Well another week is almost over and it has been an interesting one!
As mentioned in my last post, Sunday afternoon was our first CTM Board meeting since the end of summer so there was plenty to talk about and for once, all our members were present (albeit a couple via Skype 😊) and we also had one guest. The meeting lasted almost 3 hours so needless to say I ended up with lots of Minutes to type on Monday morning!
We have moved our monthly Day Camp committee meeting to Tuesday, due to scheduling conflicts for a couple of members so I was busy Monday afternoon as well as Tuesday, preparing dinner for 6.
That was also a long meeting as we had invited a couple of guests to join us for a time when we could strategise on the topic of Team Recruiting. It was good to have an open forum and hear many different viewpoints as well as some great suggestions. I have spent a good part of the rest of the week attempting to begin implementing of some of these ideas and will be continuing with these plans in the weeks ahead.
Afternoons have included more sewing of Christmas gifts plus a new Autumn apron for myself and one day a friend brought me a large bunch of lavender she had picked at her country house, so I fashioned it into a fragrant wreath, which is now hanging in one of the bedrooms. I have finally settled on a knitting project for my Godsons’ Christmas gifts, so that is now underway too.
Wednesday and Thursday friends came over for lunch and since Sarah is a former Day Camp Committee member and Jillian a current one, the conversations have continued over the lunch table. Thursday, after eating, Jillian and I worked on the CTM “Networks” Newsletter. The next issue will be coming out at Thanksgiving so we only have a couple of weeks left to pull it together and, as is usually the case, we still do not have all the content. Sigh.
Nearly every day this week has also included a walk to the bank. CTM does not bank with the institution I use and the nearest branch is a good 20 minute walk each way. Wil never minded those extra excursions and since I still take 2 long walks each day it is good to be able to include work and home-related errands. Most of the week the weather has remained pretty hot and summery but we had a nasty storm yesterday with strong winds heralding a cold front. There was actually a wind warning alert yesterday morning and we lost power for a couple of hours. Environment Canada suggested that all loose objects out of doors be secured or brought inside and as I had no Internet due to the power outage I took the opportunity to move all my deck furniture and ornaments inside before the winds reached their zenith of 90kms.😊
This morning I spent 3 hours in the garden dealing with the aftermath. Fortunately there is no real damage, mostly just a lot of small branches fallen on the lawns and plenty of leaves. One chrysanthemum plant had been knocked over but fortunately it fell onto a flowerbed and so was not damaged. I can see loose shingles on my porch roof and shall add that problem to the long list waiting for my invisible handyman Mario, who was supposed to return last month but whom I still have not seen.
I am feeling quite positive about our Day Camp initiative and am making copious lists of people to contact and documents to revise as we move into a new season of planning so I think there will be some full weeks ahead. At this time two weeks from today I will be scurrying around setting up the house for the Team Gathering. We are going to have an evening of Taizé worship including small group Bible Study and discussion. Of course the event begins with a shared supper and since the Gathering is happening on Thanksgiving Weekend I know everyone will be expecting a big pot of hot apple cider!
I think once this post is published I should get to work completing my menu chart for the next two weeks, as that will include looking for a main course to make for the Gathering. Hmm… maybe something in the slow cooker?
Since we are now on the topic of food, I had better close off with a recipe.
Last evening I had last minute company for dinner, in the person of Syndi Belle. She is one of the SYC staff and needed to be let into our supply room over at Isaiah 40, so I invited her to come first for dinner and then afterwards we walked over there together (happily avoiding the worst of the rain).
In this week’s farm share box I had got a lovely bunch of broccoli so I made an adaptation of a recipe from “Plenty”, one of my favourite vegetarian cookbooks.
Broccoli and Udon in Spicy Green Sauce
- 1 bunch broccoli, trimmed and broken into florets
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 8oz. Udon noodles
- 1” piece of fresh gingerroot, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp. dried chilli flakes
- 1 tsp. cumin seeds
- ½ tsp. ground coriander
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 small bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and stalks chopped
- 2 Tbsps. lime juice
- 3 Tbsps. vegetable oil
- 3 Tbsps. toasted sesame oil
- ½ cup coconut milk
Place the cumin, coriander, salt, chillies, gingerroot, garlic, cilantro, lime juice and 2 Tbsps. vegetable oil in the bowl of a small food processor and grind to a paste, scraping down the sides as needed. Heat the remaining Tbsp. of oil in a small saucepan and sauté the onion for a few minutes until softened. Add the contents of the processor bowl and continue sautéing for 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer gently while preparing the broccoli and noodles. Boil the noodles for approx. 8 minutes and steam the broccoli just until tender but still bright green, no more than 5 minutes. Drain the noodles and broccoli and place in a serving bowl, toss with the sesame oil. Pour the green sauce over the dish and toss gently. Serve immediately. Serves 3-4.