Here we are at the last weekend of April. EEK!
Once the month of May begins I have to admit that the start of the Day Camps season is only a few weeks away and that is a very daunting prospect.It has been a week of both joys and disappointments. Last Saturday evening I had a call from the Padre at Bagotville (an Armed Forces Base 6 hours Northeast of Montreal) saying they had changed their minds about doing a Day Camp on their own this summer and would like to have a CTM Team come if possible. This was excellent news since we still had 2 vacant slots in the Quebec Team’s itinerary. Then on Wednesday an email arrived from the Day Camp Coordinator at CFB Richelieu saying they would be cancelling their Camp as a lot of personnel changes are happening this summer and they just cannot handle a Camp as well. AGH!!!!! So we are now back to 2 empty slots, except now they are for Weeks 2&3 instead of Week 3&4. Sigh. Plus we also still have 2 slots to fill, one on each of the two Teams travelling to Ontario.But that is the way things go around here and one just has to pick oneself up and keep forging ahead.
I also received the disappointing news that a potential Team Member from the States would not be applying, which is discouraging when we still have only about 6 applications forms in hand. There is a total of about 12 applicants in all, but it would be more encouraging to actually have that stack of forms in front of me than just to have “promises”!At least this weekend is free of extra “events” so I am hoping to spend a large chunk of time proofreading the complete Program Manual. We are running a couple of weeks late with it, largely due to having made a number of changes in content that have required considerable “tweaking” along the way so this morning I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the email with the first complete manual draft copy.
Last Wednesday afternoon Jessica and I met over at the supply room to begin the Team Supplies inventory. We spent a couple of productive hours and came away with an almost completed shopping list. Team Supplies are a major program expense for us so each year we try to purchase a large quantity of one thing, such as markers or glue or construction paper, so that the next year we can focus on another like poster paint or balloons!
Yesterday Jillian and I had our weekly lunch visit and I got to hear all about her road trip to Toronto last weekend with her sister Joanne to visit with their sister Janice who works there. Jillian had visited an amazing Japanese stationary store and kindly brought me a special bag of “treats” from it!!We also discussed next Friday’s visit at which time she is going to begin work on the Day Camp Music Binders.
Next weekend includes our annual “Crafts Day” at which a group of Team Members and other helpers make samples of a lot of the crafts that will be part of this year’s program. Watch for a special bonus post of these photos next weekend! Many communities hosting a Day Camp like to check in to see the finished crafts and we also use them as examples at our various training events.
Next Sunday Mae Anne has organized an afternoon recording session of the 2018 Day Camp songs over at St. Peter’s Church. This recording travels with the Teams on their USBs and can be used as “karaoke” back-up if a Team does not have a musician. We also make the recording available to host communities (via DropBox) ahead of the summer.In order to keep everyone happy at both events, today I’m baking 2 kinds of biscotti and during the week will purchase some special fruit juice for both occasions….
Well it is now late afternoon and the sun is shining after a soggy morning. This past week has included warmer temperatures with both sun and rain, which has caused the grass to turn a brilliant green and all sorts of spring flowers to burst into bloom. What a change from so many months of ice and snow 😊
Well I think I need to go and package up my baking but first let’s have a recipe.This past Thursday evening we had our monthly Pod Gathering and I made a very tasty main course salad so I think I’ll share that recipe today.
Roasted Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Quinoa Salad
- 4 cups sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 ½ Tbsps. olive oil
- ½ tsp. chili powder
- 3/4 tsp. smoky paprika
- ¼tsp. cumin
- 2 tsps. sea salt
- ½cup pepitas
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed and drained
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 15 oz. cooked black beans or 1 can, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups spring greens
- ½ cup green onions sliced thin
- 2 avocados diced
- ½ cup cilantro leaves chopped
Dressing:
- 2 pickled Jalapeños ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ½ tsp. cumin
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- ½ cup cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup olive oil
Preheat oven to 425º toss the cubed potatoes with the oil and sprinkle with the chili powder, paprika, cumin, and salt. Bake for about 20 minutes or until tender. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and refrigerate. Toast the pepitas in the same oven for about 5 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring quinoa, water and salt to a boil, turn to low and simmer uncovered for 13-14 minutes. Remove from heat, stir, cover and let set for 5 minutes. Place in refrigerator to cool.In the bowl of a food processor combine the jalapeños, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and cilantro. With the processor on, pour in the olive oil. Process until smooth. After the potatoes and quinoa have cooled, add them to a large mixing bowl along with the black beans, spring greens, green onions, and pepitas. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix well.Just before serving, stir in diced avocado and chopped cilantro. Serves 6-8.