Oh my goodness! I hate to start another post with a “weather rant” but REALLY we have certainly had a ghastly week in Montreal!!!
Sunday into Monday the city received over 25cms of snow along with extremely cold temperatures (think windchill -35ºC) then Wednesday another 15cms immediately followed by freezing rain and heavy rain.
On Thursday all schools and some offices and stores were closed and the newspaper headline was-“ITS A MESS OUT THERE”. Thursday our CTM Board meeting was scheduled, having been moved from the previous Thursday. The Huyer boys had a day off school in Ottawa yesterday and so Victoria planned to drive down and actually attend a Board meeting in person (she usually Skypes in). After hearing the forecast she wisely bought train tickets but even coming that way was quite an adventure. In the end her parents joined them on the train trip and they all stayed overnight in the hotel above our downtown station, but Timothy stayed here as he had only made a last minute decision to come; so we had a nice little visit before he took the bus to meet them at the station for their noon train back to Ottawa. Victoria also brought my new (to me) iPhone YAY!!!!!!! And yesterday Wentworth dropped by to insert the SIM card and wipe the data off but it was taking him a very long time so he ended up taking the new phone away with him, hence the paltry 3 photos in this post😞
I must say I’m a bit sad to have no record of this Christmas as I was “phoneless” throughout the holidays but at least we can soon get back on track.
There are still big plans to migrate this blog to a new platform but there have been so many obstacles along the way that I’m not predicting exactly when the big event will occur. Brenda has been doing lots of behind the scenes experimenting so if you are a regular reader, please be patient.
Today I’m busy gearing up for the big, 3-hour RETREAT planning meeting tomorrow afternoon.(maybe I’ll have the new camera in time to even take some photos of the proceedings 😊) This afternoon I’ll be having a ‘bake-a-thon” and treats for the meeting will certainly be in order!
Graham, a friend of Steven’s, is going to be joining us for lunch today so I may have to finish this post later as I see time is marching on…
Well we had a nice lunch and now they have gone off to skate at a local park and I’m deeply into a massive baking- Rhubarb Crunch, Crusty Rolls, Gluten-Free Bread, Biscotti and Haloumi Bake for dinner.
The timer is ticking so I had better just choose a recipe to share and then get back to work.
I’m may try to write an extra midweek post about tomorrow’s retreating Planning meeting, I’ll see how the week plays out. If I can’t manage a separate piece I’ll certainly include a report next weekend.
The biscotti I’ve recently been making is a variation on one from a new cookbook I received at Christmas. I really like that they are made with whole wheat flour!
Chocolate Chip Cashew Biscotti
- 3 large eggs
- 2cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup toasted cashews
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup cane sugar
- 2 tsps. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. anise seeds
- 1 tsp. orange zest
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. sea salt
In a large bowl, combine flour, eggs, cashews, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, anise, orange zest, cinnamon and salt and mix until well combined.
On a parchment–lined baking sheet shape the dough into a rectangle about 5”x10” and about ¾” thick.
Bake in a preheated 300º oven until the dough is dry and firm, 25-30 minutes.
Cut into slices approx. 1”x4”. Return to the oven and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
