Hello Blog Friends!
Oh, my goodness! It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of January. I am thankful that we are still in the season of Epiphany, since the last wisps of Christmas get to surround us until Candlemas. Last Monday night, the Christmas Trees were finally removed from the front lawns on our street, although, when taking my morning walks, I have noticed that some blocks still have the sad “skeletons” waiting for pick up.
And it has been COLD, so cold!! I think it was Tuesday morning, the windchill was registering -26ºC and I seriously considering skipping the walk but, instead donned my Tuktoyaktuk Parka and managed a 30-minute constitutional. It is amusing to see small children’s reactions to my Inuit garb but most adults barely bat an eyebrow- people, in a big city, frequently wear unusual clothing! It must be about 35 years since I made the parka. When some friends from St. Matthew’s Church moved back home after living in the Arctic, I was smitten with their parkas, made by the ladies of the ACW, (Anglican Church Women) in Tuktoyaktuk, and asked if I could borrow one to take a pattern off it. The plan was successful and, after doing further library research, I was able to create a reasonable facsimile of the real thing. It is the warmest outer garment I have ever owned and I enjoy explaining its origin when people about it. But that was rather a long digression…. let us check into news of the Day Camps world!
I am pleased to report a fair bit of progress, on various fronts, this week. Monday, I got the CTM Board minutes typed up and the draft sent off to our President to get his approval for circulation. With that out of the way, the Diocesan Council Minutes were dispatched to the Synod Office, as my clerical colleague is currently on parental leave so I had transcribed them “solo”.
Tuesday, work was begun on choreography for the 2026 Liturgical Dance. The first step, in this process, is to put the song on repeat and listen to it over and over. Fortunately, there is no one else in the house or they might easily be driven mad!! Many years ago, when the liturgical dance group at our church was very active, I used to be frequently playing songs on repeat and my poor mother was very generous about it but sometimes did ask me to PLEASE turn it off! Once the song is fixed in my head, the words get typed out and the document printed then, first in pencil (with plenty of erasures), then with ink, the dance notation is entered. Next month, I will be meeting with the young woman from First Filipino Baptist church, to whom I teach the piece. She will then collects some youth group volunteers, who will learn it, after which a video is recorded and added to the Resource Package.
As well as work on the dance, the first draft of the supply list was completed and sent off to Jillian who, with technical wizardry, will turn it into a more comprehensible document, added to the acceptance package.
Considering that, on each of two consecutive mornings an hour was also (most pleasantly!) spent, catching up with former committee members, living in the Maritimes, both of whom, although not quite as closely connected with the work of Day Camps, still participate in events as often as they are able.
So the week is now winding down and I am currently scurrying around, putting the finishing touches on the table for this afternoon’s Spanish Inquisition. Today, I was not able to take a walk at all since the windchill is currently at -35ºC, so, this morning, some candied ginger shortbread was baked and now the fancy sandwiches must be assembled.
Before setting to work, let’s close off with our recipe. One, extremely cold, evening this week I made a very tasty Japanese soup for my supper, it was appropriately hearty and warming!
Japanese Beef Noodle Soup
For the Dashi
- 2 (4-inch) squares kombu
- 2 Tbsps. Asian Fish Sauce
For the Beef
- 1lb. thinly sliced beef strips
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large red pepper, julienned
- 4 green onions, white parts cut into 2”pieces, halved lengthwise, green parts thinly sliced at an angle
- 1Tbsp raw cane sugar
- ¼cup rice vinegar
- 2Tbsps Tamari
For Serving
- 2Tbsps Tamari
- 1 lb. Udon noodles OR spaghetti or linguine
- Sriracha, to taste
First prepare the dashi by placing 8 cups cold water and the kombu in a large pot. Bring to the boil, cover and steep, off the heat, for 10mins. Remove the kombu, stir in the fish sauce and set the dashi aside. Next cook the noodles, drain well, and divide between 4 large serving bowls. In a large skillet, combine the beef, rice vinegar, sugar, tamari, sliced onion, white parts of the green onions, and red pepper strips. Add 1 cup of the dashi and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until the beef is cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated. Reheat 4 cups of the dashi and pour 1 cup over each bowl of noodles. Top each bowl with an equal quantity of the beef mixture. Sprinkle with the green onions, extra Tamari and Sriracha, to taste. Serve while still hot! Serves 4. Extra dashi can be frozen and used in other Japanese dishes.