Hello Blog Friends!
I really hope you enjoyed our special “Postcards from Day Camps” post, published this past Wednesday, do head back and check it out if you missed it.
There has been plenty going on around here over the week. Along with preparing the postcards post I was also pulling together the documents for our Day Camp committee meeting coming up next Wednesday evening as well as continuing the ongoing work on the responses to the questions that we need to fill out for the 2024 grant application. At other times I have been dipping into the Creative Connection chapter I am revising for the 2024 program manual.
Each day there are a number of office emails to reply to and bits and pieces of admin work requested by our Treasurer and, early in the week, I was delighted to hear back from the prospective speaker for our next Team Gathering, confirming that he will be available on that date, woot woot!!! I immediately contacted our regular music team to see if they are also able to serve that evening and yesterday, one of them replied saying she is “in” and that she would coordinate with her friend to make sure that were both on board, yay!! With all the names in place of those leading worship I can now go ahead and start circulating the flyer, inviting alums to sign up for a link to the Google Meet 😊.
Today is the first day of the Labour Day long weekend and thankfully the weather has improved after quite a rainy week. Three days in a row I got up extra early with plans to mow the lawns before settling to office work and all three mornings I was rained out. EEK!! I finally managed to get the job done yesterday so today I can focus on the usual long list of baking as well as making tomatillo salsa and processing, for the freezer, a giant zucchini.
Elderberry Syrup production is also on my list as I was blessed, recently, to find a neighbour who has a large elderberry bush and who generously allowed me to harvest a basketful of berries early before the rains came. I immediately froze them, as it is way easier to remove the tiny berries from the stems once they are frozen solid! However, until today, there was no time to actually make the syrup (a task that takes several hours) as I have also had a string of visitors over the last few days.
Tuesday Mae Anne, from the DC committee, came for lunch and a really good afternoon visit during which we were able to discuss many Day Camps related topics as well as sharing with each other all that had been going on in our lives over the past month.
Wednesday was my monthly visit with DC team alumnus and dear friend, Jessica, who had promised to broaden my education on contemporary film by bringing along 2 episodes of a Korean television series “Hometown Cha Cha Cha”. Unfortunately we were only able to watch the first episode as, soon after she arrived, we had to hoof over to the Brotherwood’s house so I could pick up my bi-weekly vegetable CSA box then bring it home and unpack it, cook and eat a Korean-themed dinner and finally sit down to watch the film. Although it was a bit chaotic we did manage to have a lovely visit 😊.
Thursday was a very special day as that afternoon Jillian brought her almost 2-month old baby, Amelia, for her first visit to my house. I did get to meet her briefly, a couple of weeks ago when Jillian and her husband dropped by on their way home from church but this was the first time we tried out the “Amelia meets Thomason” scenario . It went quite well as Amelia was not at all phased by a large barking dog and sat in her mother’s arms while I vainly attempted to calm the fiend. I got to hold the baby and we managed to enjoy mugs of chai latté and ginger cake and chat for about an hour before they headed back to their home, early enough to avoid rush hour traffic.
Craftwork has taken a backseat to cooking this week but I did block the Christmas socks I had completed and also made a small dent in the pile of mending that Bishop Mary brought on her recent visit. I’m hoping to get the rest of that completed in the next few days. Just in time for our film marathon on Wednesday, I cast on another in the series of shawlettes that I am knitting as Christmas gifts, this is a stripy one and I’m enjoying the change from socks!
As mentioned above, I was finally able to mow the lawns yesterday and must now turn my attention to the Bake which, today, includes an apple crisp, a pan of granola, a Macha Pavlova, a ground cherry tart and the roasting of a spaghetti squash. Once all that is in the oven I will move on to the salsa, zucchini grating and elderberry syrup 😊.
A few months ago I started making mayonnaise and so have collected quite a few egg whites. I keep them in the freezer and when I have enough, make some meringues or macaroons or a Pavlova. Here is the recipe:-
Macha Pavlovas
- 7 egg whites, a room temperature
- 1 cup raw cane sugar
- 2 tsps. organic macha powder
- 2 Tbsps. tapioca starch
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, macha powder and tapioca starch.Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat until soft peaks form. VERY SLOWLY beat in the sugar mixture, 1 Tbsp. at a time until the meringue is glossy and holds stiff peaks. Make individual Pavlovas by placing large scoops of meringue on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake these in a 275º oven for about 45 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave to cool in the oven. OR – Place the ring from a 9” spring-form pan (do not use the base piece) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Mound the meringue in the ring, building in up around the sides. Place in a 275º preheated oven and bake for 2 hours until crisp. Turn off the oven and leave to cool to room temperature in the oven. Remove the ring and carefully pull off the parchment paper. At this point you can either set the Pavlova on a serving plate and fill with a mixture of whipped cream and sliced fruits OR place it in an airtight container and freeze until you need it. Serves 4-6.