Goleta in the news today...

GOLETA, Calif. (AP) -- A female ex-postal worker opened fire at a mail processing plant, killing six people and critically wounding another before committing suicide, authorities said early Tuesday.

Happy Birthday Mom! Love You! P

Thanks for always being a fun young mom!!!

Happy Birthday to Vince Pickett-93 Today!!!!!!!!

Checking In

Picacho Peak!

We did this hike/climb yesterday.
It was challenging but the reward was a 360 view of AZ.

Climate Change

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079935/

Happy Birthday to our little sister Liz!

Liz,

We love you!

D & P

Casitas-Ad Campaign in High Gear! Viva Las Vegas Baby!

Pinon Penny-Cool website about Pine Nuts

http://www.pinenut.com/about.htm

New Recipe of the Week

This is great if you have left over chicken breast.

1 Trader Joe's 3 cheese pizza (frozen)
Chopped/sliced chicken breast
1 Fennel bulb, sliced with some greenery from the tops
Asparagus (3 stalks)
Goat Cheese
Reggiano (fine grated)
Pine Nuts or Walnuts (small handful)
Olive Oil/Butter (1 tsp each)

Preheat oven 425.

Saute the fennel and asparagus in a teaspoon of butter and teaspoon of olive oil until lightly browned.

Spread chicken on pizza, add some clumps of goat cheese. Distribute fennel and asparagus. Sprinkle with reggiano.

Cook in oven at 425 for 5 minutes.

Remove and add nuts, broil for 2 minutes.

Pair with your favorite Italian white wine and enjoy!

Hey wine fans. Check this out for going completely overboard, which is pretty hard to guage these days. A wine spa, no doubt for a wine spaz. Sign me up for the Crushed Cabernet Scrub.

http://www.kenwoodinn.com/spa/

Michele in Puerto Rico

Michele did some intensive support and sales work (yeah right) in Puerto Rico, so here is the obligatory picture of the tropical beach and the overcrowded city. I hear that the fois gras at the hotel restaurant was a bit overcooked and the Pinot was served a bit too warm, however.

Dr. Dog

Dogs Excel on Smell Test to Find Cancer
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

A Northern California clinic claims it has trained
five dogs to detect lung cancer in the breath of
lung cancer sufferers with 99 percent accuracy.

Happy Birthday to Heather Poehler!

Heather,
We hope you have a beautiful day!
Love,
D&P

Wineries in AZ? You knew we would find them...

Callaghan Winery: This is about 1 hour from Tucson, we will be tasting there today with Joe & Anne-Marie. We even made a homemade baguette for the occaision :-) Giddy up!

Founded in 1990 by Kent Callaghan and his parents Harold and Karen, Callaghan Vineyards quickly established a reputation for producing outstanding wines. Robert Parker, editor of The Wine Advocate, has recommended over 20 Callaghan wines in the last six years. Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher of The Wall Street Journal recently listed the Callaghan 1996 Fume Blanc as one the twelve most impressive wines of their last two years of tasting. In his CD/ROM on winegrape varietals, English writer Oz Clarke listed the Callaghan Zinfandel as an excellent example produced outside California.

This Day in 1915

On Jan. 12, 1915,
the United States House of Representatives
rejected a proposal to give women
the right to vote.

A Star is Born!

Stunning news from Tucson today, David Mallen, owner of David Mallen Designs, LLC, brings the floor of the Southern Arizona Small Business Association jumping to their feet with roaring applause as he wows them with his wit and charm. In unprecedented style he managed to ad lib his way through an improptu speech that left them laughing in the aisles. Next stop Toastmasters? He was reported as saying "There is no telling where this might lead or what my next move will be"...I guess we'll just have to stay tuned!

From Tucson Town Hall, this is Patti Mallen reporting, good night and good luck.

Hi, Mallen family bloggers. This is a picture of Mamoo and Baboo as we have been christened by Lily.
We are in Mammoth and skiing about every other day (since the hip allows no more), reading, fuming about the Bushies and other Republicans and doing various chores.
I'm not sure what the point of family blogging is since we are in email contact but we will give it a try. Also typing is extremely slow - anyone else having that problem?
Baboo

Lana and LuLu-Bohemian Writers

I just loved this picture of my friend Lana with her niece Lulu!

Wine Diet Woes

Last year I pitched an idea to David's friend Lisa who has written many food books and who now works for Rand. My idea was for a Wine Diet Book showing how you could drink wine, eat healthfully and loose weight. I had lots of ideas for the web site and great photos shoots etc. She took the idea to her publisher and he rejected it... turns out it was a great idea. Let this be a lesson to ACT, push for something you believe in and not just talk about it or become discouraged, make it happen! I should have partnered with someone who had this kind of backing.

