As we continue in the grip of Winter outside, Summer seems to be rushing towards us on the inside!
This week has seen a ton of correspondence with news of Church Applications coming in from 3 different Provinces and news of potential Team Members coming from the UK! The annual “juggling act” is now beginning to take place as I attempt to focus an equal amount of attention on Manual preparation, promotional materials, potential Team Members and possible host churches. Oh dear, how to keep all those balls in the air!!
At present the Program Manual is taking precedence since Arnee will be sidelined shortly, for a small medical procedure, so we need to accomplish a lot before that time. In looking back over the week I have already realised that the new promotional bookmark was not sent to the printer, so a fresh “to-do” list has been started for Monday morning!
Next week a couple of other meetings are also lined up, one to look at plans for the Spring Coffeehouse and another to discuss transferring songs to PowerPoint from the old overheads, which are fast becoming obsolete, ah technology!
Today is a Baking and Blogging Saturday since tomorrow is our monthly All Ages Gathering and I need to bake some mini-cupcakes for a special snack (more on this in the Sunday Reflections Post). Of course the day began, as usual, with a round of shovelling. It is really important to clean up the small falls of snow as soon as they occur because the level can quickly increase, making the job far more backbreaking. With that work out of the way, I baked the cupcakes, a batch of cream crackers and 2 loaves of gluten-free bread. After Wil’s second perambulation a big pot of spaghetti sauce was assembled and is now simmering gently on the stove, filling the house with a most seductive aroma! Mandu even appeared, forsaking her cosy nap location, to see what was cooking! With the cupcakes iced and packed, this post can now be completed and final Sunday preparations made.
Meanwhile, over the week I finally completed the marathon hand stitching of Natalie’s Bridal Veil. Tuesday evening she joined me for dinner and then we spread the veil on the living room floor and carefully clipped tiny triangles of tulle away from its scalloped edges.There has also been time for the sewing of two more Japanese Monk’s Bags, finishing the knitting of some grey Alpaca legwarmers, as well as a LOT of preparation for the All Ages Gathering. A friend has asked me to cater a dinner for twenty in a couple of weeks time, so there has also been a fair amount of menu planning and cookbook consulting too!
At Christmas, I was given 2 lovely new cookbooks so my own recent dinners have included several new dishes. One evening I made a variation on a recipe from one of the books for Mae Goreng, an Indonesian Dish (perhaps an unconscious attempt to presage summer in winter) anyway, it was very yummy, so here is my version!
Mae Goreng
- 1 block firm tofu, cut into narrow strips
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed
- ½ an onion, diced
- 11 oz. Udon noodles, cooked and drained
- 1tsp. ground coriander
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. water
- ½ tsp. hot sauce
- 2 Tbsps. vegetable oil
- 3-4 fried scallions
- Lemon wedges, to serve
Heat a wok over high heat; add the oil and then the onions. Cook until softened. Add the tofu and stir-fry until it begins to brown.Add the spinach and cooked noodles, stir-fry for 2 minutes. Mix in the spices, soy sauce, hot sauce and water and toss carefully until heated through.
Place in serving bowls and top with fried scallions. On the side, serve with lemon wedges and extra hot sauce. Serves 2