A very happy Thursday to you

As evidenced from my lack of blogging, this week has been hella busy. I was finally able to visit the Food Bank of South Jersey this week, when I dropped off our check for the Buy a Bag Fundraiser. The warehouse is really impressive and the people I met very nice. I do have to find a shorter route, as I think this may be the place I've been looking for to become involved with. I reminds me a lot of the SHARE group I had worked with in San Diego. They may be in need of IT help or photography work which Dave and I would be glad to offer. I've also started putting some feelers out about starting a food pantry or something similar at my church. Apparently our sister church already has one going and I've left a message for a request to meet with their pastor to discuss the how's of starting such a project. The food bank has also graciously offered any needed help. Their policy is that you have to run a bank on your own for three months and then apply to them for foodstuffs, etc. We already have a kitchen and are registered as a nonprofit, so that's a good start. My main concern is interest and participation. This is somthing that would involve months of planning and fundraising before the doors would ever open. I'm hoping if I write a really convincing proposal, I'll garner enough enthusiasm to get people fired up about wanting to do this. I've also been working on a flier (yuck double sided) about MACS which I'm going to ask to present next Sunday. This Sunday is our big Father's Day service, so I'm going to request the following Sunday. I think the summer may not be the right time to broach the food pantry thing, because a lot of people are vacationing, etc and the availability just won't be there. I can find plenty of other things to bug people for :) in the interim. They will probably ask me to leave the congregation.. lol. Last night was a really fun cooking night. I made one of my favorite dishes, Mujadara. It consists of lentils, rice and onions. I ate it a lot when I was a vegetarian. It's easy, tastes good and is low fat and filling. I also made my very first flatbread. It was a Syrian flatbread recipe. Wow was it good and so easy. We have a pizza stone, which I used and it browned well. I also followed a tip I read that said to poke fork holes in the dough before baking to stop the puffy bubble thing..worked great. For desert I made my version of Shahi Kheer, a sweet rice pudding with saffron. I love coconut so I used coconut milk instead of regular milk..light of course- that stuff is loaded with fat. The saffron give it a nice color, and topped with some Redi Whip..yummy. Super duper sweet though, this stuff is not for everyday. It tastes similar to Sticky Rice with Mango, the Thai dessert. Dave and I are headed to the shore from Friday to Monday. He will definately need it after the hectic week he's had at work. For me, it's like going home. I miss Long Beach Island, my old stomping grounds. I graduated from the HS there 20 years ago..boy does that make me feel old. I should stop eating now for the October reunion..but that's a whole other subject. I'm really looking forward to spending time with my sister this weekend. The beach at night is so very peaceful and at times eerie. Closing your eyes and really hearing the surf is ethereal. Okay, I'm excited about a clambake too! Raw clams, steamed clams, smoked fish..oh boy oh boy..can't wait! I hope everyone has been having a great week and I will be chatting at ya before the weekend!