Hello Blog Friends!
Here we are coming to the close of Lent and entering Holy Week. This afternoon we will be holding our, much anticipated, Alumni Lenten Mini-Retreat so watch for a Wednesday Words post, all about it! That post will likely be published on April 23rd, rather than in Holy Week, but perhaps I will have time to pull it off for April 16th.
It has been a very full week with much preparation on a number of fronts. The Manual is now distributed and being proofread by 3 committee members so I have been focusing on completing the folder for the Backyard program package with only a couple of items still outstanding. The ongoing “hyperlink issue” seems to have been resolved so the Supply list and Planner should both be fine for distribution.
Of course, Retreat planning has also been in the forefront. Eli has been adding a lot of content to the slide presentation and had already warned me that a lot would be done at the last moment. I am looking forward to the afternoon and all that we will be exploring together.
Several more staff members from Junior Youth Camp have contacted the office about filling out forms for Police Records Checks so that organising has been happening alongside everything else.
I have reached out to several more churches to see if we can ignite any more interest in hosting a Day Camp but, at present and not surprisingly, most have asked me to check back “after Easter”!
Early in the week, we awoke to 5cms of snow, thankfully, due to plenty of rain, that has now melted away and I have even spotted my first robin. Woot,woot!!
Unfortunately, there have also been two more meetings of Diocesan Council to deal with and the ensuing pages of minutes to transcribe. Thursday, I had a nice break from the computer when Jillian came for lunch and to remove wax and varnish her two Pysanky. We enjoyed an Indian-themed lunch and, as she worked on the eggs, I did some Bake prep as I had to push this week’s baking back to yesterday morning after the second Council meeting was called for yesterday afternoon.
This morning, I took advantage of a bit of sunshine and warmer temperatures to make a start on some window cleaning. It is my hope to have all of them cleaned and all the curtains washed in time for Easter Day, although there are many other pulls on my time during the coming Holy Week such as wrapping all the Pysanky, making some sweet Easter treats for friends and cutting out (and maybe sewing!) a birthday dress for a 6 year-old I know.
Right now I had better end off and get this published, since Eli would like to test the slide presentation at 12:45pm and Thomason will need a walk before being expected to lie down quietly for 3 hours (not much chance of that happening!!)
As mentioned above, Jillian and I really enjoyed an Indian soup when she was visiting last Thursday. The recipe is adapted from one I found on the New York Times food app.
Curried Coconut & Red Lentil Soup
- 2Tbsps. Olive oil
- 1 large onion and1 large carrot, both roughly chopped
- 3 large cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 Tbsp. curry [powder
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. ground celery seed
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup red lentils
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- ¼ cup Chili Crisp
Heat the oil in a large soup pot and brown the onions and carrot for about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic, curry powder, celery seed and tomato paste and stir until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, vegetable broth and lentils and bring to the boil. Reduce to a brisk simmer and cook for 20minutes, stirring frequently, until the lentils are tender, season to taste with sea salt. Remove from heat and purée in a blender or food processor OR purée using and immersion blender. Serve, garnished with chili crisp and lime juice, to taste.