Hello Blog Friends!
This week brings the final “Postcards” post as a Day Camp took place at First Filipino Baptist Church here in Montreal. Mikaela and Joshua (both former Team Leaders) served as co- Coordinators of the camp and Mikaela even sent me a few photos, which made me feel happy and also nostalgic all at the same time.The last photo shows a little girl who did not have access to fresh grass to bring for Lamb and so had cut up some strips of green paper instead 😊. Mikaela reported that they had 20 Campers registered with an average attendance of about 14 each day. They also had 14 people on the local Team, nearly all of whom, in past years, had served on Travelling Team so each of those Campers must have had a super “one on one” experience!
As mentioned previously, this camp had also requested a mentor. Jessica reports that she did join them from Houston, via Skype, for their set up meeting, but was not called upon again during the rest of the week as there were so many experienced Team members on site.
Of course the week also brought a number of emails and texts from the Directors of Junior Youth Camp, which ends today after a week at the Cedar Lodge campsite in the Eastern Townships region of Québec. The week started off with quite a lot of rain but picked up and ended with several sunny days. It was quite a small Camp after two years on hiatus due to COVID but reports were positive and everyone stayed healthy, which is extremely important these days 😊.
Every day I have been continuing with post editing and am now at September 2017. Progress is slow but steady and I’m determined to complete this task over the next couple of months, as after that, I will need to be focussed on the various autumn activities and the 2023 Program.
Outside of office time there have been the usual tasks:- gardening, baking and cooking, knitting, and household chores. With a large dog, one wages a daily battle with fur as well as with paw prints on all the floors, but these annoyances are a small price to pay for companionship.
Thursday afternoon Thomason also managed to snap the hook off his leash while we were out on our walk. Fortunately I was able to knot the leash onto his harness and make it safely home. I always have a couple of spare leashes in reserve but they are in “seasonal” colours and the one he snapped was our “all season” black one. So that evening I ordered a new one from Woof Concept.This is not a sponsored post (HA HA!) but I really want to give a shout out to this small Canadian Company . They use all sustainable materials in making their products and give a portion of each purchase to local animal shelters in Vancouver, where they are based. Last summer when Thomason also snapped a leash hook they gave me a substantial gift code with which I was able to purchase a lovely orange leash for autumn. This time when I reported that once again the hook had snapped they have given me a full refund so that I only need to pay shipping charges for the new leash I have ordered. I think that is pretty special customer service 😊.
With travel restrictions greatly diminished many of my friends have been away, over the summer, on trips, some to the UK and Europe and others to various parts of Canada and the US so there haven’t been many visitors but the week of August 20th my closest friend, Michelle (who lives with her family in Devon England), will be arriving in Montreal for 10 days 😊. She is coming to settle her eldest daughter into a residence at McGill and we plan to have several in-person visits. It is 5 years since she was last in Canada so I’m really looking forward to seeing her in the flesh instead of on a computer screen. That same week my former boarder, Steven, will also be in Montreal for a short visit and will be staying here for 2 nights, enroute to visit family in the Maritimes (Woot Woot!!!)
All this to say that I have been doing some quite extensive menu planning and have a long list of items to bake over both today and next Saturday 😊. Top of my baking list for next Saturday is Tropic Aroma Cake as I promised Michelle a piece. She was often came for dinner when my Mum was alive and knows of my tradition of baking this cake each year for Mum’s Birthday on April 18th. Of course I have long since eaten up this year’s cake and will be baking a fresh one so we can enjoy a slice together.
Today I’m doing a pan of Cinnamon Rolls, a batch of hamburger buns, Espresso Chocolate Chip cookies and a Nectarine & Lavender Crostina, the latter will be used for dessert one evening when Steven is visiting.
So now it’s back into the kitchen to pop the cookies in the oven and while they are baking I’ll add our recipe 😊.
One evening this week I tried a simple Korean recipe as I was once again fortunate enough to have a dozen farm fresh duck eggs on hand. Of course the dish can also be made with chicken eggs but if you can get duck eggs they take it to a whole other level 😊.
Gyeran Bap
- 2 Duck Eggs
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. Tamari
- 1tsp. sesame oil
- ½ sheet sushi nori, cut into small thin strips
- 1 cup steamed Basmati or Jasmine Rice
While the rice is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet and continue stirring until it is fragrant and lightly browned. Carefully break the eggs into the pan and drizzle the tamari and sesame oil over them. Cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Mound the steamed rice in a shallow bowl and very carefully slide the cooked eggs on top, trying not to break the yolks J. Pour all the buttery sauce over them and then top with the nori strips. Serve immediately. Serves 1, but can easily be multiplied.