Sunshine Risotto

Here comes another recent culinary adventure and get ready for more to come :)

I have decided that is enough is enough with all this talk about planning meals and decided to start doing something about it. We have a chalkboard in the kitchen that we haven't done much with and so I decided what better way to use it then to write my menu items on there so it is plainly visible to me. So far it has turned out to be a success.

This recipe is for the Sunshine Risotto from The Italian Cookbook by Fiona Biggs. I think next time I may add mushrooms or olives to it. I think green olives would have tasted very very good with the rest of the flavors.



Serves 6 | prep 10 mins + 30 mins soaking | cook 40 mins

Ingredients
12 sun-dried tomatoes
6 1/3 c. Chicken or Vegetable stock
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 large Onion, chopped finely
4-6 Garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 3/4 c. Risotto Rice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 cup freshly grated aged Romano cheese
Olive oil for drizzling

Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and pour enough boiling water over to cover them. Let the soak for 30 minutes or until they are supple to cut. Once ready, drain, pat them dry and shred them.

Bring the stock to a boil and then reduce the heat but keep it simmering.

Heat the olive oil in a deep pan (large enough to cook the rice) over medium heat and cook the onions for 2 minutes or until soften. Add the garlic and cook for 15 seconds.

Reduce the heat, add the rice and mix to coat in oil. Cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes or until the grains are translucent.

Gradually add the stock a cup at a time, stirring constantly, adding more liquid as the rice absorbs each addition. Increase the heat so that the liquid is bubbling. After 15 minutes stir in the tomatoes.

Continue adding the stock, stirring constantly, until the risotto has been cooking for 20 minutes or the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy.

Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley and half the cheese. When serving drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Union 2012

The time of year has come and gone again when we have a team from Union University, in Jackson Tennessee, come to Providence for their Spring Break Mission Trip. I felt this year was definitely different from the previous years, which I believe is due to the fact that I am no longer in school and therefore have more time to spend with the team.  It was a blast and they are awesome people. They definitely left a place in my heart and there could be some future road trip plans in the future :)

The team (10 people) this year had to be the largest we have had since I started at JWU, but with so many people we were able to reach more of Providence and spread out to other college campuses. We began the week with a little tour and history of Rhode Island, followed by a home cooked meal and conversation about the schedule and spiritual life of Providence. After a good night sleep, Sunday was spent all day with church members from Grace Harbor and ended with some much missed service review. I was very proud to be a member of Grace Harbor this day because my fellow members just swept up the team in taking them to lunch and including them in their afternoon events. I know the team greatly enjoyed the church, it's members and all the conversations they had.

Monday, they really got down to work. We didn't really ease them into into sharing the gospel, we just kind of gave them directions and sent them on their way. It was a good way for them to get a feel of the New England culture, people and spiritual environment. Over lunch we heard the stories and struggles of sharing with people in the morning, gave them a few pointers and then sent them out again for the second half of the day. You see people in New England hate small talk and if they sense that there is an arterial motive to the conversation then they get frustrated and will cut it off. They prefer straight shooting. The second half of the day I spent with one of the groups walking on Federal Hill and Broadway. They took what we said at lunch and applied it to their approach of talking to people. Yes some of them got turned away but many people were open and willing to talk. Amanda, a senior at Union, was stopping and talking to every person sitting on stoops. She even stopped to a waiter whom she returned to talk to a second time on our way back. It was a very fun and productive afternoon. That evening we went to our weekly Monday Coffee & Scripture which was great because some of them were able to answer the students' questions about the passage we read because they took theology class or were studying that as their major.

Tuesday was spent on Johnson & Wales and Rhode Island College campus promoting Christian Student Fellowship or Christianity Explored. I was at the RIC campus with David, Teala and Emilee, talking to students about the spiritual life on campus and if they would be interested in going through Christianity Explored. Teala and I talked with about 6 students. Many of them were of no religion and weren't interested or were nominally Catholic. Vanessa, was one of the girls we talked to and was interested in meeting up. I have contacted her since but have not heard anything from her. Please pray that the Lord would work on her heart. David and Emilee said that everyone they spoke to was open and happy to talking with them. After lunch we decided to play some Frisbee and see who would join us because at this time the students were on break and in clumps so it's a lot harder to talk with them. 2 guys did join us, one was Jewish and the other was nothing but he was interested in Christianity Explored because he was taking a God class for psychology. He has not shown up yet so please pray that the Lord would work on Him. We decided that since it was the first day of Spring some Rita's was in order, so we took a little detour before meeting the rest of the group.
That night the team ran the entire Tuesday Night Truth meeting, with Amanda sharing her testimony, David leading us in Worship and Joshua brought the message. Because of the work the team did earlier on the JWU campus we saw some new faces and have seen them since. This is very encouraging. We ended the evening with a very large, rambunctious outing to Pastiche, a delicious dessert place on Federal Hill.

