April is zipping along around here and it is finally beginning to feel like Spring! Monday we will be holding our monthly Day Camp Committee meeting at which point we really need to grapple with a few key issues- like the on-going need for TEAM MEMBERS and LEADERS! and the holes still needing to be filled in the Day Camps Schedule.
A bit of progress has been happening in these areas as we now have two Team Applications (only need about 16 more 😊) and one more Church Application came this past week. There are still 6 slots to fill, including 2 in New Brunswick; it would be great to solve that problem soon! In order to offset the feelings of impending doom, I have spent time doing some Retreat Week tasks. One afternoon I block-printed 40 note cards, which will be used to write personal prayer letters to each Team Member and Thank You notes to everyone involved in the Retreat. (Mandu “helped” by sitting on top of the cards, mercifully after the paint had dried!!)
I also looked at the Retreat menus and compiled a list for the advance Cooking & Baking schedule, as the plan is to begin in the month of May.
Tomorrow evening is Crossroads Youth Service and we are hoping to record the Day Camp Liturgical Dance when a group of young people present it. I’m meeting them at 530pm to teach the choreography and if all goes well we should have a recording done by 7pm!
So today has been spent on a marathon Spring Cleaning binge of window and curtain washing. Last Thursday I removed the coco matting from the front stairs so today I also restained the stairs and porch floor. Saturday is the best day for that task since it involves having to enter and exit the house through the back door, which can be a little complicated when Wil is in a hurry to go out!
Yesterday, Jillian joined me for several hours of “Minion” work, mostly the compiling of the new Music Binders but also some upgrades to this Blog (notice the links for Instagram and Facebook?). We had Rhubarb Crunch as a spring luncheon celebration and I got some giant oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies baked too.
Afternoons during the week, along with such duties as transcribing the minutes of the April Diocesan Council meeting, I had a more enjoyable time sewing some cute little trousers for the baby son of one of our 2014 Team Leaders, now married and living in Edmonton. They were so quick to make that I sewed 5 pairs so now I have some on hand for quick gifting. And yesterday I began making a bunch of Flower earrings in polymer clay, as my contribution to the carfts table at the Spring Coffeehouse.This post is not getting published until the evening since dinner was a bit late due to rinsing the last batch of curtain panels. I counted that there are a total of 23 panels to wash throughout the house! Mercifully, before 9am this morning, I prudently prepared a pot of slow-cooker chilli and so was able to sit down to a rib sticking meal with only a couple of last minutes garnishes to add. It certainly is pleasant to eat dinner with the sun still shining and as I write, at 7pm, some of the curtains are still hanging outside to catch the last rays and the evening breeze. Despite putting in an 11 hour day, all the windows are not yet completed so I guess I’ll be finishing the top floor at the same time as preparing dinner for the Day Camp Committee on Monday.
Regular readers will know that, every year, to remember my Mum, I bake Tropic Aroma Cake, on April 18th. This year her birthday falls on the same day as the committee meeting so it was a no-brainer to decide what we would be having for dessert! The main course is going to be a chicken and pesto pasta salad. All the food prep will need to happen Monday because, as mentioned earlier, tomorrow I won’t be home for long in the afternoon before heading back to St. Stephen’s house for Crossroads.
Before I wash up my dinner dishes I need to share a recipe. Last evening I made a very quick and tasty supper of Mushroom and Gouda Quesadillas. They would also make a nice quick lunch or even be good for breakfast!
Mushroom Quesadillas
- 4 -8” flour tortillas (preferably Homemade)
- 8 oz. brown or white button mushrooms, sliced
- 6 oz. Gouda cheese, shredded
- 2 Tbsps. Olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 8 oz. baby spinach
- 2 Tbsps., fresh lemon juice
Heat a large heavy frying pan, on medium heat and add the oil. Fry the sliced mushroom for approx. 8 minutes, until cooked but not dry. Lay out the tortillas on a clean surface and place an equal portion of mushrooms on half of the tortilla. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with handful of shredded cheese. Fold each quesadilla in halve and press the edges firmly. Return the frying pan to the heat and cook two quesadillas at a time, flipping when nicely browned. Once the cheese is melted remove the first two from the pan and add the second pair. Keep the quesadillas warm in a low oven. Cut each one into two or three wedges. On serving plates arrange half the baby spinach on one side, sprinkled with lemon juice, place the wedges of quesadilla on the other side of the plate. Serves 2.