Hello Blog Friends!
Welcome to September. As you will see from the above photos, although the promised delivery of hardy chrysanthemums was postponed until next week, the rest of the “Pentecost/Harvest” décor is now completed,;plus I couldn’t resist adding a pic of a neighbourhood wild bunny, whom I saw on one of my early morning walks!
Lots has been happening around here, as we launch several Autumn/Early Winter, activities, while always attempting to keep up with the ongoing work on 2027 Day Camp programming.
Where to start? Well, early in the week committee member, John, submitted his first “take” on material for the Explorer/Pathfinder Small Groups. The reflection questions look great, so I have now sent him both last year’s small groups document (in order to provide him with a template) and the previous iteration of Luke Street (2019) so that he can see the other small groups components.
With that work on track, notes for Wednesday evening’s committee meeting were compiled and my attention turned to work around the upcoming Cook-Along season. Firstly, a reminder email went out to DC Coordinators and to the list of regularly participating families, encouraging them to register. Meanwhile the quest for chefs has continued. Thursday morning, after trying at least 4 types of social media, I heard back from a second person, saying she can do the 3rd episode. Hallelujah!! So now just we need one more chef. Jeff (who is compiling the content for the anticipated “Cook-Along Cookbook”), got in touch to flag several recipes, which seem to lack either a photo or full instructions so I have been scrolling through the files, to see if the missing items can be found. The hunt continues!!
In other news, after last week’s meeting with Sharon, things are coming together, nicely, for the Alumni Advent Study Program. An email has gone out to some potential; reflection leaders and the poster has been created. Soon, that document will need to be added to the website home page but, ahead of that post, the Season 12 Cook-Along flier has just been uploaded.
Wednesday’s meeting went well, with Mae Anne even joining from a bus, as she and friends were travelling back to Montreal, after a short vacation! It is always good to check in with the other members and to discuss all the coming activities.
Thursday morning, I compiled the Prayer Concerns, as Mae Anne had to leave the meeting call as the bus crossed the Canada/US border, and so could not write out the prayers for our Prayer Support group. That day I also spoke with an Alumnus, living in Nfld. who plans to sign up his little girl for the Cook-Along, so things are looking up in that area.
Outside of the world of Day Camps (along with tweaking the Liturgically-based décor), there has not been much time for crafting. Every evening, a couple of hours is put into Christmas knitting and this afternoon I’m going to be sewing some culottes from a pattern a friend has recently lent to me. Across North America, we are now enjoying a holiday weekend (Labour Day Monday), so yesterday was used to wrap-up a bunch of loose ends, knowing that it will be hard to reach people over the next few days. Thankfully, this week has included quite a lot of progress on a number of fronts. YAY!!!
This morning, there was the weekly, lawn mow and, of course the Bake, so now it is time to share a recipe before hauling out the sewing machine. As we come to the end of “main course salad” season, this is a really yummy one to try.
Thai Flavours Chicken Salad
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 2Tbsps Tamari
- 2Tbsps rice vinegar
- 1,1” piece fresh ginger, grated
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 6 cups, Romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1” pieces
- 1 large carrot, cut into ribbons, using a vegetable peeler
- 3 cups cooked, shredded poached chicken
- ½ English cucumber, halved & thinly sliced
- ½ cup roasted, unsalted peanuts
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 sheet sushi nori, cut unto matchsticks
In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, Tamari, rice vinegar, ginger and garlic. Whisk together with 1-4Tbsps warm water to form a creamy dressing. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, carrot, chicken and cucumber. Add. the dressing and toss, gently with a wide spatula. Divide, evenly, between 4 bowls and garnish, each, with some of the peanuts, green onion and nori. Serve immediately. Serves 4