Hello Blog Friends!
Welcome to November 😊. This post is being published ahead of the Day Camp Team Alumnae Day Retreat, which will be starting in a couple of hours. The plan is to create a special Wednesday Words post next Wednesday in which I will hopefully share some thoughts about the Retreat along with photos and links to a couple of the videos we watched.
Much of my time this week has been taken up with preparations for the Retreat although of course morning office hours always include general CTM “housekeeping”, like day-to-day online banking, liaising with the Treasurer, President and other Board members, etc. Early in the week I also sent out an email to a long list of Day Camp Coordinators, Clergy and other people who, in the past, showed interest in Day Camps. I gave them details about the Programs we will be offering for summer 2022, advertised for the Carols & Cocoa Event, happening on December 11th and told them a bit about the e-book “Come Together” that we hope to launch this month. Depressingly no one has yet replied but it is early days yet and I shall continue “badgering” on all three of those subjects 😊
Tuesday afternoon Jillian came for a visit on her way home from the school where she teaches so we were able to “talk shop” about a variety of Day Camp matters. There has been a bit of progress around Carols & Cocoa for which Jillian will be compiling peoples’ video submissions. We had set an initial deadline of November 6th for the artists to let us know the titles of songs or other pieces they plan to present. and so far several have indicated they will take part but only two have actually sent in the titles, more badgering is obviously required 😊.
Wednesday evening I met over Skype with Jessica and she gave me an update on the e-book layout she has been working on for us. We hope to launch the completed book on the CTM website later this month and it looks as if the penultimate draft version will be completed this weekend. Yay!!
Thursday evening was our monthly Day Camp Committee meeting so it was great to check in with everyone about all the ongoing plans we have and to also do various bits of “housekeeping”. We are still working through the inventory list I created of supplies that we hope to donate. Committee members have offered suggestions for what might be done with some of the items, now I will need to follow up and see if places actually want them 😊 Of course we also discussed final arrangements for today’s Retreat as everyone on the committee is participating. Time is marching on so I had better end off and make my final arrangements too.
One evening this week I enjoyed a dinner of stuffed Delicata Squash so I decided to share the recipe as it is suitably Autumnal.
Stuffed Delicata Squash with Chestnuts
- 2 Delicata Squash
- 1 cup chopped chestnuts
- 2 cups bread cubes
- 1 cup grated Cheddar
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
- 1 Tbsp. fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsps. milk or cream
Halve the squash, lengthwise and remove the seeds, Rinse and dry the seeds and lay them on a small baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Place the squash halves, cut side up, on a parchment lined baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the bread cubes on another baking tray in a single layer. Roast the squash in a 375ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until tender Toast the bread and seeds during the last 15 minutes watching that they do not burn.
Meanwhile combine the chestnuts, cheeses, salt and pepper and sage. Beat the eggs with the milk or cream and fold into the mixture. Once the croutons are toasted, fold them also into the mixture. Pile the stuffing into the squash “boats”. If there is too much you can bake the rest in a small casserole dish. Return the boats to the oven for a further 15 minutes or until the filling is bubbling.
Sprinkle with the toasted seeds before serving. Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish.