Our crazy summer weather continues here in Montreal! Today there is actually a “High Heat” weather advisory; it is very hard to believe we are about to enter the last week of September 😊.
The week began with CTM’s Praise & Thanksgiving Gathering that took place last Sunday Evening. Our usual practice is to hold a Prayer & Praise Gathering during the week after Day Camps ends and before the start of Junior and Senior Youth Camps but this year it seemed wiser to meet after all the Camps were over so that each ministry could present a slideshow or video about their Program along with a short report and plenty of songs. More than 40 people turned out for the Gathering, which was followed with some refreshments. It was a special evening and I certainly enjoyed reconnecting with 10 of this year’s Travelling Team Members!
Monday evening we held our monthly Day Camp Committee meeting and had a good turnout with regrets from only one member. We covered A LOT of territory from the details for the upcoming Harvest Team Gathering, to initial Coffeehouse plans and, of course, a comprehensive look at our 2017-18 “Job List”. This last document includes committee meeting dates along with who has volunteered for devotions and secretarial duties, other jobs that span the whole year such a “Supply Person” or “Program Manual Typist”, names of people to approach for the writing and/or editing of every Program Manual Chapter and even a list of potential “Guest Bloggers” for our monthly Wednesday Words Post! So as you can imagine it was a very productive evening and now, God Willing we have a “roadmap” in place as we launch into a new Day Camps year 😊.
Tuesday, as is my usual practice after a meeting, I began to send out messages to various people we had targeted. This is also the time when I review the cumulative evaluations of the Team Leaders and compile a list of suggestions for different sections of the Manual. These comments are then sent to the people who agree to be involved in fabricating next summer’s Program. Meanwhile there was also general office work to deal with, like typing up the minutes of last Sunday’s CTM board meeting and once they were approved, sending them out to all the Board Members. With the Coffeehouse only 6 weeks away I also set up a Facebook Event for that. Jessica and Mikaela have agreed to be the co-coordinators , which is great so I’m sure the evening will run smoothly.
Throughout the week there have been a fair amount of other activities to keep the household busy.
Renovations continue on the home immediately next door to us so my office time is punctuated with all sorts of interruptions as the workers ask if they can put ladders on my side of the fence or as we are suddenly enveloped in clouds of sawdust and have to rapidly decamp from the porch into the house; never a dull moment!!
Monday afternoon I went with one of the contractors who now owns the next door property to sign some legal documents relative to our adjoining houses. The Notary’s office was right on the other side of the city so it was quite an adventure as we travelled in his large white pick-up truck! I was extremely anxious to get back home since the committee was coming to dinner and I had an apple pie to bake. AGH!!! But it all got done in time and I’m really glad to have that experience over with.
Other afternoons have included baking (of course), cutting out fabric for Christmas Gifts (crafting and sewing for my Christmas List is now well underway), gardening, harvesting herbs etc Interspersed with more dinnertime guests and a couple of overnight visitors to add to the mix as well as two super early mornings with the Brady children.
This morning, after a run with Wil to make a CTM deposit at the bank and to buy an organic eggplant (!) I did a quick whiffle round the garden and then biked to a secondhand clothing store I had recently read about which also sells environmentally sourced new clothes made by local craftspeople. I was extremely proud to have downloaded the “Google Maps” App to my phone and to have programmed in the bike route. Sadly, of course, Google does not factor in CONSTRUCTION DETOURS and my simple 13-minute route proved quite useless once I hit all the detour signs. Sigh. Sadly, after finally finding the store, they did not have the bamboo leggings for which I was hunting but it was an interesting foray into a different area of the city and I was still able to make the round trip in just one hour 😊.
Once back home I launched into preparing a very large pot of Ratatouille (having procured the necessary eggplant),which will be my contribution for the Team Gathering supper on October 7th. So now it is time for another Wil walk although I do not think we will go very far since it is now 28ºC
outside but before I go we still need a recipe!
This Recipe was mentioned in one of my favourite Blogs and comes originally from Bon Appetit Magazine. It sounds unusual but it is super good!! Everyone on the committee gave it ***** so do try it 😊.
outside but before I go we still need a recipe!
This Recipe was mentioned in one of my favourite Blogs and comes originally from Bon Appetit Magazine. It sounds unusual but it is super good!! Everyone on the committee gave it ***** so do try it 😊.
Sour Cream Apple Pie
Topping
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 c. plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons flour
Filling
- 1 1/3 c. sour cream
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 or 5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
Pie crust (you can make your own, or use a pre-made one from the refrigerator section of the grocery store — I always do) fitted into a deep-dish 9″ or 10″ pie plate and chilled
To make the topping, in a bowl blend the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and flour until the mixture is combined well. Cover and chill the topping.
To make the filling, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and flour until the mixture is smooth. Add the peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples and stir the filling and apples together.
Spoon the filling into the chilled shell and crumble the topping evenly over it. Bake the pie on a baking sheet in the middle of a pre-heated 350-degree oven, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. (You might need to put a bit of tinfoil on top of the pie during the last 15 minutes to prevent the top from burning.) Transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely.