Happy Feast of Pentecost! (one day early 😊). I hope that liturgical purists will not be offended to see that I have already “Changed the Decorations” but since that task takes several days, it needs to be done ahead of Sunday.
We have had a crazy heat wave here throughout the week with temperatures in the mid 30’s Celsius and Humidex in the 40’s, considering we had a bit of snow just two weeks ago, it was quite a change! Mercifully we had some rain last night and today is lovely and cool with a high of 22º. I spent a good part of the morning working in the garden and am now catching up on some work as Gillian and I are going to FaceTime tomorrow about our plans for some online Day Camp content and I need to send her the template to review.
This week I was able to complete the edits on the sections of the new Day Camp subdomain and send them off to Brenda. Her laptop is currently in for repairs so she won’t be able to do much with the copy but I still wanted it to be in her hands.
In the coming week I shall be assembling the content for the CTM summer newsletter. It will certainly look quite different from the usual one. The Directors of our 2 sleep-away camps had been waiting to make a final decision regarding cancellation but the matter was taken out of their hands as our Provincial Government has made a formal announcement that no residential camps are to take place this summer. So we now know that none of CTM’s three core ministries will be happening this year.
Although it is too soon to consider the long-term effects of the pandemic on so many aspects of society I must say I have begun to ponder the viability of our current Day Camp Program in the “new normal” of the world. There will be much to consider so I’m very thankful for a good planning committee with whom to discuss possible scenarios for the future.
Outside of office hours a good portion of the week has been spent “changing the decorations”. It was most unfortunate that the work had to done during a heat wave but the results are pleasing and it feels good to have everything fresh and clean as we enter another season.
There were also more masks to sew, I guess that will be an on-going side project for quite a while as people scramble to find reusable masks for everyone in their families.
Since I still need to pull together the template for Gillian, I think I had better end off here with a recipe as I see it is almost time for Thomason’s supper too!
Last evening I made a really tasty vegan meal, very suitable for hot summer nights!
Asian Slaw with Quinoa
- ¾ cup quinoa
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 1 red pepper, diced
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup diced green onions
- ½ cup cashew
- For the dressing:
- ¼ cup organic peanut butter
- 2 tsps. freshly grated ginger
- 3 Tbsps. Tamari
- 1 Tbsp. agave
- 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
- 2 tsps. sesame oil
- Water to thin, if necessary
Bring 1½ cups water to the boil, stir in the quinoa, cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large serving bowl to cool. Meanwhile combine the dressing ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth, adding a few Tbsps. to obtain a thick but pourable dressing. Once the quinoa is cool, add the dressing and combine well. Fold in the vegetables and cashews.Serve at room temperature, or chilled. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.
Serves 3-4