Happy Canada Day!

It's my most favourite day of the entire year! Canada turns 143 today. Happy Canada Day!

Recipe: Bocconcini and Oregano Salad

Here is a great new salad recipe that I recommend. I discovered it a few weeks ago on a weekend news, recipe-of-the-week feature. I made it for a party and it went over well. Tip: When I make this again I will use less onions. I found them somewhat overpowering but I also think that onions are a personal preference so make your own decision!

Bocconcini and Oregano Salad

What you need:
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1 cup diced red bell pepper (about 1 pepper)
1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano (or 2 tsp/10 mL dried oregano)
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
Pinch salt
Pinch ground black pepper
1 cup halved mini bocconcini cheese pieces

Directions:
Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 4 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork. Set aside to completely cool.

Combine the zucchini, tomatoes, onion, peas and red and yellow pepper in a large bowl.

Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and thoroughly mix all the ingredients. Add the quinoa and bocconcini and mix until evenly combined. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days

Enjoy!

Leadership Day

Each year for the last five or so a group of leaders and I have planned a day long leadership event for youth to refresh/gain leadership skills in preparation for leading at Summer camps and Vacation Bible Schools. This year, leaders are busier than ever and the burn out level has been high. When the idea was pitched to plan a leadership event there were no takers. Then I did some thinking and decided that this was still important to do but in a smaller, simpler way, so I organized it.

On Saturday we offered a 4 hour event and it went super well!
35 Youth, 10 Youth Leaders
$5/person to cover snack and lunch

4 workshops:
1. Leadership Basics - What does it mean to be a leader? Boundaries of leadership.
2. Game Bursts: Games you can do to fill time
3, Leadership: Working with Diversity (inclusiveness, disabilities) and Dealing with Conflict
4. Theatre Sports and Drama

Each participant got a ball (for future games) and handouts to take home as part of their leadership kit. It was a great day!

Jerusalem!!!

It's official and most of the world already knows this but I am going to Jerusalem in July! I am one of forty people in the world to be selected to attend a conference on justice in the Middle East. All the participants will be between 18&35 years old and from many different countries and Christian churches affliated with the World Council of Churches. The conference will be hosted by Sabeel; an Ecumenical Liberation Theological Centre. I've booked my flights and depart of July 19th. Luckily my to do list between now and then is small as time is ticking and I will be in the Holy lands before I know. What an amazing opportunity!

Stolen

Tonight I decided to check out my garden plot and see how things are growing. Once I arrived I discovered that someone stole my strawberry plant, which had berries that were almost ready on it and they pulled out a large plant which I recently discovered was a large weed...no big deal. Then as I walked through the garden I noticed that someone has intentionally stepped all through a number of garden plots, damaging plants and pulling out others. I am not mad but I have to say that this is pretty disappointing. I've written to Strata to see what they can do.

85th Anniversary

Tomorrow is the United Church of Canada's 85th Anniversary. I am SO proud to be a member of this church. Tomorrow during worship we will celebrate Communion and the bread we will eat is bannock, made from locally milled flour from each province in Canada. Isn't that neat? I baked three loaves tonight and it smells great. This week I watched an amazing video recapping 85 years and the amazing things that the church has done. Did you know that....
We were the first church in Canada to ordain women?
We were one of the first churches to openly welcome, ordain and marry gay and lesbian people?
We strive towards seeking justice locally and globally?
We've apologized for our part in the First Nations Residential School abuses?
We are a member of the World Council of Churches?
Of course there is a lot of diversity within each congregation however I think it's pretty incredible to be apart of a church that is generally so open, welcoming and empowered.
Happy Birthday UC!

JUNE!

How did it happen? June is here and that means Canada Day is one month away. For those of you who don't know, Canada Day is my most favourite not-religious day of the entire year! Anyways, back to June arriving.... This is my first blog update in a few weeks so I thought I would share some highlights of what has been happening in my life. My Mom always says that I could write a book with the amount of things going on all the time. So here it goes:

1. It has been raining soooo much in May that I have spent more time dumping out plant dishes filled with water than I have spent gardening and tending my garden plot. As one who has grown up in BC, the rain doesn't bother me but it has been much more noticeable this year. My garden is growing well with strawberries arriving in just a couple more weeks.

2. The Emerging Spirit book is in the final stages and I will be listed as one of the editors. Look through my previous posts to find out what I am talking about.

3. Langley Farmer's Market started last week and I was one of the first 200 people there (in the pouring rain) and received a free market bag.

4. It's rhubarb season and I've been buying it by the pounds and stocking up my freezer with this great pie-making, muffin-making, crumble-making ingredient.

5. It's Grad Season and so this month I will be celebrating and recognizing a handful of high school graduates through various ceremonies and gatherings. I also received a wonderful invitation for a cousin graduating in Utah.

6. Wedding #1 of the season is coming up and I am one of 25 people who have been invited. One of the smallest weddings ever and one that is all about organic, down to earth, outdoor, community style celebration. I can hardly wait!

7. The Summer semester began a few weeks ago and I am taking one class until August on the topic of behaviours. I am also challenging my final practicum and I have a few assignments to complete over the summer for this.

8. My quilting group is coming to an official end in mid-June. We've been quilting together for 10 years, all through our twenties and into our thirties. As a final project we are working on a stained glass quilt and a burgello. Both are quite neat projects.

9. I have led three "retreats" over the last month; Children's Retreat, Women's Retreat and May Youth Retreat. All went well and all took a ton of energy.

10. Finally this coming Sunday is the churches 85th Birthday and I have been given the task of baking 8 loaves of bannock for our worship celebration. Every congregation across Canada has been given the same dry ingredient mix so that we all eat the same bread on the same day while celebrating the United Church of Canada.

All is well in Kerry-land!