October Newsletter

Buon Novembre/Happy November!

It's so nice being back in Florence.  It feels like autumn, the leaves are falling, and the weather is truly starting to turn chilly.  Here's all that happened in October:

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Morris in Poland, ME

October 1-5 Jeffrey and Rachel Got Married.  Our family drove to Maine to celebrate the marriage of Jeffrey and his new wife, Rachel.  I love her so much and am glad she is now an official part of our family!  It was a beautiful ceremony, simple and intimate in a beautiful autumn setting.  We got to experience a real Maine lobster bake, stay in an inn on a lake, and stopped in Boston on the way home.  It was a great adventure.  

October 6-12 Soaked Up Some Good Time with Family and Friends, although time went by too quickly!  My family humored me and we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving so I could at least be home for one holiday.    

October 13 I voted.  And that's all I'm going to say.  May the good Lord do as He pleases. 

October 13 I Flew Back to Italy, arriving on the 14th.  My two wonderful roommates, Vanessa and Silvia, had coordinated with Paul and Cody (Pastor of Mosaico, the church I'm a part of) to use his car to move all my belongings from Paul and Melinda's spare apartment.  What a relief to come home to that, especially since I didn't have so much as a hairbrush with me! 

October 17 I Started Attending Classes at the Russian Academy of Art, a requirement for having a student visa.  Paul and Melinda are also in the classes, which keeps things fun.  In the mornings we have 3 hours of painting and in the afternoon we have 2 1/2 hours of drawing.  The professors are all Russian and speak little to no English, and so we have translators for every class. Спасибо.  (Thank you)

Look, an almost still life!

I also really enjoy the other students.  I am used to artsy people and the world of dance, but all of a sudden I find myself thrown into a world of a different kind of art.  I find it all very fascinating and inspiring.  Vanessa and Silvia also attend the school, and so I frequently find myself amongst this group of friends.  They regularly whip out their sketch books and sketch anything that sits still for more than 5 minutes.  It's great fun, and I am learning to see things in a new light, about the composition, perspective, lighting, and pause, both in art works and real life.  I occasionally sketch outside of class too,  and frequently find myself thinking, "What is my life?"  Attending art classes in Florence, Italy, learning classical Russian techniques? Che figata/How cool!  The Russian Academy of Art attracts people from all over the world, and I now have friends from Chile, Argentina, France, China, Australia, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, and other places.  Some of their stories are fascinating and I am honored to know them. 

Vanessa, Silvia, and I host a Bible Study at our apartment for the other students of the Russian Art Academy who are interested.  Paul leads the study; we are in the book of Philippians.  It's a lovely Sunday evening, consisting of talking about Jesus, drinking tea, and eating cookies in our regal apartment.  

We Are Still in the Works for Gallery Space #5.  At the moment we are trying to project the cost of remodeling this space, (actually two spaces, one for the gallery and one next door for the studio) working with our business consultant, landlord, and architect. 

Prayer Requests:

• Praise! I made it safely back to Florence and am loving my new apartment and roommates.

• Praise! Art classes are going well, and many new friendships are being built through that.

• Pray: For new friends and old, and relationships to continue to grow.

• Pray: For Gallery Space #5. If this is the space the Lord has for us that things would continue to move forward and be within our budget.

• Pray: For Christ's love and compassion to be made known in Italy, especially in this time of devastation with so many earthquakes.

Thank you to everyone who prays, supports, and reads these little (and sometimes not so little) updates!  I am so very thankful for you!

Blessed be His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory! - Psalm 72:19

Lemon Raspberry Rolls

We all love a good cinnamon roll.  The soft dough, warm-gooey-buttery-cinnamon filling, topped with a sweet glaze or cream cheese icing.  The smell of fresh baked breads wafting from the kitchen and the warmth of bread in our tummy are especially comforting as the months turn colder. 

Today, however, we are not making cinnamon rolls (that's old hat :) but lemon raspberry rolls.  The tang of the lemon and raspberry paired with the sweet glaze is a match made for breakfast.  Or anytime.  Pair it with a cup of tea or coffee and you have all the incentive you need to get out of bed in the morning!

