And so we come to Easter Weekend and I saw my first robin this morning. Yahoo!!!
Holy Week has been pretty different for me as I had not expected to be laid low with flu. What a good thing most of my Easter projects were completed, with the exception of the baking, which I’m tackling today (having a Bake & Blog Saturday, again).
Meanwhile my second Godson, Alexander, is celebrating his 4th birthday in Ottawa. Part of me wishes to be there, helping with the festivities but his Montreal Godfathers were not able to drive up and not being much of a “party-person” at the best of times, it seemed wisest to stay home and make final Easter preparations here. I’m baking a batch of Hot Cross Buns and some sugar cookies, both of which will be iced later today then wrapped and added to the small orange crates, which, last week, I painted an lined with fabric.
Of course yesterday, it being March in Canada, we awoke to a thick covering of icy, slushy snow so most of Good Friday morning was spent attempting to clear the driveway, deck and porch, VERY heavy going! In the afternoon I listened to some exquisite music, the Miserere, from Tenebrae by Gregorio Allegri, one of my all time favourite pieces. I was sorry not to attend the Maundy Thursday table Eucharist and Friday evening Gathering at St. Stephen’s but am anxious not to spread germs to anyone and also did not think going out in freezing rain at night was the best plan. Fortunately the Internet and radio have provided wealth of lovely Easter music, which combined with devotional readings has offered an ample opportunity for prayer and meditation times during Holy Week.
Needless to say, as of about Tuesday, email correspondence has tailed off as all churches go into “Holy Week mode”. This is an annual occurrence and totally understandable so much Day Camp work has to also go on hold until next week.
The Day Camp committee has been most accommodating in rescheduling last Monday’s meeting to next Tuesday. There is just too much to discuss to miss a monthly gathering at this time of year. I am sure by next Tuesday there will be no chance of my being contagious and so I look forward to sharing all that has happened over the past month and soliciting suggestions and advice from the Day Camp “groupies”!
Despite not feeling so hot, I’ve managed to make baby Andrew’s first crown, ready for his April 7th birthday and am still progressing with Bishop Mary’s shirts, just one more to make! And since one hopes that spring will eventually come to stay around here I have been looking through the pile of pretty cotton fabrics that Anna gave me for Christmas and am determined to sew a couple of new dresses, most likely from the Modern Japanese Sewing books, I just LOVE those designs!! I’m also cat sitting again for a friend who is visiting her son in Texas next week. She has commissioned me to make new box cushions for some benches in her home, so I’m hoping to accomplish that project too.
It is a bit hard to come up with a recipe to share this week given that the usual amount of cooking and eating hasn’t been happening around here, however, as my fruit boxes continue to inundate me with citrus produce, today I also baked a Clementine Cake. This is an unusual and really delicious dessert, fancy enough for special occasions, plus is freezes well, just needing to be garnished before serving. Enjoy!
Clementine Cake
- 5 or 6 Clementines (total weight 375grams)
- 6 eggs
- 1 heaping tsp. baking powder
- 225 grams sugar
- 250 grams ground almonds
Wash the whole clementines and place in a pot of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours. (You can do this part the day before baking) Cool, halve, remove the pips and place the fruits in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to chop finely. Add all the other ingredients and pulse again to mix thoroughly. Line the bottom of a 21cm spring form pan with parchment paper, butter the pan and fill with the cake batter. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven and bake for 40-50mins, or until the surface springs back when gently pressed with your thumb. Cool on a rack then remove from the pan and place on a serving plate OR wrap tightly and freeze. Before serving spread the top with whipped cream and sprinkle with chopped toasted almonds OR grate dark chocolate thickly over the top, place BRIEFLY under a heated broiler, just to melt the chocolate then spread evenly with an offset spatula.