It has been another wintry week here in Montreal. The past 2 days have seen another 10cms dumped on the city, cleverly masking all the ice, which still covers most of the sidewalks!
But indoors thoughts of summer prevail, as the emails start to fly back and forth between our stalwart Manual typist/editor, Arnee, and myself ! Several chapters are still being worked on but the majority of content is now being processed, which is exciting.
My thoughts are already constantly returning to the slowly filling schedule of host communities and, of course, to the increasingly urgent need for some TEAM MEMBER applications! AGH! As mentioned last week, our new promotional materials are being readied and there is a hope we will be able to visit several school and Christian Fellowships at local CEGEPS (Junior colleges) to tell students about Day Camps Team opportunities.
Meanwhile all the day-to-day work continues, including keeping up with the Blog!
All week I have enjoyed the company of Andrea, who stayed with me while beginning a “stage” at a local seniors’ residence. Since she is a former Team Member and Leader it was possible to “talk shop” about Day Camps as we ate dinner together each evening. The only down side was the necessity of getting up at 530am each morning as she had to be at the residence by 7. Normally I might not have risen myself however the front door knob is still broken so it is necessary to carefully let people in and out and, with no knob to pull on the outside, it is extremely complicated to close and lock the door! Anyway, I survived and next week she has arranged to drive in each day with a classmate and thus is able to live at home.
There were some other nice visits during the week, Sarah for lunch one day, Barb another and Jenna for tea. Why are so many people passing through when there is no front doorknob? (rhetorical question)AGH!
Wednesday I also managed to do the quarterly cleaning of the pantry shelves, quite a big task, but they look SO nice when it’s completed!
A large part of yesterday was devoted to shovelling, which was unfortunate because I wanted to sew curtains for the new Toddler Room at church and am also working on a tunic, a birthday gift for a friend but as there will be no baking today, since that task was accomplished on Wednesday, I should be able to finish up the sewing as there is Children’s Ministry prep still to complete. I think I should close off if I’m going to do all that, but first a recipe…
Last night for dinner I made one of my favourite “go-to” meals. I keep a container of filling in the freezer so I can just make the dough and fry the Roti. They make a great lunch or Supper dish, with a mug of Chai!
Squash Roti
Filling:
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas OR a 15oz. can,rinsed
- 4 cups diced butternut squash or pumpkin
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tbsps. curry powder
- ½ Tbsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. each, thyme & ground cloves
- ½ tsp. each pepper & salt
- 2 Tbsps. vegetable oil
Dough:
- 4 cups unbleached flour
- 2 tsps. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 Tbsps. vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsps. oil for frying
Combine the dry dough ingredients in a mixing bowl. Gradually mix in the oil and water. Turn out and knead until soft. Cover and let rest for 15mins. To make the filling, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the garlic and onion until soft. Add the squash, water and seasonings and simmer, uncovered, for 30mins. Add the chickpeas and cook for 5-10 minutes more or until the liquid is almost evaporated. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each out into an 8” circle. Place approx. 1 cup of filling on each circle and fold in half. Crimp edges tightly to seal. In a large cast iron frying pan, heat 1Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Place 2 roti in the pan and cook for 4-5mins, on each side until the dough is cooked through and browned. Repeat with the second 2 roti. Serve immediately.
Extra filling or roti will freeze well.