It has been quite a full week around here and preparations are now in place for CTM’s Annual General Meeting, tomorrow afternoon.
Monday I compiled a list of names of all members who are eligible to vote and sent that off, along with several other documents, to Christopher Belle, our President. Chris was elected in 2020 and so has not yet Chaired an AGM, although as Rector of a Parish he will have had plenty of experience Chairing Vestry Meetings! But I did want to make sure to provide him with all the bits and pieces he might need for this meeting. Of course it will be taking place on Google Meet as in-person meetings are still forbidden under government pandemic restrictions. This does add a level of challenge for the Chair and also for the secretary since it means I have to write minutes in longhand and then transcribe them later into my laptop or else I could choose not to access the video in order to be able to type on my screen (not the best option) ARGH!!!! I’ve already had one of those sorts of meetings this week since Tuesday afternoon was Diocesan Council, which takes place in the same manner on Zoom Sigh.
Due to the pandemic last year’s Synod was pushed back to November but this year’s is scheduled to take place in mid-May so that means many pages of handwritten minutes for the second time in just six months. I will survive and fortunately I have loads of scrap paper on which to take the copious notes 😊
I have now made all but one of the Day Camp craft samples I assigned to myself. The group working on them still has two weeks to complete their assignments so yesterday I sent a reminder text and next week will plan a time when we can meet for a short wrap-up session.
It is also just 2 weeks before we are supposed to record a Training Video geared to communities that would run in-person Day Camps. We want the video to be generic rather than specific to an individual program so that it could be available for distribution more than one summer. Given that we still have no idea if any in-person camps will happen in 2021 it would be a real shame to produce something program specific and then never use it.
Outside of all the office work I haven’t been doing a lot of crafting as my hand was healing following last week’s unfortunate incident with Thomason and a dead squirrel!! However it is now almost healed so I’m back to knitting socks and soon hope to sew a couple of gifts for the upcoming birthdays of friends.
Wednesday afternoon I had such a nice visit with Sarah. She and her husband, Alexander (both Team Alumni 😊) used to live just around the corner but moved to suburbia a year ago when their daughter was a year old. Another baby is on the way but Sarah (who is a nurse) is still working part time and so stopped by, on her way home from a shift, for tea and hot cross buns and to pick up Serena’s birthday gift 😊.
This morning the clouds had lifted a bit so I headed outside and washed the basement, garage and front porch windows. Then, after lunch and a second walk with Thomason, I managed to finish the exterior of the dining room and living room windows before baking the layers for my Mum’s Birthday Cake. Tomorrow is the anniversary of her birthday and despite the fact that she died 21 years ago (is that really possible??) I still make this very special cake each April 18th, to honour her. In past years, when the Day Camp committee was meeting in-person I nearly always served this cake for dessert at our April meeting but last year, and now this year too, I shall just eat a couple of pieces then slice the rest, wrap them well and freeze them, for future treats. I hardly need a cake to help me remember my Mum, but somehow, making it each year provides a special link that I do not want to break.
So after that segue into the world of recipes 😊 it is time to close off here with this week’s.
At Easter a dear friend brought me some frozen organic lamb cubes so this week I decided to make Lamb Gyros. This recipe is equally good using beef cubes.
Lamb Gyros
- 1 lb. lean lamb, cubed
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 2 tsps. dried oregano
- 3 cups vegetable (or beef) stock
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup Greek yoghurt
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 English Cucumber
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 4 Greek Pita (homemade is better 😊)
- Lemon wedges
Place the sliced onion in a slow cooker and top with the lamb. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper then pour the stock over. Cook on low setting for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Just before the lamb is ready, prepare Tzatziki by grating half the cucumber and squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Fold into the yoghurt along with the mince garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper.
To assemble the Gyros- lay out 4 squares of aluminium foil on your work surface, place a pita on each, top with a serving of the meat and onions then a spoonful of Tzatziki, tomatoes and extra cucumber slices. Roll firmly into a cone shape, securing in place with the foil. Serve with lemon wedges. Serves 2-4