Holy Saturday is here at last. I have been hanging up the egg garland and baking my last batch of Kulich before icing and wrapping them for delivery tomorrow and Monday. This year I have made 9 baskets. When I realised I had made so many I thought “who will I give all of these to?” and then I started making list of families to whom I would love to give a basket and quickly found it quite difficult to only choose nine. Ha 😊!
Despite thinking that it would be hard to accomplish much in the way of Day Camp work in Holy Week, there has actually been quite a lot of activity.
Monday we were overjoyed to hear the news that a church that had previously backed out of hosting one of our three Training Day Camps is now able to recommit, this is really super news 😊
Then on Tuesday evening we held our monthly committee meeting and though we were a small group we managed to put in some more important planning for the Training Retreat and also to prepare an agenda for the Kick Off Event. This last takes place early in June and is a gathering of coordinators, clergy and local helpers from all the communities in the Montreal area that will be hosting Camps. For the first time it will be held here at my house (aka the CTM office) as we continue to adjust to the reality of no longer having Isaiah 40 as the meeting place for such events and so some accommodations need to be made to best fit the venue.
On Monday and Wednesday I held separate conversations with two members of the committee who could not attend the Tuesday meeting. Both of these discussions were most fruitful in helping add some important pieces to the huge Day Camps “ jigsaw puzzle”.
As of Wednesday afternoon, by which time contact with most churches had dwindled to a trickle as congregations focused on the services of Holy Week, I moved my own attention to washing all the glass in 24 windows and 8 doors throughout the house and garage as well as taking down, washing and rehanging 24 curtain panels. This is probably the largest single household task to be undertaken in the whole year and I really do not recommend attempting such a project when accompanied by a three-month-old energetic puppy😊.
However, despite the fact that both yesterday and today have been rainy I’m still delighted to have the job behind me and with a clean and sweet smelling house in which to celebrate the Paschal Feast.
“Feast” provides an excellent segue into this week’s recipe.
I recently purchased a lovely pot of fresh basil, which I hope to plant in the herb garden once the weather warms up. Wanting to really savour all it’s freshness, last evening for dinner we enjoyed Thai Basil Noodles …
Thai Basil Noodles
- 2-3 Tbsps. sesame oil
- 1 package firm tofu, drained and cubed
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped garlic scapes OR 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 cups mushrooms (I used oyster), chopped
- 4 small bok choy, cut into large chunks
- 8 oz. linguine
- ½ cup basil cut into ribbons
- 2 Tbsps. toasted sesame seeds
- Sauce:
- ¼ cup Tamari
- 1 Tbsp. sriracha
- 1 tsp. maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large sauté pan and add the tofu. Cook for a few minutes on each side until browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Heat 1 more Tbsp. oil in the pan and add onions and garlic scapes. Cook for 3-5 minutes then add mushrooms and bok choy and cook until tender.
Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water. When water is boiling, and add linguine and cook for about 9 minutes or until al dente. You don’t want them too soft because they will cook more later on.
When noodles are al dente, drain and add to pan.
Mix sauce ingredients, add to pan and cook everything for another 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and add basil and mix through.
Fold in tofu and top with sesame seeds.
Serves 3-4