Hello Blog Friends!
Here we are at the last weekend of June. Although it is five years since we sent out Travelling Teams, old habits die hard, and a part of me still sees this past week as “Training Day Camp Week” and the coming week as the “Day Camp Training Retreat” 😊.
But we have turned a page and so it is important to live in the present and plan, God willing, for the future. Due to the Fête St. Jean holiday, this has been a 4–day workweek and, with Canada Day this coming Monday, we are enjoying our second summer holiday weekend 😊.
The saga of the replacement of lead pipes continues outside my home (AKA the CTM office!) and so work is accompanied by the constant noise of bulldozers and pneumatic drills, sigh. My poor lawns (which I tend with great care as an “homage” to my father, an avid golfer
The saga of the replacement of lead pipes continues outside my home (AKA the CTM office!) and so work is accompanied by the constant noise of bulldozers and pneumatic drills, sigh. My poor lawns (which I tend with great care as an “homage” to my father, an avid golfer😊) are being decimated by more digging and upheavals with no immediate end in sight.
The week brought good news in the form of a donation from one church in support of Day Camps as well as a general donation from another so part of my time has been spent on the pleasant task of writing “Thank You” cards 😊.
The ongoing work of submitting police records check forms has continued. One completed form has yet to be sent to the office and, due to a serious accident happening to the mother of the JYC staff member who needs to fill it out, I cannot possibly, at present, trouble the family about it. Another form that had to be resubmitted, due to an error in filling it out, has had to be sent back to the staff member for a third time as another section is still not corrected. I am fast coming to the conclusion that the forms may only be submitted to the police department AFTER camp has actually happened!
Meanwhile preparations continue for the July 6th online Team Gathering. After last week’s meeting with the two worship music leaders, several conversations with the speaker and a reminder email to the alumnus in Germany who has promised to send a greeting, I think everything is under control, although we still have no one in place to lead the prayer time as our usual person will be on a flight home from California at the time of the Gathering!
Outside of office hours there have been two special visits, with a third happening tomorrow. Wednesday Jessica and I squeezed in our monthly “Korean Soap Opera” visit. This was accompanied by a supper of Tofu and Rice Summer Rolls, Blueberry Pavlova and Iced Mint Tea, the latter being made with fresh mint from my garden 😊.
Thursday included an early lunch visit with Jillian and baby Amelia. Jillian and her husband, Victor, have finally secured a daycare place for Amelia, just in time for Jillian’s return to teaching, in August, so this may well have been my last visit from the toddler as they transition her into her new schedule over the next few weeks. She turns 1 year old on July 3rd and I am super excited to give her the first of what I hope will be a series of birthday crowns (see sneak peak above 😊).
This morning I have been doing the weekly bake as, due to a dark and rainy day; there won’t be any gardening. The weather is supposed to be much better on the Canada Day holiday so I’m hoping to do some intensive clean up after the depredations of the contractors 😊.
Once the last tray of sourdough bagels is in the oven I am going to turn my attention to setting a lunch table for tomorrow’s visitors in the persons of Brenda and her “trio” of small people. As mentioned in a previous post, they are in Montreal this weekend for the wedding of a close friend of Brenda’s who is the priest at St. George’s, Place du Canada, and is being married from there today. Tomorrow they will be attending Sunday Morning Service at St. George’s and will then join me for lunch before beginning the fist leg of their drive home to Halifax.
The lunch menu is going to include my sourdough sandwich bread with a choice of two fillings, and a platter of crudités, followed by giant chocolate chip cookies and local strawberries. Hopefully, a suitably child-friendly meal although, thankfully, the children are not picky eaters.
Along with the bagels, I have made a batch of Cream Crackers, 2 GF loaves for my friend, Sue, and a batch of granola.
Before I head off to check on the bagels, we do need our recipe. On a hot and sticky evening this week I enjoyed Tofu Summer Rolls, do give them a try 😊.
Tofu Summer Rolls
- 1 cup short grain brown rice, cooked
- ¼ lb. tofu, sliced into ¼ “x2” pieces
- 8 Romaine lettuce leaves, cut crosswise, into thin strips
- 1 large carrot, cut into thin strips with a vegetable peeler
- 8 Cremini mushrooms, julienned
- 4Tbsps. rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp.Tamari
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves
- 8 Brown Rice Spring Roll Wrappers
Peanut Sauce: –
- 6 Tbsps. crunchy peanut butter
- 2 Tbsps. rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. Tamari
- 1 Tbsp. finely grated gingerroot
- 2 tsps. brown sugar
- pinch of cayenne
Toss the cooked rice with 2 Tbsps. rice vinegar and 1Tbsp. Tamari. Combine all the peanut sauce ingredients and mix well, adding a small amount of cold water if it is too thick. In a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, carrot and mushrooms with 2 Tbsps. rice vinegar. Fill a shallow pie plate with cold water and place a wrapper in it for 20 seconds, shake off excess water and lay on a clean surface. Build the summer roll by first placing, in the center of the wrapper, a spoonful of the vegetables, then a spoonful of the rice, forming a log shape. Next place a piece of tofu on top and spread with a tsp. of peanut sauce. Fold the bottom edge of the wrapper up over the filling, fold in the two side edges and roll into a neat parcel. Continue in the same way with the remaining wrappers. Serve immediately, with extra peanut sauce on the side. Makes 8 generous summer rolls.