Hello Blog Friends!
Spring is truly on the way!! I have seen and heard the Canada Geese flying over. I tried to get a photo for you but they were too high to pick up on my camera, however, the blue sky is still very welcome and beautiful so I’m including the photo and you can imagine the geese!
It has been a full week. Last Sunday was the CTM Board meeting and so my workweek was to start off with transcribing the meeting minutes. That idea was side tracked when a friend, on the way into the city for an appointment, dropped by for coffee and Hot Cross buns at 830am! When she left there was just time to take Thomason out for a quick wee and set up for Jillian who was booked to come, following her appointment, for a Pysanky-making tutorial and lunch. We had a lovely time and she was a quick learner. She had requested Okonomiyaki for lunch and afterwards we squeezed in another hour to work on our eggs before she had to pick up her toddler from Daycare. So my workday started around 2pm and didn’t stop until both Thomason and I needed to eat our suppers.
Tuesday, fortunately, was back to an early work start and I continued with the Extended Day Program Guide and sent off an acceptance package to Promised Church (who will be part of a partnership, whereby some youth group members from First Filipino Baptist Church will be going as a service project, to provide some much needed staff support for the camp). I also sent the draft of the Board minutes to our President, and fired off, to a group of alumni, a bunch of text message badgering reminders about the Mini-Retreat. Later that day, I messaged Miriam in the hopes we can meet soon to discuss the slides for the Day Camp Program, which she will be creating this year.
Wednesday started with a short FaceTime visit with Gillian, a DC team and committee alumnus who now lives with her husband and 2 “littles” (and a marvellous dog named Winnie) in Halifax. Unfortunately the Internet connection was very poor, but she sent me some cute baby, toddler and dog pics afterwards. Gillian is sorely missed on the DC committee, hopefully she will be able to return when her “littles” are a bit bigger! That day I continued to toil on the EDP as I am still finding small things that need adjusting and am also trying to include some helpful photos of the creative activities. That evening was my monthly dinner visit with Jessica. I tried a new recipe for Shrimp Fried Rice with Yum Yum Sauce and we both rated it as a “keeper”!!!
Thursday morning I FaceTimed with committee member, Sharon, to go over more details around the Mini-Retreat and she also agreed to proof read the EDP, as I have been close to it for several weeks and always find it wise to have another pair of eyes scan a document before sending it out into cyberspace!
Yesterday a retired priest (and my predecessor as Director of Day Camps!) joined me for lunch. She and her husband now spend quite a lot of time traveling and also staying with some of their grandchildren when the parents are away on business, so I had not seen her for quite a while. She is still serving as an honorary assistant in a parish near their country house and remains interested in Diocesan news. Fortunately, we both agreed not to talk about the upcoming Electoral Synod, which was a huge relief on my part, at least!
Today, I got an early start with the weekly Bake. On my list was a batch of Peanut Miso Cookies, a Boule, a dish of Coconut Crème Caramel, a casserole of Steel Cut Breakfast Oats and a brach od Sourdough Cream Crackers Everything is now out of the oven, which is just as well since the Cook-Along starts in about an hour. This will be the final episode of season 9 and todat’s chef is Michelle, from the UK, with able camera assistant, her daughter, Maria. In the next week or so, I will be collecting up the photos and comments and will do a short “Wednesday Words” blog post about the series, so watch for it!
Right now it’s time to close off and I’m going to share the Shrimp Fried Rice with Yum Yum Sauce recipe, adapted from the NYT food app.
- 6 cups cooked white Basmati Rice, cooled and chilled
- 1 1b. frozen, cooked, wild caught shrimp, thawed
- 1 tsp. grated garlic
- ½ cup frozen corn kernels
- 1 cup frozen green beans, broken into short pieces.
- ½ a large onion, diced
- ½ a large red pepper, diced
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsps. butter
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup Tamari
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, stir in the grated garlic, until fragrant, then add the prepared vegetables, sauté until tender. Add the shrimp and rice, breaking up any clumps of rice and tossing, well, until everything is heated through. Push the rice mixture to one side of the pan and melt the butter in the space. Break the eggs into the melted butter and whisk with a fork, just until cooked and scrambled. Add the Tamari and thoroughly toss the whole mixture. Serve immediately, topped with a generous spoonful of Yum Yum Sauce. Serves 4-6
Yum Yum Sauce
- 1 tsp. paprika
- ½ tsp. dried onion flakes
- 1 Tbsp. warm water
- ½ cup mayonnaise (preferably homemade)
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsps. Rice vinegar
Combine the paprika and onion flakes in a small bowl, add the warm water and mix well. Add all the other ingredients and stir until completely blended. Leftover sauce will keep in the fridge for a few days.