Wednesday was their demolition day at the Providence Rescue Mission and they were so pumped for it. The Rescue Mission was given a house to use for whatever they needed and so they are turning it into overflow for the women, along with administrative offices. The team spent the entire morning and into afternoon gutting the basement of anything and everything. They returned to us so tired and dirty, but were super excited about the work they did and work the Mission was doing. The evening was spent as a group at Liz's house for dinner and relaxation. It turned into a night of jam sessions, catch phrase and fits of laughter. 

Friday was spent entirely with us and the leaders of Christian Student Fellowship. We had our regular leaders meeting, a large Coffee & Scripture and a very delicious lunch at Olga's Cup and Saucer. That afternoon the team split up all around the city just doing normal stuff, seeing who they could get into conversations with. The day followed with an evening of what started out as homemade pizza at the Reid's, a family at Grace Harbor involved in Foster Care, talking with Jonathan talk about Foster Care and Adoption in the United States and what it should mean to the Christian. We planned on making pizzas, which was going well until we tried to remove them from the pan and realized we forgot to spray them. The top of the pizza was delicious though. Thank goodness for Domino's :) Since it was our last night together we returned to our apartment for a very late night/early morning of Wii Just Dance. 

All in all it was a great week of friendships built, the gospel shared and memories created. 

 

Goat Cheese, Pear and Walnut Salad...yummmm!

I finally have all of my cookbooks in one place and am going to start making things from them...finally. I bought "The Italian Cookbook" a few years back but just never made anything from it. I was flipping through it the other day and found a recipe for a Goat Cheese, Pear and Walnut Salad. Doesn't that just sound divine? It was delicious. I even cut it in half and it lasted me for about 4 meals.

Serves 4 | Prep:15 mins | Cook: 10 mins
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups dried penne
1 head radicchio, torn to pieces
1 Webbs lettuce, torn to pieces
7 Tbsp chopped walnuts
2 ripe pears, cored and diced
5/8 cup arugula, trimmed
2 tbsp lemon juice
5 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tomatoes, cut into fourths
1 small onion, sliced
1 large carrot, grated
9 oz/250 g goat cheese, diced
salt and pepper

1. Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the pasta and cook until done. Drain the pasta thoroughly and refresh in cold water, then drain again and set aside to cool.

2. Put the radicchio and Webbs lettuce into a large bowl and mix together well. Top with the cooled pasta, chopped walnuts, pears and arugula.

3. Mix the lemon juice, oil, garlic, and vinegar together in a measuring cup. Pour the mixture over the salad and toss to coat the salad leaves.

4. Add the tomato fourths, onion slices, grated carrot, and diced goat cheese and toss together until well mixed. Let the salad chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour before serving.

Russia Trip 2012

This was my fourth year going to Russia and it was by far the smoothest trip. We raised more than enough for each person to go and had no issues with traveling or visas this year. We were a team of 8 (including our translators) who spent time in Zavolzhy'e, Russia giving presentations at schools and speaking English with the students. It may seem like a bizarre thing to do on a mission trip, but the Church we support, Christ Our Savior Church, can not go into the school and invite students to the English Club they provide. Parents aren't even allowed in the schools and so the fact that we can enter them is huge and a great connection for the Church.

I need to give you a little background at this point. In Russia Baptists are seen as a cult who kill their babies and drink their blood. This stereotype is from the communist rule. If you were to ask anyone they would identify with the Russian Orthodox school because that's just what you are. Every year we go we meet someone who has stepped into a Baptist church for the first time in their lives. Last year it was Natalia, an English teacher at one of the schools who set up our schedule this year. Natalia had a meeting with teachers from the different schools we attended, in order to set up our time there. She had an hour to speak and for 45 minutes of the hour she spoke about how Baptists were not bad. This is awesome considering she is not a believer and just shows how the Lord is working.

We spent 4 days in Zavolzhy'e, 1 day in Nizhny Novgorod and 2 days in Moscow. We began the week by attending church, enjoying a wonderful lunch they made for us and ending the day with youth group. That Monday we went on a little tour of a nearby region with the best students from 4 different schools and then had a festival where we learned about each other's region/state and handicraft. We were very excited for this opportunity because of the history of Rhode Island. If you do not know it was founded for religious freedom by a Baptist named Roger Williams. This was a great opportunity to mention this in the school without being asked first. For the handicraft we had a little difficulty thinking of one because what they would consider handicrafts we have turned into jobs or we buy the item. After some debate we decided put our degrees to use and talk about cake decorating. It turned out to be a huge hit and the students loved learning how to pipe on a cake and eating it too. The students presented knitting, silk ribbon sewing, painting, beading and macrame. It was a fun time had by all and after presenting our handicrafts we were able to go around and attempt them as well. On our way to this festival, while taking the tour, we stopped in the middle of nowhere, got off the bus and there was a group of ladies in traditional dress waiting to great us to the region in song and the presentation of their traditional bread. It was a fun little surprise and treat to experience. At the school itself we also took a little tour of their museum. (Every school has a museum) The museum was created by one of the teachers who, coincidentally, also speaks German. They had me ask him questions in German, translate his answers to English and then our translator translated them into Russian. Very confusing, but it was fun.

