Hello Blog Friends!
This past workweek has zipped by. With a holiday on Monday, everything else was crammed into just four days 😊.
Monday I did, actually, spend a bit of time at the computer as we were finally ready to launch the Day Camps fundraising letter, the results of which will determine whether or not we are able to apply for a grant. As a result of the appeal we have, to date, received 3 donations, which is a start and prior to this letter a few others who were aware of the situation had already sent financial gifts and prayers, which are also very welcome.
That morning I began my Christmas baking, following a long held tradition when I used to start baking the 24 kinds of cookies that were used at our family’s annual Christmas Open House and plates of which my father used to deliver to all his office colleagues. Sadly neither of those activities still happens, however, each Christmas, I do give small baskets of goodies to several families in the neighbourhood and so need to build a modest stash in the freezer. As there were no plans to roast a turkey for my solitary Thanksgiving Dinner, I timed my baking so that I could make a Squash and Sage Galette for my mini “feast”. Unfortunately my day was greatly saddened when a close neighbour shared the news with me of another neighbour’s recent diagnosis of terminal cancer. Both of these households frequently call upon me to check for mail or collect newspapers when they are away on vacation and all of us have been neighbours for over 30 years thus my mood was very sombre for the rest of Monday and really for all this week.
Tuesday, it was back to more regular office hours so I created a link for the virtual Team Gathering and sent it off to the list of names who had signed up to attend. I also began the search for a new Liturgical Dance song to choreograph for the 2023 program and spent the rest of the day answering emails that had piled up over the weekend and (of course) continuing to edit blog posts from the past. Happily I have now reached 2020 and so have less than 1 year’s posts to go on a task that has lasted for many months. I will still need to go carefully through all the edited posts and change the URLs for links that are set to send people back to the old Lamb on Day Camps blog, but that task will definitely not take as long to complete 😊.
Wednesday I worked on badgering for the upcoming Cook-Along series as well as continuing on the song quest and post editing. That afternoon I also FaceTimed with a former Team Leader and committee member who is a new Mum 😊, we had not chatted (except via texts) since the baby arrived so it was super nice to catch up and meet her baby “live”.
Thursday Was a sort of general clean up day, with the ongoing post edits and then later that afternoon I put several recipes together for yesterday’s visitors.
For breakfast with a former Team Leader I made Slowcooker Maple Walnut bread pudding and a maple sauce to go with it. Then for my lunch visit with the Rev. Brett Cane I made a put of Indian-style yellow split pea soup and prepped a stack of chapatis, which I fried just before Brett arrived so we could enjoy them hot from the pan.
Yesterday morning I was up before 5:30am in order to switch on the slowcooker. It was an extremely dark and wet morning so crawling out of a warm bed was very challenging but Thomason and I got an early start and still had a long, if wet, walk together before my first guest arrived at 830am. We managed our second soggy excursion in time to get back and cook the chapatis as Brett cam for lunch at 12:30pm. After he was gone, it was necessary to mop all the floors from a combination of wet feet and paws as well as a healthy sprinkling of dog drool Sigh. But both visits were special, each in it’s own way and Thomason was relatively manageable.
Last evening was also the Harvest/Autumn Team Gathering. We had 10 participants (plus a 3 year old “visitor”😊) and enjoyed a good time of Taizé worship, reflection and discussion, and shared prayers. It was especially great to have Team alumni joining in from 4 different provinces, yay!!
This morning is bright and sunny but way colder so I have just returned from an hour and a half of raking leaves and picking up the many small branches blown down in yesterday’s heavy rains. Next I’m off to start baking. I shan’t be hitting the ”publish” button until this week’s muffins come out of the oven as I will need to take a photo for you.
Hope you enjoy-
Carrot Cake Muffins
- 1 1/2 cups grated carrot
- 1 1/3 cups raw cane sugar
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 1 cup raisins
- 2 oz. butter
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp, each nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves
- 1 tsp. soda
- 2 tsps. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, cover and leave overnight. Next day, whisk together the dry ingredients then add the carrot mixture and beat until well combined. Stir in the nuts. Line muffin pans with paper cups and fill each 3/4 full. Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 275F oven. Makes about 2 dozen muffins. Dust with icing sugar or ice with cream cheese icing. These freeze well.