This may be a shorter than usual post since much of my typing is done with one hand while a small puppy lies across my lap and frequently ”edits” what I have just written by laying his snout across the keyboard.
It has been a very tiring week as I am only able to average a few hours of sleep each night since Thomason must be taken out every three to four hours.Life, however, goes on so this week has also included the monthly Day Camp Committee meeting (Tyler nobly came and “puppy sat” in the living room while we endeavoured to concentrate on the agenda as we met around the dining room table).
Then Thursday evening was a CTM Board meeting at which I serve as secretary so that was also quite “interesting”. Unfortunately for the on-going business of CTM but fortunately for me, we did not have quorum and so the meeting ended earlier than usual (woo hoo 😊).
Lots has been happening on the Day Camp front- the Community Planner is now in the “proofing” stage, several more host communities have sent in applications for their Day Camps and there is word of TEN or more prospective Team Members.Retreat plans are also firming up so I have begun to reach out to potential Workshop Leaders and Evening Speakers, no responses yet but messages were only sent out this week. Next month I intend to begin preparing some of the food for the Retreat Week and so spent a bit of time in the last few days writing out extensive grocery lists for several main course dishes as well as a bunch of different baked goods. Soon I’ll set up a schedule with no doubt an overly ambitious list of recipes to make each day of my cooking marathon! Stay tuned for photos and updates. 😊
The only other significant work this week outside of office hours has been PUPPY TRAINING, which will be taking up may hours of my days for approximately the next year. Thomason is still way too small to learn many of the commands but even in the last six days we have seen progress and I choose to believe he will be a quick learner. Riveron Labradors are all extremely bright!! We are of course starting with the word “NO”, which I fear is being used a lot around here as in “NO bark!” “NO Bite!”, “NO Chew!” or just plain “NOOOOO!!!!!”Although he has been napping for most of this post he keeps stretching his front paws out and adding letters to my words so I think I had better close off with a recipe and give him my full attention for a while😊 .
Most of our meals this have been pretty simple due to the many interruptions of puppy wrangling but one night I made Parmesan French Toast with Mushroom Fricassée. It was very yummy, especially for mushroom lovers. 😊
Parmesan French Toast with Mushroom Fricassée
Mushroom Fricassée-
- 1 mushroom stock cube
- ½ cup boiling water
- 8 oz. each sliced oyster mushrooms and café au lait button mushrooms
- 2 Tbsps. butter or margarine
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup heavy cream
French Toast-
- 8 slices brioche-style bread
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 6 Tbsps. butter or margarine
- Finely sliced scallion greens for garnish
Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water and set aside. In a large deep skillet melt the butter and sauté the mushrooms, with a little salt, until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the stock and cook until the liquid is almost evaporated. Stir in the cream and simmer until thickened, season to taste and set aside.In a shallow pie plate whisk together the eggs, thyme, milk and Parmesan with salt and pepper. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 250º and melt 2Tbsps. butter in a large heavy frying pan. Dip 3 slices at a time in egg mixture and fry in the butter for approx. 4 minutes per side until browned and crisp. Transfer to a parchment–lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. While cooking the rest of the French toast, reheat the mushroom fricassée. When all the slices are cooked transfer them to a serving platter. Decant the mushrooms into a gravy boat and garnish with scallion greens. Serve immediately. Makes 3 or 4 servings