Sunshine

After lots of grey weather, there were a few sunny days this week. Here on the Wet West Coast, moments of sunshine bring a lot of hope. I won't pretend that the past two months of thesis writing haven't been without a lot of frustrating moments and that weariness has not set in this weekend... but as a fellow student said recently, "We can finally see that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train!". This week marks the beginning of Lent, a time I see as quiet and contemplative. I thought therefore, today's music needed a bit of sunshine. 

I recently learned of a Korean musician and composer, Dr. Johann Kim, who has a passionate vision to instill  young musicians with a love and appreciation for traditional hymns. To do this, he has arranged hundreds of hymns for various levels of music skill and launched the New Praise Youth Festival, a Festival of classical Christian music  that takes place in Korea, China and the US. Here is one young student, Gloria Koh, playing Dr. Kim's arrangement of the old gospel hymn, Heavenly Sunshine. 

Indian food part 2

Two weeks ago, I shared our recipe for non-dairy Butter Chicken. When I make Indian food, I usually make a curried meat, a curried vegetable and Basmati rice with peas. Our favourite curried vegetable dish is Aloo Gobi which is basically, curried cauliflower and potatoes with tomatoes and ginger. It's a very common dish in India and Pakistan (with thousands of variations) and we love it.

adapted from All Recipes

To cut down on cooking chaos, I usually pre-measure spices

serves 6

2 teaspoons oil (veg/grapeseed/olive)

½ onion, finely chopped

¼  teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon garam masalla

¼ teaspoon coriander

¼ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon turmeric

Pinch dried red pepper flakes (optional)

3 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root

1 potato, diced into small cubes

1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets

½ teaspoon white sugar

salt to taste

½ cup of water

chopped cilantro

Heat oil over a medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until brown and slightly crisp. Toss in the mustard seeds; when they start to pop, add the garam masalla, coriander, cumin, turmeric and red pepper flakes.  Stir well to incorporate the spices into the oil. Add the chopped tomatoes and ginger, stirring well. Cook for about a minute, until tomatoes begin to soften. Add the potato, cauliflower, sugar and salt; stir well. Add the water and cover, cooking until the potatoes are cooked and the cauliflower tender yet crunchy, about 10 minutes. Stir well and serve garnished with chopped cilantro. 

Adding cauliflower to the spiced tomatoes

The completed meal: Aloo Gobi with Curried Chicken, Basmati rice with peas and naan bread

Inspiration

This week, I have been writing the last chapter of my thesis, a literature review on the topic of organizational change (and how to lead it effectively). In the end, I think it all comes down to this:

Graphic Source

Seems like common sense,huh?

My View Wednesday

Worried that grey skies and long hours in my basement office might be less than inspiring, my dear spouse cheered up the view right above my desk.

The Nanaimo City Council passed a bylaw last year allowing each household to raise up to 6 chickens on their property. I'm really hoping the chicken on that fence is the result of Jeff's artistic skill and not a hint of things to come....!!

Have a heart

Photo from pinterest

Jeff's Birthday

Happy Birthday to the patient, supportive and incredibly loving guy who has completely driven the ship (and  done everything to keep it going) while I've been locked in my office for the past 6 weeks.... well, make that the past two years. I'm so looking forward to having a "normal" life with you again, soon.

Captain Jeff on the Mediterranean 

Hope and trust

I chose today's piece, Mendelssohn's I waited On the Lord partly for the organ- it's Jeff's birthday tomorrow and he loves pipe organs, especially small Chamber ones like this one. The other reason I chose it is because for me, this pieces captures all I want to say about Valentine's Day (also coming up this week). Jeff and I both waited a long time to find each other- journeys that were often difficult and lonely for both of us. I'm just glad we never gave up and stopped trusting. We feel immeasurably blessed as a result.

I waited for the Lord, He inclined unto me, He heard my complaint.

O bless’d are they that hope and trust in the Lord.

Text by William Bartholomew

Performed by the Master Class of the Paris Academy of Voice

Julien Godawatta, conductor, Iain Simcock, organ

Morgan Colomb, soprano, Laura Jarrell, soprano

World record

If you haven't already heard about the water ski record that was recently broken, it's pretty cool.