Hello Blog Friends!
Sorry this post comes to you so late. We have been dealing with some WordPress and website issues and are still fixing things, but here is last Saturday’s post!
Welcome to January and Happy Epiphany! As you will see from the photos above, I have managed to switch out all the Advent/Christmas décor around here, although it took a lot longer than usual J. Fortunately, this past week, many people were still on holiday and so the office was pretty quiet except for the Day Camp work I needed to deal with, so I could stagger my office hours and, in between, slowly chip away at the work of “Changing the Decorations” 😊.
As mentioned in recent posts, I may not be getting quite so much outdoor exercise as usual but am certainly getting more indoor steps as well as a ton of mental exercise, puzzling out how to work around my lack of normal mobility J. There had been an offer of some help with carrying the large bins of china, linens and Christmas décor but, unfortunately for me, the family in question ended up spending the week in the countryside (which was a well earned rest for busy people J) and so I had to figure out the logistics of my task on my own.
In the world of Day Camps, things are heating up again as we launch plans for the Candlemas Team Gathering and Season 7 (yes SEVEN!!!) of the Cook-Along. I have been designing flyers and sending them out this week via email, FaceBook and Instagram. Some of those messages have also included a no so subtle hint to clergy and coordinators inviting them to consider applying for their 2024 Day Camps.
As of Friday, I had covered most of the territory for both events and Mikaela, my assistant badger, is also on the case so hopefully next week we will begin to see some results J. I’ve also sent all the copy to Guylaine as she will soon be updating the CTM website homepage.
There haven’t been any in-person visitors this week, except for the very brief interactions with helpful friends who have popped in to pick up Mr. T and take him for walks. He always gives these visitors an extremely effuse welcome and flies out the door to enjoy some much needed exercise 😊.
It is just as well that no one has dropped by for tea or a meal as, for most of the week, the house has been rather upside down as I have slowly made the changes from Advent/Christmas to Epiphany/Winter. By late afternoon Thursday I had made my rounds through the house blessing each room with Holy Water (generously supplied by Bishop Mary) and taking the above photos, as the light was still good at that time of day.
Yesterday I planted an Amaryllis bulb, gifted to me at Christmas, changed the desktop and wallpaper photos on my devices and was finally able to settle into the Epiphany/Winter vibe 😊.
Today is back to a more normal schedule. I will celebrate the feast with some of the Lindström I cooked and froze during Christmas week but first there is the usual Saturday Bake- Soft Pretzels, Dog Biscuits, Candied Ginger Shortbread and possibly a batch of Fairy Cakes, we’ll see how long all that takes!
For this new month I thought I would share this simple recipe for Ginger Shortbread, as it is very tasty on a cold winter day, when paired with a nice mug of tea 😊.
- ½ cup candied ginger, finely chopped
- ½ tsp. coarse sea salt
- ½ cup frozen butter
- 1¼ cups unbleached flour
Whisk together the flour and salt. Grate the butter into the flour, using a box grater. Stir in the ginger then, gently bring the dough together with your hands. Line an 8” cake pan with parchment and press the dough evenly into the pan. Lightly score into 8 even wedges and prick each piece in several places with a fork. Bake for 30 minutes (or until golden) in a preheated 325ºF oven. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then cut into wedges along the score lines, finish cooling on a rack.