Council

Book Circle – Sunday November 20, 2016

thebiblekarenarmstrongPlease note that the next meeting of the Leaside United Church Book Circle will take place on Sunday, November 20 in the Hearth Room, staring at 9:15 am.. At this session, we will continue with and complete our discussion of Karen Armstrong’s book “The Bible: A Biography”. We, in particular, welcome those who were not able to attend our first discussion of the book a few weeks ago. You will not feel left out of this discussion. For this session, I expect our discussion will focus on what Karen Armstrong says in the “Epilogue” at the end of the book. At page 224, Karen Armstrong states – “Because scripture has been so flagrantly abused [in the modern era], Christians, Jews and Muslims have a duty to establish a counter-narrative that emphasizes the benign features of their exegetical traditions.” Do we agree with this statement? And, as one of our participants inquired at the first session, what importance, if any, do we attach to all of this? preciouscargo

 

For our first Book Circle session of 2017, I want to pick up a suggestion from Wendy Arnold that we read and discuss a book titled “Precious Cargo: My Year Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077” by Craig Davidson. This amusing and touching account of the author’s relationships with a number of special needs children while driving their school bus will be a nice change of pace after two sessions with Karen Armstrong. I mention this book now because there is a bit of a waiting list for the book at the Toronto Public Library, so you may want to get on the waiting list as soon as possible if this is your preferred means of accessing the book. I hope to see many of you for our discussion on November 20.  All are welcome (even if you aren’t familiar with the books).

David Phillips
Book Circle Leader

The Pie Makers of Presteign-Woodbine

piemakerspwuc

As the days grow shorter and daylight savings rushes in upon us, we will soon be craving hearty food to comfort us through the chill of winter!  Relief is on it’s way!  On November 23rd, 2016 the Pie Makers of Presteign-Woodbine United Church will be sharing their wonderful Turkey and Shepherd’s Pies with us.  These delicious individually packaged pies will be for sale at our Give and Go Launch Party.

The Pie Makers of the Trillium Unit of the United Church Women (UCW) of Presteign-Woodbine United Church have a long tradition of baking these pies together for nearly 15 years.  Inspiration came from Cambridge Street United Church in Lindsay, Ontario after they were featured in the September 2002 issue of The Observer for raising $91,000 over years of fundraising through pie baking.

The Trillium Unit asked for their recipe and they willingly obliged.  Over the years, consumer taste buds, kitchen equipment and a group of dedicated, smart women have evolved the recipe into their own, eliminating MSG and using a special pastry recipe that works best with a KitchenAid.

The pies are approximately 4-5″ in diameter and weigh 300 grams/10.58 ounces.  No butter is added or a lot of spice since most consumers don’t want those extra ingredients . If you can handle the “extras”, these pies go great with ketchup, chili sauce or hot pepper jelly.

Stock your freezer …Watch for an online order form coming to the website soon.