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Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

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Lemon Raspberry Rolls

Makes 12 Rolls

Ingredients:

For the Dough

• 1 cup / 237g milk or water

• 1/2 cup / 100g sugar

• 4 1/2 tsp / 14g active dry yeast

• 1/4 cup / 56g oil

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp lemon zest

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 4 1/4 cups / 510g all-purpose flour + about 1/2 cup / 60g for kneading

For the Lemon Raspberry Filling

• 1 1/4 cups / 157g fresh or frozen raspberries (if using frozen do not thaw)

• 1/2 cup / 100g sugar

• 1 tsp lemon zest

• 1 tsp cornstarch

• 1/4 cup / 56g butter

For the Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups / 188g powdered sugar

• 3 Tbsp / 42g lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F / 205C. Grease a 9x13inch / 23x33cm rectangular baking dish.

Make the Dough

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk until it is about 100F / 38C.  Pour milk into a large bowl.  Add the sugar and yeast and allow to sit for 7-10 minutes.  The yeast should foam up a bit. 

2. Add oil, eggs, zest, and salt.  Add the 4 1/4 cups of flour and mix until combined. 

3. Flour a clean surface and turn out dough.  Knead for about 8-10 minutes, sprinkling more flour on your work surface as needed.   Dough should be soft and elastic by the end, so don't get too flour-happy. Alternately, you can use the bread hook on a stand mixer and knead for 8-10 minutes, adding in flour as needed. The dough should stick only to the bottom of the pan, not the sides.

4. Lightly grease or flour a large bowl (the bowl you mixed the dough in is fine) and place dough in the bowl.  Cover with a towel and place in a warm area to rise for about 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. 

Make the Lemon Raspberry Filling

1. In a small saucepan melt the butter and let simmer until it starts to brown.  Remove from heat and cool slightly. 

2. In a medium bowl lightly mix raspberries with sugar, zest, and cornstarch.  It's okay if the raspberries get a little crushed. 

Assemble the Rolls

1. When the dough has risen, punch it down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead for about a minute, then roll into a large rectangle, about 10x20inch / 25x50cm.   

2. Spread cooled butter over dough almost to the edges, then sprinkle evenly with raspberry mixture. 

3. Starting from one of the longer sides, roll dough into a spiral, pinching the dough together at the end to seal it. 

4. Cut the log in quarters, then each quarter into 3 slices.  Place the rolls in the prepared pan and cover lightly with plastic wrap or a damp towel.  Place in a warm area to rise for about an hour, or until puffed

5. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until golden on top and centers no longer look doughy. Internal temperature should be about 195F / 90C.

Make the Glaze

1. In a small bowl whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice.  It should be thin enough to drizzle but not too liquidy.  Add more powdered sugar or lemon juice as needed. 

2. Drizzle warm rolls with glaze. 

Jenny's Notes:

• If you don't have a thermometer handy to know what 100 degrees is, simply warm until the milk feels quite warm, but not hot.  It'll be fine!

• You can freeze these rolls once you have sliced them and put them in the pan.  Once removed from the freezer allow to thaw and proceed as normal. 

• When using a stand mixer to knead, I still recommend kneading it for a few minutes by hand afterwards. I find they are not always as thorough as kneading by hand and you want an even rise for your dough.  I often to do it all by hand just because it’s therapeutic!

Breakfast rolls, lemon raspberry

Breakfast, Dessert

American

Yield: 12

Author: Jennyblogs

Print

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Lemon Raspberry Rolls

These bright breakfast rolls are like cinnamon rolls, but made with fresh lemon zest and raspberries instead!

Prep time: 1 H & 10 MCook time: 22 MinTotal time: 1 H & 32 M

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 1 cup / 237g milk or water
• 1/2 cup / 100g sugar
• 4 1/2 tsp / 14g active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup / 56g oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 1/4 cups / 510g all-purpose flour + about 1/2 cup / 60g for kneading

For the Lemon Raspberry Filling

• 1 1/4 cups / 157g fresh or frozen raspberries (if using frozen do not thaw)
• 1/2 cup / 100g sugar
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup / 56g butter

For the Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups / 188g powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp / 42g lemon juice

