The BIG news around here this week is that yesterday I was FINALLY able to send the 2018 Program Manual to all the host communities.🎉 🎉🎉WHEW!!! It was at least 3 weeks later than we would have liked but there were so many changes this year that all the revisions took ages, plus, as is always the case, a number of the chapters we not submitted at the time of the deadline (December 31st 2017) so that really slowed down the work! But it is done and it looks great and this Monday evening Arnee (our noble typist and formatting expert) will be joining the Day Camp Committee for dinner so that we can present her with a “Thank You” card and gift (see photo).
Sadly there is not much other good news to share. Two potential Team people (one member and one leader) have indicated that they are not going to be applying, which is a big blow, as the list of candidates just seems to shrink and never grow despite Herculean efforts to contact more possible applicants. Sigh. AND we still need to find 4 more!!!!!! host locations. This week I have approached everyone from the Bishop of Quebec Diocese to a friend on the Chaplaincy Team at the University of Dublin, so far to no avail.
In bits of “spare” time, I have made 3 more recipes for the Retreat Week menus- Frozen Strawberry Pie, Curry Hummus and Summer Muesli. For the last one, I’ve just made and frozen the dry mix and will be adding all the fresh ingredients the night before it is served for breakfast on a hot July morning!
I also undertook the making of 5 “registration time” crafts to which I alluded in this week’s special “Crafts” blog post (I hope you have checked it out!!). I will be putting up another extra post during the coming week with those photos.
In the evenings I’ve also spent a few of hours sewing two early summer dresses with some really cool fabrics recently gifted to me by Jill.
As mentioned before, this Monday we’ll be having our monthly Day Camp Committee meeting. It is a real shame that 2 members cannot join us as we only have this meeting and the June one before Day Camps begin. Oh dear! That last statement makes me super nervous. I do hope this isn’t turning into another Jericho Walk year!
This morning I decided that I could no longer put off mowing the lawn for the first time since it was getting super long. I use a push mower and it just will not cut through deep grass. The job took over two hours but I was pleased with the results and my neighbour, Luke, passed by just as I was finishing and complimented me on it, which was a nice way to finish off the morning’s work. It is already late afternoon around here and I still need to get the last of those 5 craft samples finished plus continue working on a complicated 1st Anniversary present for a dear friend so we better have our recipe, then I can move on.
As mentioned earlier, one of the recipes I made this week was for Frozen Strawberry Pie. I actually made the equivalent amount of mixture for 3 pies but assembled them in two 9×13 glass dishes instead of deep dish pie plates because they will be easier to cut into 30 portions as well as easier to transport. So if you need to cook for a crowd you might want to consider that plan too. However, since they are all wrapped up in foil and in my freezer, I’ll include a photo of the more conventional version 😊
The recipe is also delicious using blueberries, raspberries or even sliced peaches. YUM!!
Frozen Berry Pie.
Graham Cracker Crust
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 6 Tbsps. melted butter
- 2 Tbsps. sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
Mix everything together and press into a 9” deep-dish pie plate. Bake in a 350º oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing the filling.
Filling
- 2 cups sliced strawberries, raspberries or blueberries
- 2 cups whole-milk vanilla yoghurt
- 3 Tbsps. honey
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Place the yoghurt in a large bowl and whisk in the honey then fold in the sliced berries. Whip the cream with the vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold the cream into the berry mixture. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and decorate with extra berries, if desired.
Freeze for several hours before serving. Serves 6-8