.
.
.
Ahhh….. Gary Cooper….oh, I mean Ahhh, It’s Friday once again! and SUCH a beautiful Friday it is here in Santa Barbara. Our highway is bumper to bumper with the influx of over 40,000 visitors here for UCSB Graduation Weekend but hopefully this weather will stick and the hideous grey gym sock of June Gloom that we have worn since the first of the month has gotten lost in Heaven’s dryer.
We are now little more than a week away from honouring all the great Dad’s in our lives (next Sunday!) so I thought I would focus this week’s favourites on some gift ideas for that special guy in your life.
Never let it be said that Slim Paley doesn’t have her Butch Days 
.
.
Manly Cupcakes for Manly Men!
What a great idea this fellow in NY had- apparently he simply can’t make these fast enough- Don’t you just love when that happens?!
.
.
.
Did you know that Flip have a brand new video camera out? Available in loads of fun designs for the man in your life (3 whole pages of them!)
.
.
.
.
For all my fellow Twainiacs out there, there are TWO new books out about The genius in the white suit. Exciting!! What was it like to be the most famous man in the entire world almost a hundred years before the invention of the internet? It was complex and intense to say the least. Both books focus on Twain in his later years, and trust me, they were not spent in quiet dodderage. Twain led one of the most fascinating lives I have ever read about and even his last years do not disappoint. Helllooooo Hollywood! Where’s the movie people??! It would be great! In the meantime, until someone in Tinsel Town takes my call, check out these two books- they both get great reviews. I’ve already ordered them for my husband
.
.
.
While a gift from this Christies London auction would set you back a few bob more than a book, it would be a sure guarantee for a couple of Breakfasts in Bed for the gift-giver afterwards. That’s if your guy ever comes back up from the basement again.
We can all dream…
Christie’s Guitar Gods Auction
.
.
.
.
But what’s the fastest way to a man’s heart?
Slim Paley Photo
….Lester’s ” This Will Put Hair on Your Chest Spaghetti!”
Carmine’s Marinara Sauce attached
+
Italian sausage, Mild
1 Lg. Shallot -cut in half and thinly sliced.
3 cloves garlic minced
10 oz Crimini mushrooms- washed and dried, sliced
10 oz baby spinach- washed and pat dry
Parmesan / Regiano shredded cheese blend for the top
Pasta suggestions- Linguini, Spaghetti standard or thin. Cook pasta as box indicates.
Follow Carmine’s recipe to a “T”. Never mess with a Great Marinara when you find one!
Un-case the sausage, fry till cooked through and break up the sausage into bite size pieces.
Set the sausage aside once done in a large mixing bowl. Add the spinach on top do not mix yet.
If needed add a table spoon more of olive oil to the sausage fat.
Saute the garlic and shallot till aromatic, about 2 min.
Add the mushrooms and saute about another 4-5 min.
Salt and pepper to taste
Add the Mushroom mixture to the sausage and spinach and mix.
Serve: Pasta first, then Marinara Sauce, then Sausage mixture. Top with grated parmesan and serve with your favorite garlic toast.
Delicious! Enjoy!!
.
.
.
..
Blog Recommendation for Blokes;
.
Photo from ‘A Continuous Lean’
If I were a male, I would like this blog;
(secretly, I like it anyway)
.
.
.
.
Slim Paley photo………………………Taken at Ninfa Gardens, Italy
The Calycanthus Floridus Shrub
If your “Dad” is into gardening…or red wine…or drinking red wine while gardening, he is going to LOVE this plant. I discovered it for the first time in the Ninfa garden outside of Rome when my friend gleefully pointed it out and instructed me to bury my nose into one of the flowers. Holy Cabernet! the flowers on this bush have the most intense and heady aroma of wine, you can’t even imagine! Don’t tell, but I put one small flower in my bag and on the way back to Rome I was sure our driver must have thought we’d been drinking, so strong was the smell. Ironically, it took a trip all the way to Italy to discover a plant that’s in fact native to Northern California (embarrassing!!) If you look Calycanthus up on Wikipedia it says it smells like bubble gum. Do NOT be fooled. This is ‘cork just pulled from a red wine bottle’ or I’m not Slim Paley.
.
.
And what if your “Dad/Husband/Father of your children” prefers white wine and you, in your haste to get dinner on the table, the children bathed and the laundry done, have forgotten to chill it for him?? No worries…
Ravi instant solution wine cooler This cooler that fits right on to the bottle neck instantly cools the wine, red or white, as it passes thru and into the glass. Genius! Well, OK, not earth-shattering, but a cool idea!
Available on Amazon
.
.
And one last book idea;
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. I bought this book (about the inner politics of a fictitious Roman newspaper) for my husband and he enjoyed it very much. The reviews are positively stellar. I liked it too, although it’s the second book I’ve read lately that reads much more like a collection of short stories than a novel. Does this speak to our ever diminishing attention spans?
What was I just talking about??
Happy Friday One and All and HAPPY GRADUATION WEEKEND- BE SAFE!!!
.
.
Mark Twain
New Orleans
.
.
