Another manically busy week is coming to an end and tomorrow we will be lighting the third candle of Advent.
The week began with the arrival of the first drawings for the 2017 DayCamp Logo (woo hoo!). After that propitious start, “radio contact” has been pretty limited and pretty well everyone in my little church-based world, is increasingly preoccupied with Parish/Community concerns and has little time for contacting CTM!
But the Agenda for this coming Monday’s committee meeting, the receipt for a final 2016 Day Camp payment, a birthday e-card for a Team Member etc. have all had to be dealt with, business as usual.
Monday evening Matthew came for the second to last of his art lesson series (the Impressionists- he is producing a pretty good copy of one on Monet’s “Water Lilies “ paintings, go Matthew!) and while he was sketching I had a phone discussion with Luke who will be in charge of the Christmas Crossroads (in the 18th) and had a list of questions for me. The is month’s gathering is one to which the JYC Campers are invited and so we will be starting early, right on the tail of the Calvary Chapel congregation who worship in St. Stephen’s House in the afternoon (EEK!). Of course it will also be the last Crossroads in this venue, as of January we will be migrating to Isaiah 40, who have graciously agreed to let us use Lennox Hall for or “regular” gatherings. We will probably use another church for the quarterly, larger Services with the JYCers.
Tuesday I had a baking afternoon as preparations continue apace for the 2 catering orders. As of this afternoon, ALL the canapés have been completed for the “Cocktail”. The other order began as a dinner for 12 and has, over the past few days, morphed into a gluten-free dinner for 20!! Needless to say this has required a number of (big) adjustments to the menus but I hope things are under control now.
Both Wednesday and Thursday friends joined me for dinner. The first of those evenings was with a church friend and we swopped stories about the tears we have been shedding over the closing of St. Stephen’s. Even though it was sad we also laughed about some things and are both committed to maintaining our friendship despite not seeing each other on Sundays any more.
Thursday evening was special because Steven had ordered sheets of beeswax and after a yummy dinner of Tibetan Momos we cleared off the kitchen table and spent the whole evening rolling tapers. Although the wax had been ordered in good time it had arrived late and so our tapers will only be used for the second half of Advent. Both of us have been making do with other candles from last year and I’m pretty pumped about lighting these beautiful new ones and saying the prayers over my wreath at dinnertime tomorrow. Yesterday was a marathon Gluten –free baking afternoon combined with an important wedding dress consultation meeting with Jessica. It was a real blessing to have her in the kitchen too as she helped dry the mountains of dishes and since she spends a fair bit of time here she also knows where things go in the cupboards! Somehow we managed to look at patterns and discuss fabrics and drink tea while I produced three kinds of GF cookies, an orange almond torte, mixed 2 batches of GF pastry and also baked 3 GF baguettes. The latter had nothing to do with the upcoming dinner but were a hostess gift for the Bishop from Sue as she and Nick were attending a Clergy dinner party last evening at the Bishop’s home. Sue sent me a text after they got home to report the baguettes had been a big hit (whew!) I was amazed they had turned out so well with the many distractions as I had mixed and baked them.
As I cooked long hours today it suddenly struck me that I still had to make my own dinner for tonight and find something to put in a sandwich for the bag lunch I take to church. Sigh! So I had better end this somewhat rambling post and head back into the kitchen!
But before I go I thought I would share a recipe. One of the GF cookies I made yesterday was Hazelnut Shortbread. It is so simple and delicious whether you eat Gluten-free or not. It freezes well too so if someone who requires GF food drops in for tea you can always pull out a few pieces a surprise them!
Hazelnut Shortbread
- 1 cup ground hazelnuts
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 Tbsps. Butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Line and 8” square tin with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl cream together the brown sugar, butter and vanilla. Using and wooden spoon, stir in the ground hazelnuts and brown rice flour. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and score into sixteen squares. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut the squares fully. Allow to cool in the pan on a cooling rack.