Hello Blog Friends!
After 2 weeks of publishing late posts I am hoping today’s missive will turn up a bit earlier, in your inbox!
It is hard not to begin every post with “It has been another very full week” but it actually has been a very full week, part of the reason being that it was a 4-day workweek due to the Thanksgiving long weekend.
Monday did, actually, include several hours of “work” as my plan for the day was to do some intensive writing on the two sections of the 2026 program manual for which I am responsible. The deadline is not until the end of November, but it would be delightful to check this pretty big task off my list. Some progress was made but not as much as I would have liked. Sigh.
Most of Tuesday was devoted to preparing a Day Camps article for the December issue of Anglican Montreal, our Diocesan newspaper. The paper used to be published in hardcopy but now only appears online and there are fewer issues than there used to be. The deadline for submissions is October 26th but, as I wanted to make sure the article was included, it seemed important to submit it this past week and not just a day or two before the cutoff. At the same time I prepared an email version with most of the same content and sent it, across Canada, to a long list of clergy and former coordinators in the hopes of raising some interest. It had become evident that Mae Anne did not have time to compose the October prayer concerns email, which is sent, monthly, to our prayer support group so, sadly putting aside the program manual sections, I tackled that task and got it done by the end of the day, (small victory!). Since, on Wednesday another deadline was looming, this time for alumni to sign up for leading reflections at the four sessions of Advent Study Program, that evening a reminder also went out to that list (as yet, no replies). After work, I put together a slow cooker of chilli as, Wednesday, Jessica was joining me for our monthly visit and supper. It was super to just plug it in at noon, that day, and let it gently bubble away until suppertime.
Wednesday my main task was to send out a link for last evening’s Harvest Team Gathering. I had waited until then as the list of participants always remains in flux until the Google Meet link goes live! In fact, at 430pm yesterday a text arrived saying someone had backed out, sigh. That evening some more work was put in on the draft of the Synod Minutes and, after a few final tweaks, it should be ready, by Monday morning. for submission to the Bishop’s Office.
Thursday started with a visit from Jillian who came, with baby Clara, to pick up trhe matron of honour dress for Syndi-Belle’s wedding. After thety had gone, it was time to send off to our President, Chris Belle, the draft Board meeting agenda. Yesterday, he approved it for distribution, which will happen this weekend as members need a reminder that the meeting will take place on Sunday, the 26th. The afternoon was devoted to preparation of High Tea for Donna and Miriam, who form the worship team for our Team Gatherings. We usually meet before a TG just to go over the running order. This time we had to leave it to the last moment as we simply could not find a mutually agreeable time in our schedules to meet before Thursday!
Of course, yesterday ended up mostly dealing with last minute cancellations (sadly quite a few) for the Team Gathering, plus testing the Meet link and tweaking the slideshow presentation. Supper needed to be eaten extra early and I logged on at 645pm, ready for the 7pm start. It was a small group but the worship was heartfelt and spirit-filled. Guylaine offered an excellent reflection on the Theme of “Harvest” drawing an analogy from the passage in Luke’s Gospel when Jesus likens building the Kingdom to the harvesting of grain and she also incorporated the Day Camps as our program seeks to help make disciples. Having a more intimate group allowed for everyone to join in making comments, and sharing their experiences on the Travelling Teams. All the music was uplifting and the prayer time was rich. I hope that everyone else came away refreshed, I know I did!
This morning dawned very overcast and chilly so I added some more prayers that a little warmth and sunshine might be arranged for the wedding, taking place at 2pm. Just after 1pm the clouds parted and so I think they must have had perfect photo-ops in the grounds of the Maronite Abbey where the ceremony took place. I am looking forward, in the near future, to having Syndi-Belle and her husband, Chris, to a belated “Spanish Inquisition” when they return from their honeymoon.
This morning, despite it being pretty chilly, I managed to fit in some garden work and have, just now, completed tidying up after the Saturday Bake. I’m going to share with you the recipe for the chilli that Jessica and I enjoyed on Wednesday and plan, this evening, to heat up a bowl of it for my supper (most of the extras were packaged and frozen, because chilli is even better when heated up a second time!)The original recipe was found on the NYT food app, but I made a number of changes with what wasin my pantry, as chilli is very forgiving!
Slow Cooker Chilli
- 2Tbsps olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- Sea salt
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1(6oz) tin tomato paste
- 1tbsp smoked paprika
- 2tsps, each, chipotle powder, cumin, garlic powder, mustard powder,
- ½tsp cayenne powder
- ½tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼tsp ground cloves
- 1½ cups beer
- 1(12 oz) tin tomato sauce
- 1(28oz) tin diced or crushed tomatoes in juice
- ¼cup cider vinegar
- 2Tbsps maple syrup
- 2Tbsps Tamari
- 2tsps beef stock powder
- 1½tsps unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 cups cooked beans (I used black beans and chickpeas)
- 1Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- Grated old Cheddar, fresh cilantro, diced avocado and tortilla chips, for serving
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and cook the onion until translucent, season with salt. Add the beef and garlic and sauté until the meat is no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces. Add the tomato paste and stir until it darkens, then stir in the spices. Add the beer and keep stirring until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and add the tomato sauce, tinned tomatoes, vinegar, maple syrup, Tamari, cocoa powder, stock powder and the beans. Cook on Low for 6 hours. Just before serving, stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Serve in bowls with your favourite toppings. Makes 6-8 generous servings. Yum!