Hello Blog Friends
Here we are on the cusp of Holy Week. Lent seems to have flown by and it is truly beginning to look more “spring-like” around here. The crocuses are in full bloom and during the week I was able to spend a bit of time outdoors sweeping kilos of gravel off the edge on my lawns into the gutter. The city does come in the spring with a huge vacuum cleaner machine that hoovers up all the gravel, which was spread throughout the past winter on our very icy sidewalks. If one leaves it on the lawn it does horrible things to the lawn mower blades. EEK!
The best news, this week, is that we now, officially have THREE applications for in-person Day Camps 2022!!!! I have sent acceptance packages to two of the Coordinators and am awaiting the payment for the third camp.
Of course since we are still in Lent, this afternoon we have one more of our Lenten Study Program sessions so the week also included preparations for that. I put together a fresh PowerPoint and also sent an email to all the participants with links to this week’s video and to the Google Meet. Wednesday I also posted some more photos of artwork @mrsphilmoreschickens.
Tuesday evening we held our April Day Camp Committee meeting, with everyone present, which was especially delightful 😊. Mae Anne shared an excellent reflection based on Psalm 37 in which she spoke about 3 positive outcomes we can expect if we try to remain obedient to God’s plan in our lives.
The task of sending out the AGM reports continued all week and since I am still missing 1 piece to complete the folder it looks as if it will have to wait and go out early in Holy Week. It is important to give a minimum of one month’s notice for the AGM and as it will be happening May 15th we are coming very close to the cut off date. Sign.
The ongoing work of editing older blog posts continues and I have finally moved into 2014. I try to set a goal each day, sometimes meeting it and sometimes having to throw in the towel when other tasks and projects take priority.
Outside of office work, spring-cleaning keeps moving ahead. I got the freezers defrosted and cleaned early in the week and have also treated the kitchen counters with mineral oil. Washing all the windows and curtains will need to happen after Easter. This morning, after putting a Miche in the oven I’m going to do some clean up in the herb garden although there is still a pile of snow in the centre of the plot and as it is beginning to spot with rain I may have to delay this task 😊.
Not much time for crafting projects, although I did sew a sweet little dress and matching hairband for a dear friend’s daughter, whose 4th birthday is later this month. I also put together the embroidered bag I started during the first Lenten Program session. Today I will be baking the Fimo clay earrings I made during last Saturday’s session and will then be able to add ear hooks etc. to finish them off 😊,
So now I had better close with our recipe and put on my wellies before heading outside.
This year I decided to make these Fluffy Sugar Cookies to put in Easter gift baskets. The original recipe was in the NYT recipe app. but I made some modifications, and used my own icing.
Fluffy Sugar Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup raw cane sugar
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 2 tsps. baking powder
Beat the butter, cream cheese, salt and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg then stir in the flour and baking powder. Cover the dough and chill for several hours or overnight. Using a small ice cream scoop divide the dough into approx. 18 equal pieces and place at least 1”apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. With damp hands, gently flatten into disks. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for about 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets then transfer to a rack.
Icing
- 2-3 Tbsps. raspberry juice
- 2 Tbsps. butter
- 2 cups icing sugar
- dried flower petals (optional)
Combine the icing sugar and butter in a food processor and pulse until well combined. With the motor running, gradually drizzle in the raspberry juice until the icing comes together and is thick and creamy. Ice the cookies and decorate with dried flower petals, if desired. These freeze well 😊