Instructions

Make the Dough

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk until it is about 100F / 38C. Pour milk into a large bowl. Add the sugar and yeast and allow to sit for 7-10 minutes. The yeast should foam up a bit.
2. Add oil, eggs, zest, and salt. Add the 4 1/4 cups of flour and mix until combined.
3. Flour a clean surface and turn out dough. Knead for about 8-10 minutes, sprinkling more flour on your work surface as needed. Dough should be soft and elastic by the end, so don't get too flour-happy. Alternately, you can use the bread hook on a stand mixer and knead for 8-10 minutes, adding in flour as needed. The dough should stick only to the bottom of the pan, not the sides.
4. Lightly grease or flour a large bowl (the bowl you mixed the dough in is fine) and place dough in the bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm area to rise for about 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Make the Lemon Raspberry Filling

1. In a small saucepan melt the butter and let simmer until it starts to brown. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
2. In a medium bowl lightly mix raspberries with sugar, zest, and cornstarch. It's okay if the raspberries get a little crushed.

Assemble and Bake the Rolls

1. Preheat oven to 400F / 205C. Grease a 9x13inch / 23x33cm rectangular baking dish.
2. When the dough has risen, punch it down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about a minute, then roll into a large rectangle, about 10x20inch / 25x50cm.
3. Spread cooled butter over dough almost to the edges, then sprinkle evenly with raspberry mixture.
4. Starting from one of the longer sides, roll dough into a spiral, pinching the dough together at the end to seal it.
5. Cut the log in quarters, then each quarter into 3 slices. Place the rolls in the prepared pan and cover lightly with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Place in a warm area to rise for about an hour, or until puffed
6. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until golden on top and centers no longer look doughy. Internal temperature should be about 195F / 90C.

Make the Glaze

1. In a small bowl whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice. It should be thin enough to drizzle but not too liquidy. Add more powdered sugar or lemon juice as needed.
2. Drizzle warm rolls with glaze.

Notes

If you don't have a thermometer handy to know what 100 degrees is, simply warm until the milk feels quite warm, but not hot. It'll be fine!You can freeze these rolls once you have sliced them and put them in the pan. Once removed from the freezer allow to thaw and proceed as normal. When using a stand mixer to knead, I still recommend kneading it for a few minutes by hand afterwards. I find they are not always as thorough as kneading by hand and you want an even rise for your dough.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

355.58

Fat

6.43 g

Sat. Fat

0.88 g

Carbs

68.26 g

Fiber

2.37 g

Net carbs

65.89 g

Sugar

32.75 g

Protein

6.77 g

Sodium

121.93 mg

Cholesterol

32.58 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 1 roll.

https://jennyblogs.com/blog/2016/10/26/lemon-raspberry-rolls

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September Newsletter

Buongiorno family & friends! 

September was a good and difficult month.  The first half of the month was mostly apartment searching, calling, visiting, and the second half I came home to Michigan.  In Florence we finally felt the heat of summer start to break; the air turned from stifling, summer hot, to earthy, autumn hot.  But really, it was so refreshing to feel the onset of autumn after a long, hot Florentine summer. 

September 1-14 Apartment Hunting in Italian and All That Ensues.  Once the immobiliari (real estate) opened again in September after the long vacation of August, I talked to every immobiliare I could to find an apartment.  I had already been going into and calling every one I could, but without little to no success.  I got to see a few apartments, but they weren't what we needed.  It was crucial I found an apartment before I flew home because I needed a contract in my name in order to apply for a visa.  And so, I started going to so many immobiliari, visiting every apartment website I could think of, and calling 12-15 immobiliari every day until I could secure some appointments to see apartments.  Even friends were helping and asking around for me.  So many of the apartments had already been rented out, didn't rent to students, only wanted a family, were out of our price range, or too far out of the city center.  (You recall I like to walk? Yes.) 

Ponte Vecchio at night.

Sometimes I would call an agency, spew out my little prepared-before-hand-Italian spiel, only to barely follow what the agent spewed out, and then they would hang up apparently assuming I had understood them.  Ummmm, I shall assume that apartment was not available.  And had bed bugs.  Probably had a Medici skeleton in the closet and the wifi didn't work.  And the floor will cave in if you jump on it.  We didn't want that one anyway.  Then there were the agencies that never answered my phone calls or emails.  Yep didn't want those ones either.

