Teff Oatmeal Cookies with Whiskey Currants

Enrolment up at alternative schools

Independent schools are preparing to welcome a record number of students as more families pay for faith-based instruction and secular alternatives.

The overwhelming majority of Manitoba children — 200,000 — are starting in the public school system this fall. Since 2000, the percentage of students enrolled elsewhere — in homeschools, funded and non-funded independent schools — has nearly doubled, to 12 per cent from seven per cent.

“If money was no object, we could fill dozens and dozens more classrooms with the demand for independent education,” said Andrew Micklefield, executive director of the Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools, who is a former Tory government house leader.

The King’s School, Dasmesh School, Springs Christian Academy, Beautiful Saviour Lutheran School, Steinbach Christian School and IQRA Islamic School have all either upscaled at some point over the last five years or are actively in the process of expanding their footprint.

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Teff Oatmeal Cookies with Whiskey Currants

These cookies bake up thick and chunky, with moist centres. The malty taste of the teff flour is a good match for the whiskey-kissed currants.

Adapted from Alternative Baker: Reinventing Dessert With Gluten-Free Grains and Flours, by Alanna Taylor-Tobin (Page Street Publishing, 2016).

Teff Oatmeal Cookies with Whiskey CurrantsIngredients75 grams (125 ml or 1/2 cup) currants30 ml (2 tbsp) bourbon or gluten-free whiskey80 g (60 ml or 1/4 cup plus 30 ml or 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar50 g (60 ml or 1/4 cup) granulated cane sugar113 g (120 ml or 8 tbsp or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted1 large egg2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract100 g (180 ml or 3/4 cup) teff flour27 g (60 ml or 1/4 cup) tapioca flour4 ml (3/4 tsp) fine sea salt1 ml (1/4 tsp) baking soda5 ml (1 tsp) lightly packed, freshly grated nutmeg90 g (250 ml or 1 cup) gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats90 g (180 ml or 3/4 cup) walnut halves, toasted (see note)

Combine the currants and bourbon in a jar; cover and let sit for at least three hours and up to several days, shaking the jar occasionally.

Woman died while getting wisdom teeth out; case raises questions about transparency of dental association

The parents of a 23-year-old southwestern Manitoba woman who died after receiving a local anesthetic during a wisdom tooth extraction say they are in the dark about the investigation into their daughter’s death.

Dulaney and Victoria Blatz say the Manitoba Dental Association has been unwilling to give them information about the probe into their daughter’s death, saying the self-governing regulatory body must be more transparent with the public.

“We have pushed through various channels trying to get information, but it’s nothing but stalling and sidelining,” Victoria said Friday. “This has crashed our world to pieces and we just want answers.”

Virginia Blatz went to Boundary Trails Dental Centre in Morden on Nov. 27, 2024, to have her wisdom teeth removed, but never returned home.

Parts of River Heights hammered by storm

A powerful storm cut a swath of destruction through River Heights on Sunday, leaving much of the area without power.

Nobody was hurt in the storm.

By the time it subsided, parts of the quiet neighbourhood, especially Borebank and Lindsay streets between Grant and Taylor, had been ravaged: power lines downed, Manitoba Hydro poles toppled, trees splintered and crashed down on vehicles and homes.

In one case, a vehicle was flipped into a yard and sat under a partially downed tree. Shingles were stripped from roofs. Some residents described looking out during the storm and seeing power lines ablaze and the blue glow of electricity arcing over their backyards.