Benvenuti!
About Jennyblogs
Ciao! I’m Jenny, recipe tester/developer and content creator over here in my little corner of the internet. The emphasis is on whole food and real ingredients, but I’m a big believer in “everything in moderation.”
Here you’ll find something for most everyone, from 30-minute weeknight dinners to fancy tourtes, quick cookies to luscious pies, instant yeast to sourdough, and even special diet recipes such as refined sugar-free or gluten-free. What they all have in common, is that they’re fun to make and delicious.
All the recipes have been either adapted or developed by yours truly, handed down in my family, or are authentic Italian or Tunisian recipes.
Having lived in both the US and Italy, most recipes you find here are not only written with both volume (cups, tsp) and weight measurements (grams, milliliter), manually converted for accuracy, but use ingredients that can be sourced both in the USA and Italy, or easily substituted. Most recipes are also compatible with tiny kitchens and limited equipment. If you’re an expat in Italy, I have articles on where to find unusual ingredients in Italy and ingredients substitutions!
In the “All things Italy” section you will find useful information and anecdotes on exploring, traveling, navigating, eating, having kids, and living in Italy gathered from personal experience and that of fellow expat friends and locals.
About Italy…Why Florence?
I've loved Florence ever since I set foot here in 2014 while on vacation. Italy is known for its food, stunning views, and passionate people, and I like all three of those things. It felt like a place I would want to live. (I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment.) When the opportunity arose to come back and work with a dance and art ministry, I took it. It was about a year on and off before the ministry ended and with no real reason to stay, I moved back home. But I wasn’t done with Italy, and decided to take the leap and make Florence my home in May of 2017, working towards getting documentation (permesso di soggiorno) to work. It was here that I had met my husband got married. We are both foreigners to Italy and have toiled hard to live and work here, and to enjoy the beauty of this country, for however long we may stay. The villas, castles, buildings, old and crumbling, the cobblestone streets narrow and chaotic with questionable sidewalks, the majestic rolling hills of Tuscany covered in vineyards and dotted with castles and villas, the sea dancing and clapping its waves, these are things my eyes will never tire of and am humbled I get to experience them. The Italians can be mischievous, but they are full of life and understand the importance of a leisurely stroll, a midday snack, a good glass of wine without overindulging, lingering over meals, and time with family. Like every country, Italy has its strong points and its weak points. The bureaucratic end of things can make it a headache to live here, and waste SO. MUCH. of your time, but if you’re able to roll with the punches and keep a good attitude, you’ll be able to enjoy all the magical little things about life in Italy. That is, if you have any free time left over after running from office to office to do just about anything. Hahaha.
In 2020, while expecting our first baby, we decided to make the leap to move to the USA and be close to my family. After successfully completing the green card/immigration process for my husband, we arrived back in Michigan in the summer of 2021, where we now work and raise our 3 kids.
Whether Italy for you is still an elusive dream or you come here on the regular, I hope you'll stick around and be inspired to finally plan that Europe trip or laugh with me as I'm constantly learning new things about this culture, the good and the bad!
About Jenny
I'm a professional ballerina and dance instructor turned baking and cooking enthusiast, grounded by faith in Jesus. Or, Ballerina, Baker, Beloved.
Ballerina
I started dancing at the age of 5, and by the time I was a teenager I was spending summers training around the country with American Ballet Theatre in NYC, Joffrey Chicago, BalletMet Columbus, and Joffrey Midwest. Upon graduation from high school I moved to Jackson, MS, to dance and tour professionally with Ballet Magnificat. In 2013 I moved back to Michigan where I taught and choreographed dance with Dance Arts Academy and Company Dance Traverse for several years before moving back to Italy.
Baker
I find baking and cooking fascinating, and delicious. It's structured, yet leaves room for infinite creativity, and it brings people together. Growing up my home was always full of delicious smells and chocolate chip cookies. My mom is an excellent cook and baker, and she let me help her in the kitchen from the time I can remember. When I was older we took cake decorating classes together and started making desserts for friends, family, and events. I’ve worked in worked in bakeries both in the US and in Italy, as well as a fresh pasta shop in Florence.
Beloved
I am beloved by God. A trophy of God's grace. The best thing to ever happen to me, better than ballet, better than baking, was receiving God's free gift of salvation through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This great mystery of God becoming man, enduring the death we deserved, this overflow of love is what spurs me on to love Him and to love others.
