In some ways October has seemed very long this year and in others it seems to have just whizzed by!
Here we are at the last weekend of the month and next Saturday we will be holding our annual Day Camp Coffeehouse. Eek! At least I feel pretty good about having, this week, produced a dozen lavender lotion bars as my contribution to the Christmas Crafts Table at the event 😊… but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Last Monday was our monthly Day Camp Committee meeting. Sadly 3 members needed to send last-minute regrets so only 3 of us gathered at the table. Even so we seemed to cover a lot of territory and since then I’ve been working hard on all the takeaways that come from a productive meeting and have been encouraged by the positive responses I’ve had to my various requests.
We seem to have almost allocated all the Program Manual chapters to prospective editors/writers, which is most encouraging and I have even put in a bit of work on some of the sections for which I have editing responsibility. Once November arrives, a December 31st deadline no longer seems very far away and so it is essential to have the materials in peoples’ hands as soon as possible.
Jillian seems to be doing a great job of organising the Coffeehouse although, as usual, the hardest part is finding enough performers. She has managed to convince a few musicians to play and had even approached my boarder, Steven (an accomplished violist and violinist) however he has nobly volunteered to stay with Thomason for the evening and it is way harder to find a willing soul for that job than it is to find performers!!
The above was written yesterday morning and it is now almost noon on a sunny Saturday. I have done the household chores including laundry, taken Thom for a 50 minute walk, and just spent the last hour raking and cutting down the perennials in my largest flowerbed. We still have not had a killing frost but there comes a point when the plants begin to look very ragged and it is best to get them trimmed now before the final raking out of all the flowerbeds.
This afternoon is scheduled for baking and Steven is out for dinner tonight with friends so it will be a supper on a tray for me! Meanwhile, I need to be thinking about getting lunch ready so had better wrap up this post.
Last evening Jenna joined us for dinner. I made Czech fish soup with dumplings for the main course and had hoped to make pumpkin bread pudding for dessert but there seems to be a dearth of canned pumpkin at the grocer this fall and so I made Apple Pecan Bread Pudding instead. It was very yummy and very easy to make in a slow cooker so I thought I would share my adaptation of the recipe I found on Pinterest😊
Apple Pecan Bread Pudding
- 8 slices brioche loaf, cubed
- 2 large apples peeled, cored and diced
- ½ cup toasted pecans, chopped
- 1 cup sugar
- 1½ tsps. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup each whole milk and whipping cream
- ¼ cup apple cider
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Grease a slow cooker and add the bread cubes, apples & pecans. In a large bowl Whisk together all the remaining ingredients and pour over the bread mixture. Toss well with a wider spatula. Cook on low setting for 3-4 hours. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Serves 4-6