Finally,  I called an agent and got an appointment that evening!  I made a few more calls and accidentally called the same agent again.  Oops!  He must've recognized my spiel.  Drats.  I saw the apartment and it was beautiful.  A little on the small side at 70 square meters, but extremely modern and brand new.  The apartment was being shown to several other people that day, and so the typical pressure was put on me by Giuseppe the realtor, I had to let him know if I wanted it by tomorrow.  Ahhhhh I don't like pressure or decisions! 

The next morning I got a call from a realtor who had been trying to help me all along but never had anything that worked.  This time, she sent me photos of an apartment with beautiful painted ceilings right in the city center!  I got to see it that night and suddenly had this big dilemma.  This apartment was bigger and so much more romantic than the other one.  Yes, the oven is older, but hey.  I talked to my roommates and we decided to go for the 13th century building in the city center vs. a new but un-Florentine building. 

The amount of paperwork needed for the apartment became a joke.  My poor roommates who were out of the country had to scan and email me document after document.  Would you also like a photocopy of my Kroger rewards card from when I lived in Mississippi?  Mamma Mia.  Then I went to sign the contract, and the proprietor at the last didn't want to sign it because he doesn't rent to people without either a visa or permesso di soggiorno (permission to stay), I had neither yet.  Things got a little tense between him and the realtor and my knuckles turned very white, but by the Lord's grace he changed his mind and signed.  So...he didn't want to give an apartment contract to someone without a visa, and you can't get a visa without an apartment contract.  Oh, Italy.  Porca Miseria.  All this to say, everyone who prayed for our apartment, we needed your prayers and the Lord heard and was gracious to us!  My roommates Vanessa and Silvia just moved in this week and saw it for the first time; they love it, too.  Grazie, grazie, grazie tante!

Arrived at the Consolato 45 minutes early. How very un-Italian of me. (But hey, I got in early!)

September 6 I received my codice fiscale, or tax code.  I had to go to the Italian equivalent of the Secretary of State, and wait in line.  It was very easy to get and is similar to the SSN in the U.S.

September 17 I flew home!  After countless planes, shuttles, trains, walks, security checkpoints and a delayed and almost cancelled flight I arrived in Grand Rapids around 2:00 am.  I even got to translate for an Italian gentleman trying to get through US customs in Chicago.  My mom, dad, and JohnPaul were all there to greet me, and then we drove 2 1/2 hours home.  There is no place like home to restore the mind and body.  Unfortunately I ended up getting sick for the first part of being home with an unknown ailment and some infection, and made the discovery I am allergic to amoxicillin.  

September 21 Appointment at the Consolato d'Italia in Detroit.  My mom and I drove to Detroit so I could apply for my student visa.  Nerve racking, but it went very quick.  After the appointment I waited around because I remembered there were papers I never signed.  When the officer came back to the waiting room he said "brava" because he had forgotten to have me sign and that would've been "grave."  He said if I wanted to wait half hour he would have the visa ready.  It is "supposed" to take so many weeks to get to you, but I walked out of the consulate that day with my visa in hand!   

One of my favorite fall-time activities. Apple Picking.

I am continually humbled and grateful to the Lord for allowing me to be in Italy, even with the hardships.  It's easy to see past the romantic history and rolling hills of Tuscany once you've been living here, but it is a privilege and a blessing that I do not want to take lightly.  Thank you to everyone who has been and is praying and supporting this ministry, I appreciate you so much!

Prayer Requests:

• Praise! I finally found and have an apartment. A beautiful 13th century apartment at that!

• Praise! I made it safely home without any major problems.

• Praise! I got my visa to return for the rest of the year!

• Praise! Some new supporters joined the team and I am now at 80% support! It's exciting to be so close to full support as I prepare to head back for 9+ months. Please pray the Lord would provide the remainder and finances would not be a stress.

• Pray: We made an offer on Gallery Space #5, but there are still many hold ups and new rules and regulations being thrown at us. We never expected it to be this difficult and sometimes it's hard to see what the Lord's purpose is in this, but we have to keep trusting.

• Pray: For the relationships we are building and the new people we are meeting, also the realtors, contractors, and architects we are working closely with.

• Pray: For continued advancement in learning Italian. It seems for every victory there is a plateau of discouragement to follow.

• Pray: For Christ's Kingdom to be advanced in Italy!

Vista of Firenze from Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte