Oh my goodness the last Sunday of Advent already! As usual, despite spending most days alone at home, the month of December still seems to have passed by very swiftly.
This afternoon we will be holding our wrap-up meeting of the Team Advent Program. Last Monday evening, at the Day Camp Committee meeting, we discussed how the program had gone and everyone was most enthusiastic and felt we should plan to have a Lenten Study 😊. Of course we also talked about “Carols & Cocoa-Coast to Coast”, which was enjoyed by approximately 40 people from 7 provinces (coast to coast!!). We have received a number of messages thanking us for creating the event and committee members were all in agreement that we should do it again next year. Jillian, who worked so hard assembling a composite video with all the performances has graciously provided a link to the channel where it can be viewed. At our Board meeting last Sunday it was suggested that the link be posted on the CTM FaceBook Page, which I have done but I will also include the link here so Blog readers may access it.
Both of these Day Camps initiatives were undertaken in the hopes of maintaining a strong sense of community among former Travelling Team Members as well as amongst the many churches and communities who have hosted Day Camps in the past and who we very much hope will continue to do so in the future. Of course no one yet knows if in-person camps will happen next summer, which is why we plan to put real effort into formulating a virtual program as one option for 2021.We do not have the capability to go “high-tech” but we will do our best to create a really exciting experience for our young campers to enjoy in the safety of their own homes.
Office time this week also included typing up the minutes from our Board meeting, which was another marathon session lasting close to three hours. AGH!! I really hope that next month we will see the end of By-Laws revisions and can return to slightly shorter meetings.
This week has had an added layer of stress, as the adapter on my laptop appears to be on its last legs causing huge problems in charging my computer. Wentworth (CTM’s tech guru) came over on Tuesday afternoon and diagnosed “fraying at both ends” so he offered to order a new one online since at that point the computer was dead. I spent a long time fiddling with it and finally (with the use of copious lengths of masking tape!!!) managed to get it to work. Since then I am leaving it plugged in at all times as there is no guarantee I could get it to work if I tried again. The new adapter will not be delivered until next Tuesday so things will be touch and go until then.
Sadly my beloved Crosley Entertainments Centra is also being very temperamental and since it is the only device on which I can play CDs this means I am unable to play any of our wide collection of Christmas music. At least while the laptop is functioning I can find lovely carols on the Internet. Our Diocesan Office sent out an email about a special virtual National Service of Lessons and Carols assembled by the choirs of Anglican Cathedrals across Canada. It took place last evening and was very moving. I was so thankful to be able to “attend”.
Once again I did my weekly baking on Friday instead of today as I will be occupied this afternoon with the Advent Program. I only did a small baking since my next grocery order is not until Tuesday and thus I am short of essential ingredients such as eggs, sigh, but I did manage to make a few mince pies, a miche and some Angel Biscuits for which I was grateful.
This post seems to have rambled on long enough so we had better close off with a recipe.
I still have several containers of puréed pumpkin on hand so one evening this week I made a tasty pasta dish with it.
Rotini with Pumpkin Sauce
- 4 cups cooked Rotini or Fusilli (I used Brown Rice Rotini)
- 3 cups roasted pumpkin purée
- 2 Tbsps. olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tsps. thyme
- ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
- freshly grated Parmesan
- salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion and garlic until tender. Add the thyme and nutmeg then stir in the pumpkin purée. Gradually add enough stock to make a thick sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes then add the pasta and gently until reheat. Season to taste and serve with grated Parmesan. Serves 3-4.