First June post and it is a lovely Friday morning as I make a start on this week’s content.
Most of my Day Camps work in the week has been devoted to preparing the “Terrific Tuesday” resource, which we plan to offer as a gift to all the communities that have hosted Day Camps over the last couple of summers and who had applied for, or shown interest in, holding one this year.
On Wednesday I sent an email to a list of Clergy and Coordinators asking them to be on the lookout for the link, which we will send early in July. The plan is to publish a “Terrific Tuesday” post for 5 consecutive weeks from July 7-August 3, roughly the same weeks in which our Teams would usually be out on the road across Canada.
During this hard season we want to let these communities know that we are still here, still seeking to serve them with quality children’s ministry, and that we are so very sorry that our Teams will not be coming into their churches and homes this summer. Creating content for the blog posts is quite challenging since in no way do we want to encourage children to sit at computers all summer (they have had to do quite enough of that since lockdown began!) but we do want to give them a taste of Day Camps. I hope lots of families will enjoy the posts 😊
…Saturday
The other rather large piece of office work this week has been completing the Pentecost/Summer issue of “Networks” CTM’s newsletter that goes out quarterly using the “Mail Chimp” platform. Today I am hoping to send it on to Wentworth (Director of Communications) so that he can have a few days to proofread it before we hit the “send” button!
Outside of office hours I have spent as much time as possible in the garden as this is the season when gazillions of maple “keys” drop from the surrounding trees landing on every flat surface- the grass, flower beds, driveway, deck and porch. If they are not swept up they germinate and pretty soon one has gazillions of maple trees growing. AGH 😊
When not gardening, I have again been sewing masks, this time for a friend who is currently living out of an hotel in Halifax as she and her husband were evacuated out of Egypt (where she is a Canadian Embassy worker) just prior to lockdown. I have completed 5 masks for them and will mail the parcel next Monday.
Another very exciting event was when Jenna came for dinner Monday evening!!!
I had not eaten a meal with another human being for well over 3 months so it was quite a treat to set a proper table, cook for someone besides myself, and sit talking while sharing supper. 😊
We had hoped to eat outside on the porch, where it is easier to maintain appropriate social distancing, however it turned out to be a cold and windy evening so we ate at the dining room table
This is probably the best place to segue into a recipe, as we ate Thai- flavours Coconut Soup and I planned to include it in this post. 😊
Thai-flavours Coconut Soup
1 Tbsp. coconut oil- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground chilis
- 3 slices ginger root
- 1 2” strip lemon peel
- 2 tsps. curry powder
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 block firm tofu, cubed
- 8 oz. button mushroom caps sliced
- 1-2 Tbsps. Agave
- 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
- 2-3 Tbsps. lime juice
- 2-3 green onions sliced thin
- fresh cilantro chopped, for garnish
Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chilli powder, ginger, lemon peel and curry powder and cook stirring for 5 minutes, until fragrant, Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Strain discarding spices and onions. Return to pot and add mushrooms, tofu, coconut milk, agave, fish sauce and lime juice. Simmer until heated through.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with green onions and cilantro. Serves 4-6