Hello Blog Friends!
Although this was only a 4-day workweek, there has been plenty to keep me busy around here. So, now, early Saturday afternoon, last Monday’s Holiday seems like weeks ago! In the end, it was necessary to do a short “office” time on Monday morning, as a number of emails had come in over the weekend and I really do refrain from answering those on Sundays.
By Tuesday, it was “back to regular programming”. Further progress has been made on planning the Alumni Advent Program. The beeswax sheets have been ordered, for participants who wish to roll tapers and we now have three Reflection Leaders lined up, woot, woot!! A start has also been made on creating slides presentations for the 4 sessions, although there is way more to do in that direction.
Wednesday, my attention turned to the 2nd Episode of the Cook-Along. The supply list and Meet link were circulated, although, sadly, despite a good deal of badgering, the recipe from Episode #1, had not yet appeared.(it came late Thursday!!) There was also some correspondence with CTM’s former Director of Communications, who is planning to send me a tutorial, which will, hopefully, make it possible to upload the latest issue of Networks to the CTM website ( this document arrived last evening and will be dealt with on Monday morning!). Later that day, I spent a gruelling couple of hours untangling my handwritten notes from the previous evening’s Diocesan Council meeting, and turning them into cohesive, typed Minutes, the draft of which was, Thursday morning, sent off to my clerical colleague, to finalise.
Thursday, I roughed out the text of the talk I’m giving, next week, at an online gathering of youth and children’s ministry leaders. The event was supposed to take place earlier this month but was postponed by Lee-Ann, the person at the Synod Office, who had first invited me to speak. There was also some general office work , dealing with invoice payments and entering them on the financial spreadsheet,
Yesterday, was “Round 2” of creating the Advent Program Slides. This involved embedding music videos and the Biblical texts, onto the set of slides being readied for each session.I shared a link (for critiquing) of the session #1 slides, with Sharon, as she and I have been working, together, on planning the program. This week I, also, created a resource sheet and circulated it to the Reflection Leaders , so that they can decide on which date they would prefer to speak. One sincerely hopes that they do not all wish to speak on the same date! AGH!!!
Out of office time, unless it is raining, the top garden priority has been RAKING, as the trees all have begun to shed their leaves. It was sunny and cold on Thursday morning, after a rainy Wednesday, so I was able to do an extended clear up and also took the opportunity to cut down all the straggling plants in the herb garden. Today is also sunny so the weekly Bake took place last evening, freeing me up for more intensive, (three hours!! )garden work this morning, as this afternoon is the Cook-Along, so no time to work outside!
For the Friday Bake, the list included- the bi-weekly GF loaves, a batch of Molasses Crinkle Cookies, an Apple Crisp, a batch of Naan Bread and a batch of Cream Crackers. Needless to say, it was a long evening!
As it will soon be time to log onto the Meet for the Cook-Along, I’ll just type in our recipe. This makes a hearty and cosy, Vegetarian supper dish…
Basil Tofu
- 1 block firm tofu, broken into, roughly, 1” pieces
- ½cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1tsp. chilli flakes
- 1 red pepper seeded and diced
- 1 cup green beans, cut into short lengths
- 5 Tbsps. Tamari
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- cooked brown rice, for serving
In a large skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onion, until softened. Stir in the garlic and chilli flakes and cook until fragrant, stir in the red pepper and green beans, season with salt. Add the tofu, sprinkle with the Tamari and cook for 5 minutes, tossing the tofu, to coat all of it with the Tamari. Stir in the basil and lime juice. Serve immediately over bowls of brown rice. Serves 2-3