One of the things I loved about this year was that the students we met on Monday we also saw the rest of the week at their schools, ice skating and pizza party we had. They were all so eager to talk with us and practice their English. Think of a person who inspires you and it's usually a famous person or parent, but for these students we were theirs. They told us how we inspired and encouraged them to learn better English and do well in school; this touched my heart and blew me away. We went to three other schools during the week, one of which had Americans for the first time at their school and were the first of the school in the region to have Americans visit. During the week we invited the students to ice skating and a pizza party at Sputnik on our last night there. This was one of the main goals of our week for the kids to come so that we could talk to them about the English Club at the Church outside of the school but also build deeper relationships with them. 

I found that most of the students who came to everything went to the Gymnasium School, for students who do well, which we visited on Wednesday. They spoke very good English and I think it was one of my favorite schools to visit because we got to sit and talk with the students one on one over some tea and cakes. They also came ice skating and to the pizza party as well, so we literally saw them everyday we were there. One of the students who remains on my mind is a girl named Lena. I met her ice skating and the next day we ended up at her school for some presentations and conversation. She is a tiny little thing who loves photography, a common connection, and was full of questions to ask. We spent the whole of tea time at her school talking. She came to the pizza party as well and just had even more questions and was so eager to show me her photography. She speaks very good English and has a desire to go to the school for the gifted to improve her English and then to go to the Linguistic University in Nizhny Novgorod. I hope to continue conversing with her throughout the year and grow our friendship. 

The school to the left is in Nizhny Novgorod, which we went to on Thursday. By the time we got there school was actually over but the students had stayed to meet us a talk with us. It was a fun experience because they gave us a tour of their school and then showed us a presentation about Pancake (Crepe) Week, which ended just as we got to Russia. They showed us a little video and then had us participate in some of the games that they would play at the festival such as walking on a circle of rope and pancake tossing. It was entertaining. Afterwards we had lunch with a group of 11th class students whose parents and grandparents prepared the entire meal for us. Everything was from their gardens and homemade. It was delicious and one of the best meals the whole week.

Our time in Moscow with the missionaries there was both an encouragement and eye opener. We spent the first night hanging out with the team eating food and playing Nurts. Each member of the team is in Moscow for the same reason, to teach English and reach Central Asians with the Gospel, but they each have their own people group they have a heart for and all those groups are in Moscow. They have all lived in various different places in Russia and Central Asia. The next day we handed out flyers for the English business and then cooked meals for the ladies study and men’s meeting. Cat, Nicole and I cooked for a ladies bible study group at the home of one of the missionaries. The ladies were from different countries in Central Asia and were believers from a Muslim background. We all shared testimonies and listened to their stories of sharing the gospel with their family members and friends or things the Lord has opened their eyes to recently. They had such passion in them when they spoke and one of the ladies was actually moving back to her home country because she felt the Lord was calling her back to share the gospel with her family. We were all very reluctant to leave but we had to head back to the United States.

Addilyn Hawks

Addilyn Hawks is the cutest little one year old I have ever seen. She is always smiling and you can tell she is going to have a spunky personality. Her mother, Krystin and I went to High School together in Germany and was always a good friend. You would never know it if you saw her but Addilyn was recently diagnoses with Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis-Type 2, a liver disease with no treatment and the only lifesaving medicine is a liver transplant. She is in stage 3 of 4 liver disease and for many people with this disease are eventually diagnosed with liver cancer. She was placed immediately on the transplant list but was recently tested for cancer and it came back negative. Because of this she was removed form the list. This just means that in order for her to return to the list we will have to get worse. Something that is very difficult to hear and deal with as a parent. Addilyn will eventually have to have a transplant and so the family has set up a fund for her through the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA), a national nonprofit that organizes communities to raise funds for transplant-related expenses. They are trying to raise $50,000 for the transplant and the medicine she will have to take everyday for the rest of her life. Addilyn's fund site is COTA for Addilyn Hawks. This is a very loving family and I know that they are seeking the LORD through this entire endeavor for strength, comfort and wisdom, but knowing too that it is all according to his plan and purpose. If you would like to donate just click on the link above and It will take you to the page needed. Addilyn is a baby girl who is fighting for her life everyday and her family is filled with joy everyday they see her fighting the odds. Please keep her and the Hawks family in your prayers and pray that the LORDS will would be done.  

Baptism

A lot has happened with the campus ministry since my last update, but one very happy event was the baptism of Allie Graham. She is a spunky little person on fire for God. She came to us this year not only as a new student but also as a new Christian. She grew up Jewish and became a Christian over the summer by the grace of God. Her family and friends traveled up for this important event which was huge for them. Even though her becoming a Christian has affected her family, it did not stop her from making the decision that she did. Her baptism was a clear example of what Jesus said in Luke 14:26 to the crowds following Him. I do not think the gospel could have been preached anymore clearly or intensely that night.

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:26

It has been amazing to be a part of her journey since she came to Johnson & Wales University and she has just grown so much in Christ. The very same night as her baptism she also became a member of Grace Harbor Community Church. It has been a very exciting year so far for the campus ministry and this is just one of the many ways the Lord has been moving here.