Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
Made by hand ...Made by me. A look in Penny's Pantry
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| Italy is a little short on the ingredients needed for American baking. In fact, it is limited on lots of things that are found easily in America. So, being a cook and baker, I've had to find ways to make things from scratch or find reasonable substitutions. Nothing reminds me of this than cooking for the holidays. Take Vanilla for example. Not available here. So I had to learn to make my own. It is simple: vodka, vanilla beans, and a lot of time. The great thing is that it is sooo cheap to make it yourself! Even at European prices, mine cost .91 cents an ounce. In the US it would cost half that to make. Wal-Mart sells pure vanilla for $3.48 for 2oz. Very economical! |
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| Pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin risotto all need -pumpkin. Can't buy canned pumpkin here. When they start showing up in October, I buy, roast, puree, and freeze. Wallah! |
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| Brown sugar is nothing more than regular granulated white sugar with molasses. Now, this works great -it keeps the chocolate chip cookies coming and syrup for pancakes on the table (yep, I have to make that too) except I can't get molasses here. So it is a necessary import item! This holiday season cleaned me out ...hoping a friend in England can bring me back some! I just have to make one more batch of caramel corn!!! |
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| This is Thanksgiving dinner. EVERYTHING here is made by hand ...well, some things had to come from America like the cranberries, pecans and sweet potatoes. Takes some time time and planning (and a little hoarding/saving) to pull it off. It's worth it though. |
Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
All's hollow this eve -No festivities
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| Halloween 2012 |
A: No.
The celebration of Halloween is gaining in interest and popularity here ...but still not celebrated at large like in the States. Pumpkins are available -but not plentiful like in the US. When I notice them, then I start looking and checking prices. They range from $1.25/2lbs. - $2.06/2lbs.
In the city (where we live) people live in secure apartment buildings ...meaning there is locked entry door to each building (like in Seinfeld). You have to know someone, ring their "doorbell" and then be "buzzed" in. This makes going directly to peoples doors difficult ...thus making trick-or-treating hard too.
So, in short, they like the idea and small pockets of folks throw a party or let their kids dress up. By in large, there is nothing happening here tonight.
Now, tomorrow is a celebrated holiday for Italians, All Saints Day with the following day, Day of the Dead. It resembles our memorial day to visit loved-ones grave sites -but from a religious perspective. November 1st celebrates the saints and November 2nd is to actually honor the dead.
Here is a list of recognized/celebrated holidays taken from about.com
Italian Holidays, Festivals, Feast Days
Below is a list of the Italian national holidays plus feast days for some of the major Italian cities and a representative sample of festivals:
January
1: Capodanno (New Year's Day)
6: Epifania/La Befana (Epiphany)
7: Giornata Nazionale della Bandiera (Flag Day)—celebrated principally in Reggio nell'Emilia
February
3: San Biagio (patron saint of Doues)
9: San Rinaldo (patron saint of Nocera Umbra)
14: Festa degli Innamorati (San Valentino)
Movable: Martedì Grasso (Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday)—part of Carnevale
Movable: Mercoledì di Ceneri (Ash Wednesday)
March
8: La Festa della Donna
16: San Ilario and San Taziano (patron saints of Gorizia)
19: Festa del Papà (San Giuseppe)
19: San Proietto (patron saint of Randazzo)
Movable (can also occur in April): Domenica delle Palme (Palm Sunday)
Movable (can also occur in April): Venerdì Santo (Good Friday)
Movable (can also occur in April): Pasqua (Easter Sunday)
Monday after Easter (can also occur in April): Pasquetta, Lunedì di Pasqua (Easter Monday)
April
1: Pesce d'Aprile (April Fool's Day)
25: Festa della Liberazione (Liberation Day)
25: San Marco (patron saint of Venezia)
May
1: Festa del Lavoro (May Day)
June
2: Festa della Repubblica (Republic Day)
24: San Giovanni Battista (patron saint of Firenze)
29: San Pietro and San Paolo (patron saints of Roma)
July
10: San Paterniano (patron saint of Grottammare)
15: Santa Rosalia (patron saint of Palermo)
August
2: San Alessio (patron saint of Sant'Alessio in Aspromonte)
15: Ferragosto / Assunzione (Day of the Assumption)
September
19: San Gennaro (patron saint of Napoli)
22: San Maurizio (patron saint of Calasetta)
October
4: San Petronio (patron saint of Bologna)
November
1: Ognissanti (All Saints Day)
2: Il Giorno dei Morti (Day of the Dead)
3: San Giusto (patron saint of Trieste)
11: San Martino (patron saint of Foiano della Chiana)
December
6: San Nicola (patron saint of Bari)
7: Sant'Ambrogio (patron saint of Milano)
8: Immacolata Concezione (Immaculate Conception)
25: Natale (Christmas)
26: Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day)
31: San Silvestro (St. Silvester's Day)
Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
Designer/Sportsman -He's got it all
Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
Out ...well, In the mouths of babes!
