My goodness!! Even though October can sometimes seem like quite a long month, it has flown by so quickly this year despite the narrow focus of life in partial lockdown. Montreal and other regions of Québec still remain in the Red Zone but after so many months one does manage to get into a daily rhythm.
It has been a full week, beginning with a slew of meetings, which always bring a pile of follow-up work. The CTM Board meeting lasted 3 hours with the main focus being work on revisions to our By-Laws, a project that is scheduled to last until next February. AGH!!!!
Monday I tackled the minutes of that meeting and then in the evening moved on to the work of the Day Camp committee. We had some productive conversations at that meeting and have laid out plans for pre-Christmas events as well as looking at various aspects of 2021 programming. Miriam and Mae Anne are going to film the Liturgical Dance video. We want to create something flexible enough for one Camper to dance alone in a backyard or for a small in-person group who will still need to practice social distancing. Mae Anne has been our Liturgical Dance videographer for several years and her sister Miriam served as a Team Leader in 2019, I’m delighted they are up for the challenge!
At the DC committee meeting we also fleshed out plans for “Carols & Cocoa-Coast to Coast” a virtual Carol singing event which will be open to all Team Alumni and which will also be promoted as a family activity for recent host communities. Over the past few days I have begun work on an information poster and also started approaching potential musicians and other key helpers. There will no doubt be a number of tech challenges but fortunately we have a few experts willing to assist 😊
It has been great this week to have several one on one video chats with current and former committee members, (all of whom I also count as dear friends) who I so miss having over for lunches, tea parties and dinners!
All in all a lot of time has been spent on the computer as there were a couple of Diocesan committee meetings too! Outside work has included plenty more leaf raking and sweeping and on rainy afternoons I have managed to sew a number of fabric gift bags for packaging Christmas presents. There os one more upcoming sewing project to tackle as Jenna has asked me to make her a cape. She brought the pattern and fabric when she dropped by to pick up some more of the catered dinners I have been doing for herself and her husband, now we are just waiting for thread she ordered and once that arrives I will be able to get to work. There is even a chance she will be able to drop it off today so I may be able to put in a few hours of sewing this afternoon.
At the moment I have a giant pot of dog food simmering on the stove so Thomason is supervising my kitchen activities in case I need a “taste tester” 😊.Since it will soon be ready to ladle into freezer containers I had better close off now with a recipe.
One of the dishes I made for Jenna and Nicholas was a Butternut Squash Galette. It is a Fall favourite of mine so I made second one for myself as I had a particularly large Butternut Squash on hand 😊
Butternut Squash & Sage Galette
- 3 cups butternut squash, cubed
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar
- 2 Tbsps. fresh sage, shredded
- ¼ cup olive oil
- pastry for a single crust pie
- 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 Tbsp. cold water
Roll the pastry out to a 12” circle on a floured surface. Chill while assembling the filling. Combine the squash, onion, cheese, sage & olive oil. Toss mixture thoroughly. Place the pastry circle on a parchment lined baking sheet or pizza pan. Mound the filling on the pastry leaving 2” free around the edge. Fold the 2 inches of pastry up over the filling crimping as necessary. Beat the egg yolk and water together and brush over the pastry rim. Bake for 40-45 minutes in a preheated 375º oven. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serves 4-6.