The last many weeks have been incredibly busy. No time to stop and dream of something to do, the list is already too long!
I've been volunteering at the school 2 days a week teaching cooking to the key stage 2 students (grades 3-6). They have been studying World War 2 so we made a few recipes from that era. All used very little butter, sugar and flour since those items were heavily rationed during the war. No eggs in any of the recipes since Britain was limited to one egg per person per week!
The school just finished this purpose-built kitchen for cooking tutorials:
Each day I'd come in early and set up their work stations so they could go straight into their prep work. I love this classroom! Lots of counter space, double ovens, refrigerator and fully stocked with donated tools. All I had to bring were the ingredients - and that was all fully reimbursed by the school.
Some of our recipes: eggless sponge, uncooked chocolate cake, carrot cookies, oatmeal crunchies, and apple fool. I liked all of them except the apple fool which was made with cold mashed potatoes and grated apple. The grated apple was fine, it was the cold mashed potato that turned me off. All the other recipes were actually very tasty. I worried that the children would begin to the think that the war was full of good times and delicious desserts!
And of course, the number one rule of the kitchen: clean up your mess! I think some of the kids almost had more fun washing dishes, sweeping the floor, etc. than the actual cooking...
The City of Peterborough Symphony Orchestra had another concert in November. Titled "Russia and Beyond," it featured famous works by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov.
During the dress rehearsal we had a professional photographer come to create a portfolio for an upcoming press release. Check out the great photos and see if there is anyone you might recognize:
Then came Thanksgiving. Part 1: The annual gathering of fellow Caterpillar ex-pats and their families. As usual, it was a large and delicious array of Thanksgiving fayre. Pictured below are most of the American families that live here in the Peterborough area with Caterpillar:
A few days later (on actual Thanksgiving Day), we ate another delicious spread. Joining us were the missionaries from our ward (both Americans). It was their first Thanksgiving away from home and we thought they might appreciate having a traditional dinner. We even let them load up some tupperware containers with leftovers to enjoy over the next few days. 
Amidst some of these special occasions, we have been continuing with the usual routines as well. Last week Emily was assigned the classroom teddy bear which accompanied us to swimming lessons, tennis, Thanksgiving, etc. Both girls are doing extremely well at swimming lessons and have both advanced to the next level just this week. Amy is now a Starfish and Emily graduated from Ducklings to Frogs.
I continue to sell my "Little Lady" hairbows and as my product has become more popular I am busier than ever! This week I will have a stall at the local Preschool's Christmas Bazaar where I will be featuring over 40 different bows! There are lots of beautiful prints and designs available, so feel free to drop by if you're in the area. Otherwise, you can view my catalog on my Facebook page.
If creating over 800 hairbows hasn't been enough to keep me busy, I have also been commissioned to sew a wedding dress for a friend from church. I've never sewn a dress for anyone but myself and my daughters, so this has been an educational process. I've had to alter the original pattern, create an organza overlay for the skirt (without a pattern), and make various adjustments to the seams after each fitting.
Even though this dress is relatively simple (as far as bridalwear goes), it's been a slow and painstaking process making sure that everything is done with complete perfection. I also have to say that the Haberdashery Lady at the Peterborough Market is my new best friend. She is so knowledgeable and has the greatest selection of notions on the planet - from buttons, zips, and even lace.
The dress is nearly done now - just one more final fitting, then hand sewing the lace appliques. Phew! Will post pictures from the wedding for you to see the final result...
Finally, the Christmas decorations are up. I have to credit Matt and the girls for this one though since I've been busy... sewing, cooking, etc. They did a great job even though some of the Nativity Sets have some more unusual arrangements... (the front entry set had the Wise Men 'babysitting' the baby Jesus whilst Mary and Joseph - on the far corner of the table - were off 'on a date.') We've also begun the annual cookie baking. So far we've made peanut butter truffles, oreo truffles, spritz, snowballs, candy cane cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and rosettes. We've still got a list of about 6 more that we plan to make. Good thing I'm hosting a Christmas Cookie Party at mine this weekend as we'll need plenty of help eating up all these goodies! (Although that's just one more thing I'm busy doing...)
Haha! I thought I recognized that dress! Nice to know it came to some use later on in life!
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