hour dinner at Jaynes Gastropub last night, including this 2006 Bâtard-Montrachet by Pernot, unctuous and rich, rocks and fruit. THANK YOU ROBIN! :-)
Cory (left) was in town to visit his best friend who’s pursuing a graduate degree in communications at UCSD. A vibrant dialogue on Gramsci and his significance in the age of the internet undulated over the din of our munching. That’s Jon (of Jaynes) at the top of the frame and Yele (John Yelenosky) to the right.
How a schlub like me always gets to go home with the prettiest girl in the joint will always remain a mystery to me.
Post scriptum
Only because TWG has been objecting to my sartorial choices of late, I thought I’d include this photo from the gig the previous night at Zenbu (La Jolla).
I love you, yes I do
It was on the fourth Sunday of August 2008 that I got on a Southwest jetliner and came to Austin to take Tracie B on a date to dinner — our first meeting after nearly two months of emailing each other. Mole enchiladas at Polvos, dancing at the Continental Club to the music of Hey Bale, and a first kiss I’ll never forget…
Sit yourself down next to me
Let me hold you near
Sit by my side close to me
There’s something you should hear
If I have not made it perfectly clear
I love you girl
I love you girl yes i do
Before we met I was lost
On life’s carousel
Spinning around like a top
Never slowing down
I don’t recall how I got here at all
But I love you girl
I love you girl yes I do
There comes a time in your life
When you know it’s right
Dark comes before love arrives
With the morning light
So long ago when I was young I had a dream
That I would find my love find my love
So many years, so many tears it took before
I found my love when you appeared
If I have not made it perfectly clear
I love you girl
I love you girl yes I do
Jeremy P to Tracie P, August 22, 2010
Scenes from a Boda Mexicana and the best breakfast in Tijuana
Above: Sandro and Julia were wed in a Saturday evening mass at the Iglesia de la Divina Providencia in Tijuana this weekend. What a beautiful wedding, what a gorgeous couple! When Julia knelt before the image of the Virgin Mary in the cathedral’s chapel and the soprano sang Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” both Tracie P and I had tears in our eyes.
The Castro and Parzen families have been closely related and intertwined for nearly four decades. The marriage of Julia this weekend to her beloved Sandro marked a milestone that none of us will ever forget. They were married in the same cathedral where brother Micah and I were ring-bearers (he nine years old, I eleven) in 1978 at the wedding of Teresa and Felix, Julia’s parents.
And so mama Judy, brother Micah and sister-in-law Marguerite, Tracie P, and I drove to Tijuana on Saturday afternoon for the night.
The reception was held in the Salón de Eventos of what many consider to be the best restaurant in Tijuana these days, Cien Años, in the Zona Río shopping district (my favorite part of the city).
The main course of our dinner was a wonderful mole blanco (a mole sauce made with white as opposed to dark chocolate) with a roast potato au gratin and a julienne of fresh squash.
Before heading to the wedding, we had a cocktail at our hotel next door to the event space (the Hotel Real del Río, a moderately priced, full-service hotel, highly recommended).
The next morning, we had a fantastic breakfast at Cien Años, which opens every day at 8 a.m., btw. The main dining salon there is one of those magical rooms.
I envied Tracie P’s crepas (crêpes) drowning in a mango and habanero sauce…
…and stuffed with zucchini blossoms, mushrooms, and serrano peppers. Amazingly good… We used to dine regularly in Tijuana when during my college and grad years at UCLA. There are so many great places to eat there.
Chelsea Clinton may have had the wedding of the year, but Julia and Sandro had the wedding of a lifetime! :-)
Muchisimas felicidades!
Way to GO brother Micah! Brilliant, simply brilliant… :-)
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
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…
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!
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!
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…
Do Bianchi 