Hello Blog Friends!
We are definitely feeling autumn vibes around here this week! I had to give in and turn the furnace on, when, by Tuesday the indoor temperature had dropped below 17ºC 😊. Fortunately we have also had some sunshine and the colder weather is always much easier to accept on a sunny day!
It has been a week of meetings as the Day Camp committee has been focusing on the Day Retreat for Team Alumnae, taking place 2 weeks today. Tuesday morning I met on FaceTime with Gillian who is tasked with preparing the “welcome package” for participants. We had a good talk about what needs to be included and she put together a sample for our planning group meeting, which was held on Thursday evening.
Tuesday evening I met on Zoom with Guylaine so that we could work out how to change the signature that appears at the bottom of the office email address. I had been waiting to change the line with the DC Blog URL until we were satisfied that the blog migration was successfully completed. Guylaine does still have some tidying up to do on this site because the format is still not exactly what I had hoped for, but at least the content is all here and going forward all the posts are in one place, which is a blessing.
Thursday afternoon I biked over to the farm stand tp pick up my second to last farm share (CSA) of the season and came home to find that Thomason had put his paws on the kitchen table and managed to smash one of my pretty breakfast plates.GRRR! I just had time to clean everything up, put the veggies away and gobble my dinner then to log onto Google Meet for the Autumn Retreat meeting. It was productive although unfortunately our speaker was not free to join us. I think we are now on track for the Retreat, we have 11 people registered, which is encouraging, and I’m hoping for a few more as the date approaches. I do not care at all about numbers but I do like to think that we have reached everyone who might truly appreciate the event, as I would hate to think that any of the alumnae were overlooked in our publicising of the Retreat.
Outside of office hours (and meeting hours!) I have been working in the garden as much as possible. I mowed the lawns for what I expect was the last time this season since the grass stops growing as it gets colder, and of course once we have a killing frost it begins to die off for the winter. There are still a lot of leaves on the trees so there will be plenty of raking to come but my autumn bulbs have arrived so I need to prune down the plants in the flower beds and get the bulbs into the ground. I did plant the daffodils this morning but ran out of time to plant the alliums.
Over several evenings, I also finished knitting a small shawl, and blocked it and then knit up another shawl from some bulky alpaca yarn, which I received as n unexpected Thanksgiving gift😊
This afternoon it’s Bake & Blog, I’m making two more cranberry orange loaves to freeze as part of my Christmas gift stash and I also decided to bake a Challah loaf. I will be leading the bread-baking tutorial that forms a component of the Retreat and have not made this particular loaf for about ten years so I thought it wise to do a test run 😊. For about 25 years I had the privilege baking this special braided loaf that was used to decorate the altar at St. Matthew’s Church on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday. After the Service the Rector and his family got to take it home and enjoy eating it too! I also made it sometimes for our family but since living alone have not often had a reason to make it. Fortunately it freezes very well so I can enjoy a few slices while it is nice and fresh and then pop the rest in the freezer. Because it is a loaf that contains eggs it is especially tasty when used for French Toast, so I shall be enjoying that too. I guess I had better get to work right now so will finish up with our recipe.
Continuing on this month’s Soup theme here is an autumn favourite, which I plan to have for supper this evening with a slice (or two!) of Challah 😊
Beef Chilli Soup
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 8oz. ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 fresh red chilli, sliced
- 4 Tbsps. flour
- 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes (fire-roasted if available)
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 cups cooked kidney bean (or 1 can)
- 2 Tbsps. chopped cilantro
Heat the oil and fry the onion and meat for about 5 minutes, or until the beef is no longer pink, stir in the garlic, chilli and flour and cook, scraping up the brown bits, for several minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil and stir in the kidney beans. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Add the cilantro and season to taste. Serve with crusty bread and garnish with grated cheddar, if desired. Serves 4