Great Food Makes for Times of Great Fun ..... Really? It Can!

This past Tuesday, was a special EA Cafe, which also marked a birthday for me.  Each Cafe is a fun, must do time for me now and this past Tuesday was all the more special because of what people did.

Two of our new helpers came along to help us make Shepherds Pies for the Boys and Girls Club of Saint John.  The willingness of people to help is truly a blessed thing to witness and receive.  As I believe we are created in the image of God, I believe we are then created to be active, creating and giving.  When we act in these ways, we enrich ourselves and those who are blessed by these actions.

Good laughter, and discussion of birthdays past and approaching made the preparation work very light.

To top a Shepherds Pie I like to mix Garlic and Chopped Sundried Tomatoes into the mashed potato mixture.  Sorry people, but of course I use butter with the milk.  Many thanks to the East Saint Food Bank for supplying the big bag of Sundried Tomatoes for me to use in feeding people through the church activities.

Chicken thighs were on sale this week and they had slow cooked in a large portable oven with a timer for 8 hours.  With Costco Organic No-Salt Seasoning and Costco Dehydrated California Garlic.  Folks, a little preliminary work often can yield amazing results.

Thighs were deboned and the meat stirred into finely chopped onion, celery and shaved carrot.

This mixture was then cooked with tumeric, pepper and thyme.  275 -- 300 degrees to just heat things through and maintain crunchiness of vegetables.  Nice simple mixture of spices to not confuse the flavours.  One of our good cooks who helps at the Cafe when he is home from his job as a long haul trucker, prepared the mixture.

Croissants were sliced in half and the mixture spooned on.  With some mayo.

The good folk of the church had made several, many several, types of cupcakes to mark the birthday celebration.  And I had a dilemma.  I had to try at least one of each cupcake so I did not offend the cooks!  It was a tasty dilemma.

One youngster came in and left with one of each in a take home pack.  It was a pleasure to let him have a great day by being able to let him think he had acquired a great yummy treasure.

Great Food made for times of great fun this past Tuesday.  I can only hope that as you journey in this life, you might have times to gather with others and using simple ingredients create wonderful meals.

Happy Eating

Grace and Peace