Hello Blog Friends!
This past week has seen the first 2025 Day Camp take place. Woot! Woot!
Regular blog followers will recall that this camp was a special collaboration between First Filipino Baptist Church and Promised Church. Six young adults from FFBCM spent from last Sunday evening until last evening in the lovely Eastern Townships countryside providing support to the leadership of Promised. Church as they opened their doors to 18 campers, who came from several small towns in the area . The campers and leaders suffered through the first heatwave of the summer but, thankfully, things cooled down a bit for the latter half of the week. I had hoped to add some photos from the camp but the team leader is still collecting them from the others. Watch for them next week or I might create a Wednesday Words post if I can cajole one the leaders to write a couple of paragraphs about their experiences!
On the home/office front, the week also began with a few days of temperatures up to 45ºC but thankfully the heat abated by Wednesday. Tuesday was Québec’s Provincial holiday (National holiday, for those of a separatist persuasion!!)-Fête Saint Jean. Usually, it is hard to sleep that night with the sound of fireworks, however the extreme heat warning caused cancellation of many outdoor events, for which I was thankful, although it was very hard to get much sleep with a large black dog, panting on the floor beside my bed! Both of us were super thankful to wake up Wednesday morning to a more manageable 29ºC.
It was most unfortunate that I had agreed to take on a catering order for a longtime friend from St. Matthew’s Church days whose son is getting married in France. Jeanne-Marie is hosting a cocktail; party, in Montreal, for 50 friends and family members who cannot make it to the wedding and asked me to make 75 Onion Bhajis. These are deep-fried Indian delicacies and I spent over three hours preparing them, feeling very much as if I were being deep-fried myself!! The containers of appetisers are now safely stored in my freezer. Whew!
Last Sunday afternoon, Jessica and Tyler joined me for a festive Tea Party, a belated celebration of their eighth wedding anniversary. Thankfully, it wasn’t too hot to serve English Breakfast Tea along with a variety of savoury and sweet treats!
Each afternoon this week, an hour or so has been set aside to work on embroidering Amelia’s Birthday Crown. Amelia (daughter of my dear friend Jillian and her husband, Victor) will turn two, this coming Thursday so I am right down to the wire, but, late yesterday, I finished sewing a fabric gift bag and the gift is now ready for pick up. YAY!!
It is raining this morning so, sadly, there won’t be any Saturday gardening. But there is always “The Bake” and then Mae Anne is coming for our monthly lunch visit. As the heat has abated, I’m going to be serving Curried Thai Soup, with a side of Bao, followed by some fresh melon and cookies.
So I had better get busy making the Bao dough, but first thought I would share the recipe for Onion Bhajis. They are not difficult to make, although I recommend you choose a cool day to fry them, as standing over a pot of hot oil is no fun on a scorching day!
Onion Bhajis
- 4 medium onions, very finely sliced
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsps. baking powder
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ½ tsp each ground turmeric &chili powder
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Oil for frying
Combine the flour, baking powder and spices in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, along with 3Tbsps water. Mix in the onions and cilantro, with your hands. On a clean surface, make mounds of the mixture about the size of a golf ball. Pour the oil into a large, heavy bottomed pot (I use cast iron). Heat the oil until it reaches 350ºF. While the oil is heating, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Fry the bhajis, for about 2 minutes, then flip over and continue frying until golden brown. Remove from the oil with tongs or a wire mesh spoon and drain on the baking sheet. Serve hot or warm. Makes 20-25.