I thought everyone would enjoy this simple recipe of sugar plums (no plums in them) as they tend show up around Christmas. Most people don't know what they really are or maybe they just lump them together with flying reindeer. The recipe  yields about 25 - 30 pieces

Happy Holidays!

1 cup whole almonds toasted and ground
1 tbsp honey
Zest of 1 large orange
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp nutmeg
½ cup dried Apricots minced
½ cup dates minced
Confectioners sugar

 - Mix all ingredients together well.
 - Form mixture into tiny bite sizes balls.
 - Roll in confectioners sugar to dust.

Click here for a pdf of this recipe and a variation.

We are very excited to announce the addition of a new face to Kingsley Pines and we would like to an extend a warm welcome to Chris Lee, who will be filling the role of Office Registrar.  Chris will be maintaining all of our records, assisting with accounts payable, and making sure that we dot our I’s and cross our t’s in every respect.  Ensuring that we have accurate and complete data for 700+ campers is no easy task.  However, Chris has had extensive experience in this regard.  Most notably, she developed and implemented an answer service business where she was responsible for accurately responding to 500-600 phone calls per day and dispatching emergency messages to the correct people for up to 84 different customers.  This was in addition to managing all of the daily operations and processing accounts.

Chris was born and raised in Maine and LOVES the state.  She currently lives in Gray with her husband, Greg, her 4 year old son, Timmy, and their dog, Little Man.  Chris's favorite thing to do is spend time with her family.  She loves the beach and tries to spend as much time there as possible.  She enjoys time out with her sisters and friends.  She also likes cooking, baking and scrapbooking.  Chris has not worked at a camp before, but we can’t wait for her to experience her first summer at KP!
 

We are very pleased to announce that Angie Cole is the new Off-Season Events Coordinator at KP.  Angie has held the role of Girls Campus Head at Kingsley Pines for the past two summers. In addition to retaining her summer responsibilities as Girls Campus Head, Angie will now be helping to facilitate the many weddings, retreats and various events that are held at camp during the early spring and fall.   Be sure to contact her if you are ever interested in holding your special event at KP!  Presently, Angie is spending much of her time planning KP's awesome winter parties and she very much hopes all of you will attend!  More info on those to come.

Angie brings a lot of experience with her to these roles. She previously spent 6 years working for Camp Potawotami as a counselor, girls campus head, trips coordinator, and outdoor education program director. She has also worked for WorldBlu as Global Director of Operations and Design and at Public Allies as an Instructional Designer and Program Manager. She is actively interested in creating democratically structured workplaces, facilitating leadership development, and designing systems that help people work more effectively and efficiently.

Congratulations again to Angie and we hope she enjoys her first winter here in Maine!

This is my first installment of  “What’s Cooking at KP". I will be  posting new recipes, improvements to old recipes, and other information as we prepare for the 2012 camp season.

Improving Tabuleh (a popular salad bar staple) - I had dinner at an Armenian restaurant with friends from High School while in Greece for Christmas. I was impressed with their version. It was full of fresh green herbs, juicy and garden-fragrant. In comparison ours, while tasty, is a little too timid. So, that will be changed for next summer .

Egg Department. -  There are several egg related ideas that will appear in the next months. For now, I would like to offer poached eggs from the steam table on a regular basis.

Bakery Department - My mother’s Challah Bread is famous; neither bread, nor cake-like, not two sweet and very easy to make just using the mixer. It will be appearing frequently. It toasts well too!

Upgrading The Biscuit Department - I recently discovered cheese filled pockets. The form may change some when we make them for camp, but they will be fragrant, crumbly, and delectable. They can also be offered at lunch as an accessory to a main course.