Hello Blog Friends!
Another week has flown by. It has been a bit zooy around here as I have been juggling tech support for one Day Camp that happened this week, follow-up resources for the camp that happened last week plus the ongoing work creating all the nametags for Junior Youth Camp, which will be taking place the first week of August.
The tech support problem was extremely complicated but, thankfully, it was solved just before the first day of the camp and the Coordinator was extremely grateful that I gave up most of Sunday afternoon trying to help them, both online and over the phone. Whew!
Meanwhile there have been more emails, texts and calls from a number of Team Alumni, some of whom are going through difficult life situations while others wanted to let me know about happier events .
I keep thinking that all the JYC nametags are completed and then receive another message adding of changing the status of a camper or staff member. It doesn’t help that the camp registrar is currently on vacation in the Maritimes and is frequently somewhere without Internet reception. She and her family will be back in Montreal some time on Monday and she will need to pick up all the nametags soon after in order to have time to get them laminated and strung on lanyards before the start of camp.
Outside of office hours, which in typical summertime mode, seem to be extended to both weekends and evenings, there has also been a steady stream of visitors. As is frequently the case, we had gone a couple of weeks with no one coming to the house but this past week there has been a lot of traffic, which will also include dinner this evening with Christopher and Fabienne!
Last Sunday, Sarah joined me for lunch and I was able to give her a box of seedheads I have been collecting for her to plant in her garden. She was also pleased with the knitted earrings I had made for her as a small birthday gift and told me the next day that her two small children had also enjoyed feeling the soft silk thread and tiny beads .
Wednesday was Jessica’s monthly visit and we had arranged that she come a bit earlier than usual as she had asked if we could watch the video of Christopher and Fabienne’s wedding. Regular blog readers may recall that Jessica was instrumental in helping Christopher with the icing and decoration of their wedding cake and so was keen to see the recording of the actual event . After watching the video, we enjoyed a supper of Spicy Tofu Burgers, served with a variety of toppings and followed by bowls of Honey Cream for dessert.
Thursday Jenna joined me for breakfast, it had been her birthday earlier in the month and so she also received a small gift.
Yesterday morning I welcomed some very special young visitors when my dear friend (and Day Camp alumnus) Brenda brought her three “littles” to meet me in person for the first time. Brenda moved to Halifax several years ago and began a journey as a foster parent. She has, after many months of waiting, recently completed the adoption process of these 3 siblings. I have “met” them before on FaceTime but this was their first trip to Montreal. The troupe just came to share a quick snack with me as both Brenda and I had been concerned as to how the little ones would react to Thomason’s wild barking. It was pretty chaotic for most of the visit, however we all survived unscathed and it was such a joy to meet the children, even if under somewhat difficult circumstances.
Which brings me to today, when, as mentioned above, Fabienne and Christopher are coming for dinner. Christopher had mentioned to me a while ago that Fabienne likes Thai food so tonight I have made a dish of cold noodles with vegetables in peanut sauce, which will be followed by Coconut Crème Caramel, and mango green tea. I do hope they enjoy it.
Right now I need to start cutting up the veggies as I only just received my bi-weekly CSA box since the Brotherwoods have been on vacation in Maine this week and so had postponed, from Wednesday evening to this morning, the picking up of both our boxes. Nick very Kindly dropped the box off in my front porch, exchanging it for a parcel containing a gift for Sue, as today is her birthday. So now I have a wide variety to choose from in preparing tonight’s dish and will get busy chopping!
After a quick search through all the blog posts I see that, even though I have mentioned this recipe a couple of times before, I have never shared it. It makes a perfect summertime dessert and is especially useful if anyone is lactose intolerant.
Coconut Crème Caramel
- 2 14oz. tins coconut milk (not low fat!)
- 3 whole eggs, 3 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup cane sugar
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- pinch of salt
In a small saucepan caramelise 1/3 cup of the sugar with 2 tsps. water. Pour into the bottom of 6 ovenproof, 1cup dessert bowls. In a large bowl, place the eggs, egg yolks, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer until light and ribbony. Slowly beat in the sugar and cinnamon. Meanwhile heat the coconut milk, just until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. With the beater on medium speed, beat the milk into the eggs in a thin stream. Pour the custard, through a strainer, evenly into the 6 bowls. Place in a pan of water, which reaches half way up the sides of the bowls. Bake for 45 mins. in a preheated 325F. oven, until golden on top. Serve either warm or chilled.