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| Noah and his little friend on his birthday |
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| Troy and his friend Vuth. Vuth is from Tia-land and studied Italian at the same language school. Vuth is a priest ...now in another town studying Latin for a year before returning home to Tia-land. |
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| She says she now wants to be a doctor so she can help sick people :) She already looks the part. |
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| My boy is still loving school |
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| This is what you call a perfect study morning |
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| Two permanents behind the babies!! Those two front teeth are just starting to get loose. He says he wants to pretend and play the tooth fairy game :) Guess what song we might be singing for Christmas. |
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| Look at this mouth. This mouth has eaten fruits & veggies!!! That's right folks. If you follow my fb posts, a few weeks back she ate carrots. This week she ate a slice of fresh peach and tonight ZUCCHINI!!! Sure, gelato was promised, but it is sooo worth the bribe. There was a day when no amount of anything would have gotten a vegetable even close to her lips -let alone rest on her plate! |
Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
Highlights of August
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| Yep ...still sporting a diaper -UGH. |
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| Rolf and Troy. I have to say -my husband is looking mighty debonair and dashing :) |
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| Karen and Rolf drove us to this little town in the mountains. Breathtaking. |
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| Every two years Avant has a "All Europe" conference. All the missionaries serving in Europe come together for one week of worship, community, and teaching. There was a lot of hype about this conference. I have to say, it lived up to it. We had a great week. One highlight is the green you see in this picture. We live in the concrete jungle where you have to walk to find the "green" -and never without a parent. This was right out our front door! Marvelous! Makes me miss Mound City. Another highlight was the kids program. A church from Kansas came and did a VBS with our kids. Mine LOVED it. This is sooo special because these are things my kids just don't get. |
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| Troy -showing off some mad basketball skills. This boy is fit! :) |
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| Noah connected with several boys -it was awesome to see him playing with his "besties" -no language barriers and no cultural barriers. The names Ben, Kenan,and Joel are said often. :) Have no fears ...he was telling his Europe besties about his Mound City besties -too cute! |
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| So, there is this lake 30 min. from Verona. We hung out there one day and snagged a boat ride. |
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| This is Noah playing at a rock beach |
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| This is Rowen sitting in time-out at the rock beach for throwing rocks at Noah. |
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| I often pray that they will always be close, give each other perspective, and sharpen each other. |
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| Karen and Rolf drove us to yet another little city. It was Karen's birthday and she wanted to "Facciamo passeggiata" (make a walk). This was just the cutest little town. |
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| Who says women can't! These gals are more than just a pretty face. Now, Mulan should have been heading up this dragon parade -why is Pocahontas in front? |
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| Speaking of a pretty face ...this one has a mouth the works over time and an imagination beyond compare. |
Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
This blog is NOT about Chik-fil-A!
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| We drove up a near by mountain with friends to "make a BBQ" We almost got rained out, but thankfully it passed over and we were able to enjoy the time together |
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| This is Karen -the English teacher at the kids school. She has taken a liking to Noah & Rowen. She has lived (and speaks the corresponding languages) USA, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy!!! |
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| One day it rained -all of a sudden, hard and fast. It flooded our street! Later I saw large trees down that were up-rooted! It had to be micro-bursts or something. |
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| Then we went to a friends lake house. They have a house that sits on the side of a small mountain that over looks Lake Garda (a famous near by lake) and a fantastic view of the mountains. Look at Rowen compared to the little boy -night & day :) |
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| They had a slip and slide attached to a real slide. Big fun I tell ya! |
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| The boys would hold hands and run toward the pool -then JUMP! In this picture you can see the lake beyond the tree line. On the way home from this excursion, and while waiting for the bus a cold rain front came in. All of us at the bus stop crowded into the tiny covering. Troy and I shielded the children while cold rain pelted our backs. Some of the tourists said the bus from 2.5 hours ago had not come and they were still waiting! Ugh. Thankfully the rain soon stopped and in about 45 min (late) -the bus came. We were able to get home!! The buses can be unpredictable -it's always an adventurous gamble to rely on them. |
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Team Verona
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| OK -so bed head struck. I woke up this way ...the bride of Frankenstein! |
Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
Reflection on one year
One year?! Yes, one
year! What a challenge it has been. Some of the challenges have been good and
some, just plain tough.
On the good side of the struggle, I am learning a new
language, a new culture, a new way to organize life, and discovering a whole
new faith. Notice the word “new”. New is good.
