Weekends are for cooking and unwinding
It's a chilly Saturday after an intense couple of weeks. Post-holiday financial recovery meant doing a lot of cooking last weekend and I seem to have that bug again.
Last week I once again cooked that simple but delicious soup that I made for Thanksgiving - sauteed onions and cilantro, roast tomatoes, chickpeas, ras-el-hanout and cayenne pepper. And I also made a Japanese curry and froze the bulk of it for meals during the week.
This weekend I've got my eyes on Indian fare. Going to make a chana masala, bulgar wheat pilaf (recipe from Floyd Cardoz) and pan fried shrimp marinated in ground coriander seed and black pepper. It's funny, cooking inspiration. I just felt a sudden need to soak and use some of the dried chickpeas that have been sitting patiently, waiting in my pantry. They called to me!
Last week we had a surprise inspection from the State and a few things were found (they always find something). But mostly, she confirmed things that are wrong that I already had my eye on to correct. So this was somewhat confirming. It was nice, also, to be able to discuss these things with my supervisor in a pro-active way. Then this week I spoke with my social services staff about the things that impacted them, and it was a really productive meeting.
I also had the "high stakes" meeting this week. On Thursday the agency Executive Director came to the shelter with the Deputy Director (my direct supervisor) and agency CFO for a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner for Homeless Services. We need money - urgently. It was a very intense morning, followed by me drafting a letter to the Commissioner for a follow-up meeting. He agreed there were problems, but didn't exactly hand over a check. However, the fact he told us to mention his visit to the Commissioner is the biggest support he could give. He said he'll also send by a key person in charge of allocations to take another look at our physical problems (e.g. leaking roof). And he asked our contract manager to check into the funding we requested separately for computers. So all in all, it was the most we could realistically hope for.
I've also gotten good news today that my dear friend KK will be returning to live in the States. We scheduled a lovely afternoon chat (she's in Copenhagen right now) and got all caught up on things. Unfortunately it meant missing a chance to hang out with luna_c, but I'm sure we'll find another time to meet up in person for nomming.
Tonight DanRad is on SNL, so there's that to look forward to. And avoiding the chilly winter weather for at least one day.
Happy Saturday, flist!
Last week I once again cooked that simple but delicious soup that I made for Thanksgiving - sauteed onions and cilantro, roast tomatoes, chickpeas, ras-el-hanout and cayenne pepper. And I also made a Japanese curry and froze the bulk of it for meals during the week.
This weekend I've got my eyes on Indian fare. Going to make a chana masala, bulgar wheat pilaf (recipe from Floyd Cardoz) and pan fried shrimp marinated in ground coriander seed and black pepper. It's funny, cooking inspiration. I just felt a sudden need to soak and use some of the dried chickpeas that have been sitting patiently, waiting in my pantry. They called to me!
Last week we had a surprise inspection from the State and a few things were found (they always find something). But mostly, she confirmed things that are wrong that I already had my eye on to correct. So this was somewhat confirming. It was nice, also, to be able to discuss these things with my supervisor in a pro-active way. Then this week I spoke with my social services staff about the things that impacted them, and it was a really productive meeting.
I also had the "high stakes" meeting this week. On Thursday the agency Executive Director came to the shelter with the Deputy Director (my direct supervisor) and agency CFO for a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner for Homeless Services. We need money - urgently. It was a very intense morning, followed by me drafting a letter to the Commissioner for a follow-up meeting. He agreed there were problems, but didn't exactly hand over a check. However, the fact he told us to mention his visit to the Commissioner is the biggest support he could give. He said he'll also send by a key person in charge of allocations to take another look at our physical problems (e.g. leaking roof). And he asked our contract manager to check into the funding we requested separately for computers. So all in all, it was the most we could realistically hope for.
I've also gotten good news today that my dear friend KK will be returning to live in the States. We scheduled a lovely afternoon chat (she's in Copenhagen right now) and got all caught up on things. Unfortunately it meant missing a chance to hang out with luna_c, but I'm sure we'll find another time to meet up in person for nomming.
Tonight DanRad is on SNL, so there's that to look forward to. And avoiding the chilly winter weather for at least one day.
Happy Saturday, flist!