Hello Blog Friends!
Lent has begun! It has been another full week with several visitors and several meetings, on top of all the usual daily shenanigans!
Final plans are all in place for the first episode of the Cook-Along, happening just one hour from now. Chef Jessica will be teaching participants how to make “Cheesy Crackers”, which will, no doubt, be popular.
Monday afternoon I met with Eli, who will be leading the Lenten Mini-Retreat. We firmed up some plans and Eli has agreed to assemble a draft schedule of the afternoon. I think it will be a very interesting time as we explore the Theme- “What is Holy?”, and how we can seek for and apply holiness in our daily lives.
Shrove Tuesday evening, we held our monthly committee meeting both, because some of us would be at Ash Wednesday Services the next evening and as one member was about to leave for a short holiday in France! All but one person were able to make the meeting and we covered a fair bit of territory. We discussed the upcoming Cook-Along, Mini-Retreat plans and the progress of the 2025 Program Manual (yes, it is still stalled as we wait for one last piece of content). I reported on some other aspects of the resources, including the good news that four volunteers are already at work making samples of all the creative activities, woot woot!!
Bishop Mary had messaged me last Monday to say that her “egg lady” would be dropping off 4 dozen eggs on Ash Wednesday morning, two dozen for her and two dozen for me. The Bishop said she would pass by following the noon Eucharist at the Cathedral, pick up her eggs, and bring some ashes to impose on me, such a blessing!!! Since I was a child, the imposition of ashes has been integral to my Ash Wednesday worship practices. When I was still in elementary school my Mum would always take me to the morning service that day and our Parish Priest would sign a note for me to take to school in the afternoon. As I grew up and began to lead children’s ministry at St. Matthew’s, we created a program called “From Ashes to Hope”, which was held at 4pm on Ash Wednesday. Among a variety of activities, a highlight was when the children and I made the ashes in a wok in the church kitchen; first carefully snipping some palm crosses, saved from the previous Easter, then setting them alight, burning them and pounding them into ash with small spoons! I must confess that, on a couple of occasions, we managed to set off the smoke alarm, and I think that was the favourite moment for the children!!! We would then troop into the small side chapel and our Priest would lead us in a short liturgy, including the imposition of the ashes. We concluded the event with a simple supper, usually a casserole of macaroni and cheese and everyone headed home. The children were very proud that the priest would then, at the evening Service, use the ashes they had prepared.
After the closure of St. Matthew’s and my joining St. Stephen’s, I found that they did not hold an Ash Wednesday Service, as the small congregation came from different parts of the city and many could not make a weeknight event. My favourite memory from that community was a year when Ash Wednesday was close to the Sunday on which we held the monthly intergenerational gathering. I suggested that we theme it around Ash Wednesday and all of us gathered in the church kitchen to, once again, make ashes in a wok! We then formed a big circle and the dish of ashes was passed from hand to hand with each of us imposing on the person beside them, small children to elderly members, everyone together. It was a very sacred moment, which I cherish in memory.
Back to the present day!-
Thursday, Donna joined me for lunch followed by a short tutorial at which she learned the choreography for this year’s Day Camps Liturgical Dance.She will now take the music and dance notation back to First Filipino Baptist Church (FFBCM) and, in turn, teach it to some of their Youth Group and Mae Anne, will make a film that will become the instructional video, to be added to the Program Resource Package. It is special to think that, eventually, children across Canada will learn this piece and dance it at Day Camp Closing Worship Gatherings this summer. Thursday evening Mae Anne and I met with Jennifer, the lay Pastor of a small house church in the Eastern Townships.. For many years, her church hosted one of the Training Week Camps. Jennifer gathers children from some communities that have difficult family dynamics and so always needed a large team to handle behavioural issues and make the Day Camp a safe and welcoming space for every child. With the support of a Team Leader, from the ranks of our alumni, and with a group of young people from FFBCM, she will once again, after a five year hiatus, be able to offer to her community, a much needed Day Camp. We had a good meeting, finalising the dates of the camp and discussing some logistics.
Yesterday morning included another special visit when Jillian, baby Amelia and Jillian’s sister, Janice, came for morning coffee and Hot Cross Buns! Janice is also a DC Team alumnus and former committee member. She is now married, has 2 little girls and lives in Vancouver. I had not seen her, in person, for more than a year, so it was a very lovely reunion and I also got to give Jillian her birthday gift, only 4 days late!
As mentioned at the top of this post, today marks the first episode of Season 9 of the Day Camp Cook-Along so it is high time I stopped rambling, shared a recipe and hit the “publish” button! When Donna joined me for lunch, I made a large pot of Pho and for dessert we had some fresh fruit and Matcha Latté Cookies:-
Matcha Latté Cookies
- 1½cups flour
- ½tsp. baking soda
- 1½Tbsps. matcha powder
- ½tsp. coarse pink salt
- ½cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
- ¾cup raw cane sugar
- ¼cup turbinado sugar
- 1 egg
Whisk together the flour, soda, matcha powder and salt. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, peanut butter, sugars and egg, until fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Place, covered, in the fridge for at least an hour, or overnight. When ready to bake; .preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop out 1½ Tbsp. spoonfuls of dough, gently flatten each cookie then bake for 12 minutes. Cool on a rack. If desired, ice cookies with icing made from 1 cup powdered sugar beaten with ¼ cup cream cheese. Makes about 20 cookies, they freeze well.