Here is her email, the book is #10 at Amazon:

Just a minute to write now since I'm at my RAND Corp job on break, but hope you had great holidays and Happy New Year! Wanted to say to Patti that I just saw that a book just came out 12/27/05 just like the one she described. It's The Sonoma Diet (can be seen at Amazon.com and it's #10 in books at Amazon out of millions of books---that's huge). Plus, where I first saw it is that they have an online component, too, that's being advertised on major websites, which, of course, means there's huge publicity money behind it. That component is at www.sonomadiet.com. The book is about being able to drink wine and still eat deliciously and healthily. It's written by a registered dietitian. Tell Patti (and you!) it's obvious you had a great idea, and, of course, just because this came out doesn't mean other books on similar subjects can't also come out. How are you?? Got to go now, will write more another time. --Lisa

For more go to nytimes.com

January 1, 2006

The Way We Live Now

Our Vaginas, Ourselves

By DAPHNE MERKIN

These are cruel times for vaginas. Lately, as if I don't have enough to worry about, with the deadline on various unkept 2005 resolutions fast upon me, I have begun obsessing about various aspects of my genital appearance. Take my labia minora, for instance. Tucked away as those intimate folds of flesh are - hidden in the underbrush, you might say - I have never given them much thought, except as they relate to experiences of sensual pleasure. Ditto my labia majora, which dutifully served their purpose in guarding the entryway to what the Victorians would have quaintly referred to as my maidenhead. As for the much vaunted hymen (named for the Greek god of marriage), mine remained intact longer than most thanks to my slow-blooming erotic life, until such time as a boyfriend's patient late-night exertions finally parted me from it at the age of 25. Needless to say, its absence - much less the idea that I might be harboring a deep sense of nostalgia for this tiny piece of overinvested membrane, might indeed be secretly yearning to reclaim it - hasn't so much as crossed my mind in the intervening years.

Ah, but how blithely backward-looking - and how wrong, as it turns out - I was. I have seen the future, and it is denuded. Pubic hair is out; the ubiquity of so-called Brazilian waxes, once the domain of porn stars and movie actresses, has ensured that this mossy covering is deemed no more than an aesthetic hindrance to the unfettered male gaze. Which leaves the one part of the female body formerly not available to harsh scrutiny now glaringly on display, held up to culturally defined aesthetic standards undreamed of by the smut-obsessed author of "My Secret Life," borrowed as they are from centerfolds and online pornography. Sagging groin skin and limp labia are going the way of crooked noses and post-nursing breasts, courtesy of new cosmetic surgeries focused on this once-neglected hinterland of female beauty. As recently noted in an article in The Wall Street Journal, vaginal plastic surgery is one of the field's fastest growing sectors, and its high priest, one Dr. David Matlock of - where else? - Los Angeles, claims that he has a five-month waiting list for women eager to get that Playboy look.

University of TEXAS 41
University of Sumbitches from California 38


I think that pretty much starts the year off right

77573

Fog, mosquitos, noise.

85653

New Years

We don't have any pictures to prove it, but Galveston New Years was pretty fun. Gerald rented a house for his relatives, but they left early, so we took advantage of that and got in a day early. This gave us time to set up the house and get the food ready. The band (Mike and Lynn Burke on guitar and bass, respectively, Todd on drums, unfortunately) set up, and with the help of a borrowed snare and hi-hat and a sweet sounding new ride symbol the drumming was not too screwed up. By the time the party was rolling a good sized group was dancing. The hit of the evening was Giulio, our Roman friend, and his new bass jamming the blues. He was dressed all in black and really looked the part. Anyhow, the kids and grown ups didn't get to bed until 3. Bloody marys were somewhat helpful the next day. We're still paying for it.

SOUTHWESTERN LIME CHICKEN WITH ANCHO CHILI SAUCE

Set out black beans, rice, lettuce, salsa and hot flour tortillas to go with the chicken.

1/2 cup fresh lime juice
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
8 slices Monterey Jack cheese
*Ancho Chili Sauce (see recipe below)

Combine first 9 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Place chicken in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Pour marinade over. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Remove chicken breasts from marinade. Grill chicken until just cooked through, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Place 1 cheese slice atop each chicken breast half; cover barbecue and cook until cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken breasts to plates.

Serve with Ancho Chili Sauce.

Makes 8.

Wine Pairings:
american semillonan
american gewürztraminer
a rose cotes-du-rhone


ANCHO CHILI SAUCE
3 dried ancho chilies, stemmed, seeded, torn into pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Place chilies in medium metal bowl. Pour enough boiling water over chilies to cover. Let stand until chilies are soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup soaking liquid. Puree chilies, 3 tablespoons soaking liquid and lime juice in blender until smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Whisk in mayonnaise, brown sugar, oregano, rosemary and cumin. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

(Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using, adding water by tablespoonfuls and stirring if very thick.)

Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Love my Grandpa

Sweaters, we get sweaters

This is what comes of two years of Martha Stewart Living!