Hello Blog Friends!
Another week has flown by and Montreal is back in the throes of winter, having received 15cms of snow and ice pellets over the last couple of days. Sigh. Earlier in the week we did have a couple of slightly warmer days that gave a hint of spring but as everyone is well aware, spring does not arrive here until late April 😊.
However Lent (and thus Easter) is around the corner so at least part of my time over the last week has been spent working on plans for the Alumni Mini Lenten Retreat, scheduled for Saturday April 1st. Tuesday morning Gillian joined me on Face Time to share ideas and then Wednesday our speaker, Robert, and I met on Zoom. Both meetings were very helpful and now the next task is to create a schedule for the 3-hour event and (of course) to BADGER alumni into registering 😊. A first round of emails has gone out, following the Instagram and Face Book posts put up last week, so far about 5 people have expressed interest, which is a good start. Fortunately one of the 5 is a musician who regularly helps with worship music at Team Gatherings so it will be super to have her organising some Taizé songs to sing at the retreat.
Of course as a dedicated multi-tasker I have also been sending out info about the final episode of Season 5 of the Day Camps Cook-Along and hunting for ideas for the “challenge” that will accompany this last session. Chef Victor will be sharing his Caribbean Grandmother’s Bread Pudding so I thought it would be cool to find some sort of activity that connected with St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I have found a lovely colouring page of an Amazon Parrot, which is native to the islands and a recipe for Caribbean non-alcoholic Ginger Beer but would like to find one more component (perhaps a video), before the challenge is ready 😊.
In other Day Camp news various parts of the 2023 program are slowly coming together. The Liturgical Dance choreography has begun and one of the Team Alumni, who is gifted in dance, is gathering a small group from her church who will learn the piece with another alumnus agreeing to serve as videographer. As of yesterday we finally received the last outstanding section for the Program Manual so that Jessica will now be able to complete the task of layout and formatting and once she is done a couple of proof-readers are lined up to do a read through of the whole document. We also have group of volunteers will soon be starting to work on craft samples that will be photographed and then distributed, as part of the resource package. One more host community has confirmed they will be applying for a Day Camp and although we had hoped, by now, to see a bit more activity it is a good to know that there are now 4 Churches planning to register.
Outside of office time, as well as all the extra Day Camp meetings, Tuesday afternoon saw the monthly meeting of Diocesan Council (thankfully on Zoom) where I serve as Lay Secretary. With the Clerical Secretary currently on parental leave it was necessary to be doubly vigilant in taking accurate minutes, and of course typing them up and submitting them to the Vicar General for approval.
There really has not been much time for crafting, although some birthday gifts of silk jar covers that will hold homemade lavender lotion bars are almost done. Then last Monday I was thrilled to receive a surprise parcel containing a selection of Pysanky dyes, sent by my dear friend Michelle. Tomorrow afternoon I hope to prepare some of these, ready for the start of Pysanky season. Six patterns have been selected for this year’s eggs and Jillian has been commissioned to see if she can track down a dozen free-range WHITE eggs since organic ones are all brown and thus cannot be dyed. I am not willing to purchase eggs produced by battery hens as that practice is terribly cruel so have to compromise and feel that even if the chickens were not fed exclusively organic grain at least they led happier lives outdoors than those who live in cages and never see the sun.
Right now it is time to get this published and prepare to log on for the final episode of the Cook-Along and so will close off with this week’s recipe. Last month when Jessica was visiting we had a baguette with our dinner and she told me that her sister, Samantha, (also a Team alumnus) was on the hunt for a good recipe, so could I send her mine. After running a search through the blog posts it appears this recipe has never been published and as it is a real standby in my kitchen, here it is today 😊.
Baguettes
- 2 Tbsps. yeast
- 2 tsps. sea salt
- 4 ½ -5 cups flour
In a large bowl, combine the yeast with 2 cups warm water & stir to dissolve. Beat in 2 cups of the flour then add the salt and another 2 cups of flour, beating until well combined. Beat in as much of the remaining flour as is necessary to form a soft dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Place the bowl is a large, airtight plastic bag and put in the fridge overnight. Next day remove the bowl from the fridge 2 hours before you need to shape the dough. After 2 hours, lightly oil a two or three loaf baguette pan. Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces with a sharp knife or shears, trying not to deflate it. With wet hands, gently stretch each piece into a “snake”, twisting slightly as you pull. Place in the prepared pan and let rise for 30-40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. When the loaves are risen, spritz each loaf with water and, using shears, snip in three four places along the top of the loaves. Place in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 400ºF. Bake for approx. 30 minutes until golden. Cool on a rack before slicing. If well wrapped, these may be frozen.