It has been another very full week around here. Against a backdrop of FREEZING temperatures and TONNES of snow the work of summer (ha ha) Day Camps continues apace!
Tuesday evening was our monthly committee meeting and 5 members were able to attend. We covered a lot of territory. Especially focusing on all the work being done in reconfiguring our current Planning Guides and Program Manual. Jessica and Anna have already done some great work on the Guides and Christopher has invented some super flowcharts for use in the new Manual. Day Camps will have a whole new look in 2019 😊
Of course we might not have been quite so ambitious about revamping EVERYTHING if we had known that we would also need to move out of our supply room and build a whole new plan and location for our Team Training Retreat. Anyone who reads this blog will already know that the Retreat is a HUGE component in training our Teams so it is vital that we do our very best to create a new scenario that will allow us to continue to provide a top quality experience that will equip each Team Member to serve their mission. We have decided to try and hold a special meeting in late January devoted to this one topic since it will require a total rejigging of the schedule and a vast amount of logistics to pull off a new plan. AGH!!!!
We also talked about recruiting of Team Members as we are making a push to try and get more people to apply by the March 31stdeadline. It is always so difficult to get people to commit early but it could make so much difference in our planning if we knew who was going to be on Team. Our next group event will be the Epiphany Team Gathering, which falls right on the Feast of Epiphany (January 6th) this year. Before then I shall do a lot of badgering via FaceBook and email. 😊
Outside of Day Camps work there is another issue of CTM’s quarterly newsletter “Networks” to assemble. The deadline for submissions was November 15thand at present I only have one piece of content, which makes things a bit difficult to say the least. Yesterday I sent out a plaintive plea to the Board so I’m hoping over the weekend someone will take the time to send in some text.
When not madly typing away on the laptop a huge portion of the last few days was devoted to “The Changing of the Decorations”. As I walked around the house yesterday morning taking some photos for this post it was very hard not feel terribly sad that my dearest companion, Wil was not sitting on a chair or sofa looking elegant in one of his red Christmas bandanas. Living without him for the past 6 months has been a struggle and as we approach the festive season it seems harder than ever not to have his exuberant company. I am looking forward to the arrival of a puppy, probably in mid-February and he is sure to bring much joy but I know there will be a lot of work in training him so it will be a mixed blessing at first 😊
As usual in the colder weather I am doing some baking today, especially as I had no time for midweek baking in the past week. This afternoon I plan to make some Angel Biscuits, Cornmeal/Cheese Scones, Gluten Free Bread/Apple Hand Pies and a pizza for dinner, so I guess I had better close this off and get to work! But first here is your weekly recipe: –
Apple Hand Pies
- Pastry for a single crust pie
- 2 lbs. apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 4 Tbsps. butter
- 2 Tbsps. lemon juice
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp. each cinnamon, nutmeg & cardamom
- ¼ tsp. cloves
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 2 Tbsps. flour
- ¼ cup dried currants
- 1 egg yolk & 1 Tbsp. milk, beaten together
- ¼ cup sugar mixed with 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Roll out the pastry and cut into 16 4” circles. Place the rounds on parchment-lined baking sheets and chill. Melt the butter over medium het and sauté the apples for about 8 minutes. Add the lemon juice, salt, brown sugar and spices. Continue cooking for a further 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and currants and cook until the flour is absorbed and the liquid has evaporated. Place 2 Tbsps. of the apple mixture on 8 of the pastry rounds, leaving a ¼” border. Top with the remaining rounds and seal with a fork. Brush the top of each hand pie with the egg wash then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake in a preheated 350º oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden.