I had anticipated that this year the current season would be even more penitential than usual as the world faces it’s second Lent amid pandemic, however, as was the case in Advent (the other season of penitence and preparation) Lent has turned out to be very full and has gifted me with so many spiritual insights as I traverse the “desert”.
The Day Camps Cook-Along course ended last Saturday, amid requests from the participants for a “Season 2” in the autumn. We are already talking about ideas for a course based on Harvest Thanksgiving recipes. Yum!
Next Saturday, March 27th we will be holding our first Team Alumnae Lenten Day Retreat. The Theme is “Together in the Desert” and our guest speaker will be Chris Belle, who is currently President of CTM and also a Day Camp Team alumnus! We are hoping a few more alumnae will sign up in the coming week because there is plenty of room for everyone on Google Meet!
Much of this week has been spent wrapping up the Lent/Easter issue of the Networks newsletter and also compiling all the documents for our upcoming AGM. Tomorrow afternoon will be our March Board meeting so I have also prepped a template for taking minutes and have sent out notices and documents for it.
Afternoons have included a couple of online meetings and on Wednesday an IN PERSON visit with Jessica, which was such a treat in these solitary times. Jessica had very kindly agreed to visit a hardware store and procure some special varnish for me to use on my pysanky so she delivered that and also stayed for tea and Hot Cross Buns and a nice long chat. While we talked I was able to apply the first coat of varnish on the pysanky and then did a second coat Thursday afternoon.
That day I had a short virtual visit with my eldest Godson William. He is now 11 years old (hard to believe J) and every couple of months he asks if we can have a virtual visit. His family lives in Ottawa, and we used to have lots of in person visits when both his parents were part of the CTM Board but since they are no longer members and of course with pandemic restrictions we haven’t met in person for over a year.
On a couple of afternoons I completed the spring patchwork duvet cover that I started last week and it is looking very cheerful on my bed! A friend has also asked me to make a couple more masks so those have now been cut out and I hope to start sewing them today. Of course there is baking to do as well so this post had better get finished with our recipe!
Despite the slightly warmer weather it is still definitely the season for a big bowl of soup. One night this week for dinner I had Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Basil Pesto. It is quite a quick and easy soup to pull together and so delicious, especially with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- 1 cup chopped green onions
- 2 Tbsps. olive oil
- 1 28oz. tin fire roasted tomatoes
- 4 ½ cups chicken broth
- 2 cups chopped roasted red peppers
- 1 ½tsps. dried basil
- 1 tsp. sugar
- salt & pepper to taste
- Basil Pesto
Warm the oil and sauté the onion for 8-10 minutes. Add the broth, red peppers, tomatoes, sugar and basil. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Purée in small batches in a blender or food processor and season to taste. Garnish each serving with a spoonful of pesto. Serves 4-6.