Hello Blog Friends!
There was I apologising, last week, for a weather rant and this week things got MUCH WORSE!! Over the past 10 days the Province of Québec and part of Ontario have received 80cms. (if you use Imperial measuring that means 3 feet!!!!!!) of snow. This, combined with winds gusting to 70kms per hour and temperatures below -20C, has made for epic chaos in Montreal, Québec City and Ottawa, with school closures and people asked to work from home and only use public transportation.
As of today, the sidewalk has still not been ploughed on my street and walking in the road can be dangerous, as the giant piles of snow have made the streets very narrow.
I think I have clocked about 10 hours of shovelling since last Thursday. There are still some areas I would like to see cleared but there is literally nowhere to put the snow and the City actually has the gall to be sending around photographers who are taking pictures of snow piled in the road and fining people 375$. Sigh.
But let us talk of happier things! This coming week I shall be “Changing the Decorations”(CofD)! Despite the fact that there is not a vestige of spring, Lent will begin March 5th and I ALWAYS change the decorations at the start of Lent, especially so my Pysanky can be displayed as icons and harbingers of Easter. This CofD is bittersweet as. March 2nd also marks the anniversary of my Mum’s death, 25 years ago (how can it possibly be that long??) There will, inevitably, be tears but the Lent/Spring/Easter décor does brighten one’s spirits with lots of floral watercolour sketches and pretty fabrics.
Spring also means that we are inching towards summer and THAT means Day Camps! This week saw the supply list finalised and the Liturgical Dance choreography tweaked into shape, the 2025 Community Planner has also been updated so ,Thursday morning, I finally sent off a link for the Acceptance Package to the Day Camp Coordinators at the 3 churches that have already applied.
The next big hurdle will be the proofreading of the 2025 Program Manual. We initially aimed to have the first read through mid-February but, unbelievably, there are still two sections of content that have not been submitted (yes the deadline was December 31st 2024!!!!). Thus Jessica and I wait and hope these last puzzle pieces will arrive VERY soon.
There has not been much time to devote to the Extended Day Program, although I have sourced a couple of good creative activity ideas. A couple of days were taken up assembling CTM’s quarterly newsletter “Networks” as the Lent/Eater edition will need to be published the first week in March. I am just waiting for one more article and then will be able to forward the draft to Guylaine for final proofing.
This past week, it had been my hope to find a slot of time in which to sew my new cosy corduroy overalls but, sadly, the volume of shovelling took precedence and, with the CofD in the coming week, I think the project will have to wait until the first week of March.
Several evenings have also been occupied with Zoom interviews of the candidates for Coadjutor Bishop. By rearranging my schedule, I managed to attend 3 out of the 4 this week and the last one should take place this coming Monday. An extra meeting of the Search Committee has been called for next Thursday evening so even my knitting schedule has taken quite a hit.
Wednesday evening Jessica struggled with the appallingly slow public transport and managed to join me for our monthly dinner visit, which was most welcome. Then, today, Mae Anne will be joining me for lunch. Goodness knows where the poor soul will be able to park, since she comes by car. AGH!!!
As I hope she will be arriving shortly, we had best end off here with our recipe. The Mexican Beef Tacos that Jessica and I enjoyed on Wednesday were a tasty winter comfort food and so seemed a good choice:-
Mexican Beef Tacos
Spices-
- ½ Tbsp. chipotle powder
- 1 Tbsp. paprika
- 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. ground Allspice
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 2 tsps. onion flakes
- 1 tsp. each salt and pepper
Beef-
- 2 Tbsps. olive oil
- 3 lbs. beef blade roast, boned and cut into 4 pieces
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- Juice of 1 orange
- 2 Tbsps. lime juice
- 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups beef broth
- ½ cup water
Mix all the spices together and rub 2 Tbsps. of the mixture over the chunks of beef. Heat the oil in a cast iron Dutch Oven and sear the beef on both sides, remove pieces to a plate. Add the onion, and garlic and fry for a few minutes. Stir in the orange and lime juices, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Return the meat to the pot and add the tomatoes, broth and water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer, briskly, for 2 hours. Remove the beef, uncover and simmer the sauce for another 20 minutes. Meanwhile, once the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it with 2 forks. When ready to serve, add the meat to the sauce and gently reheat. Serves 6-8. If you have leftovers it if best to remove the beef with a slotted spoon, from the sauce and freeze meat and sauce separately. After thawing, bring the sauce to a brisk simmer and add the meat, just to heat it through, otherwise in will become mushy. Serve with flour tortillas, salsa, shredded cheddar, shredded lettuce and fresh chopped cilantro.