Hello Blog Friends!
As the week draws to a close the switch from summer to autumn mode becomes increasingly evident and as the days begin to shorten one even feels the urge to transition from bare feet to cosy slippers. I do love autumn for its cosiness but leaving summer behind is hard.
This week saw several meetings (both on line and in person) as well as some welcome visitors.
Monday morning I met early with Michelle, in the UK. We had only spoken sporadically over the summer and so we caught up on Day Camp business before she had to hurry off and pick her daughter up from school. I then managed to send to all the Day Camp committee members a copy of my 2023 Annual Report, as my plan was to submit it to the Foundation that gave us our 2023 grant as a report after the “project” was a prerequisite of the application process and I’m happy to say that it was successfully sent yesterday morning 😊. Next I met in person with a friend who donated towards the matching funds we required for the 2023 grant application and who had asked to know how the summer had gone. This person has already promised to donate something towards the 2024 matching funds 😊.
Tuesday I started work super early, as that afternoon was the opening Eucharist and meeting of Diocesan Council, for which I serve as secretary. That morning I was able to compose and send the September prayer list to the Day Camps Prayer Support Group and ,within the hour, had received assurances from two of the group that they would be praying for the concerns. Once the prayers were emailed out I pulled together a PowerPoint template for the upcoming Harvest/Thanksgiving Team Gathering as, next week,that needs to be circulated to the guest speaker and the music team.
After a hurried lunch and walk with Thomason, Jessica joined us as she was to “hold the fort” in my absence. I was getting a lift from a Council member who lives nearby but it turned into a nail biting experience as she was delayed and traffic downtown is very busy by the late afternoon. However we did arrive just in time to slip into our seats for the Eucharist, whew!!!
Wednesday I had another extra early start to my workday as my dear friend Jillian and her adorable 2 month old baby Amelia were coming for a short visit in the early afternoon. That morning I was really pleased to finish the 4th “Creative Connection” section for the 2024 Program Manual as well as the last of the crafts that are offered as an option at the start of each Day Camp day. I still need to write up 1 more “Extra Activity” for the Creative Connection Chapter after which I will begin on the Extended Day Manual and the Liturgical Dance Choreography.
Thursday my office time needed to be devoted to general office work since a meeting of the CTM Board had been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I prepared a template for the minutes of the meeting and also drafted a handwritten outline, as I have to take the minutes by hand since the computer is needed for streaming the Google Meet. Little did I know that yesterday morning I would receive a message from our President saying that, due to the need to attend a funeral, he would suddenly not be available Sunday afternoon for the meeting.
Thus a good portion of yesterday was spent trying to reschedule and notifying everyone of the postponement. Things were complicated by the fact that a guest had also been invited to the meeting and this person has pulled together some suggestions for a couple of CTM general fundraising events so we wanted to make sure he could be free to join us on the revised date. As of noon, yesterday, most of the key Board members had responded and a new date has been tentatively decided upon, I do hope it will be finalised soon.
Giving up Friday morning to sort out this situation did put me behind on a number of other items, including the draft of this post so I’m afraid this is being published a bit later than usual.
First thing this morning I got the gardening out of the way and regretfully exchanged the screen on the back door for the winter window, since the temperatures at night have already been dipping close to freezing and so a bit of extra protection is needed in the kitchen 😊. With the baking now out of the oven and Thomason snoozing after his second long walk, it is time to wrap up with a recipe.
There has been a glut of eggplants in our recent CSA boxes and I have been on the hunt for new ideas to use the bounty. The following is an adaptation of an East Indian recipe. You can serve it with Basmati rice or Naan.
Eggplant Dal
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 large eggplant cut into cubes
- Salt and pepper
- 2 Tbsps. unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp. each minced garlic & fresh ginger
- 1 red chile, finely chopped
- 1 tsp. each, ground cumin & coriander
- 1 medium tomato, roughly chopped
- 1 cup red lentils
- Chopped cilantro
In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion and eggplant, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is softened and starting to break down, about 8 minutes. Add 2 Tbsps. water and stir up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Cook until all of the water has been absorbed, then transfer eggplant mixture to a bowl. Melt butter in the pot over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, chile, cumin and coriander, and stir constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato and cook, stirring occasionally, until completely broken down and lightly caramelised, about 5 minutes, add eggplant mixture, lentils and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until lentils are tender and mixture is thickened, about 15 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro. Serves 4