New is exciting. Too much new is
overwhelming and tiring. I think this is
one of the primary reasons that people experience culture shock or culture
stress. It is just a normal part of
adjusting to all things new. Needless to
say, I am exhausted. My brain has to
work constantly. There is no
auto-pilot. When I do let myself
function there, I find that the produce I am buying isn’t weighed (thus we
don’t know how much it is) and I look dumb and I have to go weigh it before I
can buy it.
Health has been a struggle!
It seems my kids have been sick, one right after the other! I suppose
this is normal, new (oh, there is that word again!) viruses or strains of
colds. Rowen fell at school and split
her eye open -5 stitches and an ambulance ride (she likes this memory
–now). Rowen was also in the hospital
for 6 days with a bacterial infection. I
have also had a few minor things here and there. I have some muscle-skeletal issues that give
me problems …making lugging groceries a challenge.
Soon after I arrived, I received news of several major family health issues State side which included my mom having kidney failure.
When I left, everyone was fine.
It seemed things were falling apart! It was a very difficult time.
Put an extreme introvert, extrovert, feeler, and thinker on
a deserted island and what do you get?
Perfect harmony right?! Everyone circled up singing kumbaya. Ah, if only.
Team is hard work. As in all
relationships, it takes a lot of effort.
In our context, we are not just co-workers, we are the support network,
friendships, and cultural ties that fuel each other. So when my personality clashes with my
teammates personality, we have to figure it out or we’ll drive each other
crazy. This year has been a year of
learning each other and how best to relate to one another. It is not always easy –but it is an excellent opportunity for personal
growth! I have to say that I have some extraordinary teammates and look forward to how God is going to use us -together.
Ministry here is starting something from nothing. I’ve never done anything like this
before. When I was in Ukraine, there was
a church ready to plug into. There was a
local pastor in charge giving us things to do.
Here, we are it. We have begun
with learning the language (a must! Most people do not speak English well –or
at all) and cultural learning. It is
important to be able to communicate –but in ways that are respectful, relevant,
and effective. In essence, this first
year has been laying a foundation. Soon,
we will be able to start building! The cool thing
here is that it is God who builds His church …I guess that makes me the hammer.
Everyday life here is more taxing. A few things that make it different are: It
is impossible to multitask at home. Examples … I cannot run the oven and the
vacuum at the same time. Only one
appliance at a time. In fact, this
winter I could not use the oven at all unless I unplugged the hot water
tank! (I am feeling the need to remind
you this is a modern country.) To get
all the things needed on the shopping list, I have to go to multiple stores –by
foot or the bus. This takes a lot more
time and effort. In the summer, the day
is had in whatever the temperature is for that day –no AC! When paying a bill or mailing a card, you go
to the post office. There you take a
number and prepare yourself to wait …30, 45, even 60 min. before it’s finally
your turn. Daily life just takes a lot more planning and effort.
Maybe I am supposed to say that living in Italy is wonderful
or that serving God cross-culturally is an incredible experience. And while those things are true …I wouldn’t
always describe them that way …at least
not in the first year.
What I do know is that I am ready to see the Italian people
experience God! I am longing to walk an Italian through the bible and see her
become a disciple of Christ! I am ready to be a part of the church God is going
to build here. I know that it is all
worth the challenge.
Posted by
Troy and Penny Taylor
In:
Summer is here
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| OK ...so I posted on fb that puke stains marble. Who knew?! So I attempted to remove it with a mixture of peroxide and baby powder ...didn't work. It did lighten it a little. It is not very noticeable -thankfully! |
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| I had to cover it for 48hrs. It seems most things here are a process. |
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| I finally found a gallon glass jug! This is the seasons 1st batch of sun tea!!!!! |
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| My jungle (as Troy lovingly calls it). I love it! |
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| Her hair is getting longer. She is finally letting me "do" her hair. Her color is astounding! |
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| Noah is my partner when ever I am cutting melons. He likes to eat it off the rind. Forget the chunks of water melon, rind please :) |
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| His work = quality |
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| This is fresh basil (basilico) from my balcone. Pesto is on its way. |
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| Caprese insalta con pesto fresco. -Buono! |
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| New summer cuts. It's funny cuz' one of his teacher said he looked like a skin head and the other told him he looked like a bad boy. Hmmm ...this is how Troy's hair was on his first trip to try to find us an apartment ...and no one would rent to him. Hmmm ...correlation?? I guess this is his last buzz :) |
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| My boys. I sure think they are cute! |
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| One would be hard pressed to get a picture of Noah (awake) without this face. It really describes his personality -goofy. |
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| Che bella! |
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| Ah the potent cocktail of sibling hood :) I am noticing that the children look like they don't wear clothes. I promise they do ...but around the house in non-air conditioned 90+ degrees, underwear is just fine :) (for the kids, for the kids) |
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| Sleeping beauty fell asleep (finally! She is a night owl) hands folded like she was praying. Man oh man is this girl sweet! |
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