En cuisine en ce beau décembre!

Nowelle, amis des cuisines, Nowelle !

Trop occupée à préparer… Noël (bah oui !), j’en ai négligé de vous donner des nouvelles des Cuisines du Sud-Ouest.

SUPER EXTRAORDINAIRE TIRAGE DE CADEAUX DE LA CUISINE !

Laissez-moi vous parler d’un extraordinaire panier de produits de notre belle cuisine qui attend le grand gagnant de ce tirage spécial, qui aura lieu durant le repas communautaire du mercredi 20 décembre :

-       une moussaka de compétition pour 15 personnes
-       deux magnifiques pâtés : le premier au poulet, le second aux légumes et légumineuses
-       de la soupe : betteraves et gingembre, poireaux, céleri, poulet et légumes… On fait bien ça, la soupe, dans notre belle cuisine !
-       de la marmelade de lime et des oignons caramélisés à l’érable|
-       du granola maison|
-       et probablement autre chose, en fonction de mon inspiration d’ici la semaine prochaine !

Le grand gagnant, donc, aura l’unique chance de ne pas avoir à cuisiner pendant les fêtes ! Ah, vous vous sentez concerné.e, bien sûr ! Achetez/réservez vos tickets : 1 pour 1$, 6 pour 5$, en vente à la porte le 20 décembre. Les profits serviront à financer le futur nouveau comptoir de la cuisine.

REPAS DES FÊTES

Mercredi 20 décembre : on rafraîchit un peu notre classique du mercredi avec un spécial de Noël, un buffet avec plein de petites bouchées – un joli travail créatif pour ceux d’entre vous qui se sentent l’imagination culinaire en fête : portez-vous bénévole, c’est le temps ! Nous bénéficions d’un garde-manger rafraîchi grâce à Moisson Montréal et à plusieurs dons très généreux. Mes prières pour des cans de tomates ont été exaucées : elles sont apparues ! Bref, il y a de quoi faire quelque chose de bon et de beau : amis, lâchons-nous ! Le service est à 12 h 30, tout le monde est évidemment le bienvenu, et nous sommes heureux d’accepter vos dons généreux. Rappel du paragraphe précédent (pour ceux qui l’auraient volontairement omis) : pendant le repas, tirage spécial d’un panier de cadeaux de notre cuisine !

Mardi 26 décembre : c’est le traditionnel repas du lendemain de Noël à la Mission, qui accueille tous les ans plus de 200 personnes. Au menu, de la dinde avec tous les accompagnements qui vont si bien avec : farce, patates rôties, carottes, navets, gravy, mmmmm… Le repas est coordonné et préparé par Dorothy Brown et sa nombreuse équipe. Pour donner un coup de main ou réserver votre place (deux services : 12 h 30 et 14 h), contactez le bureau : southwestunited@gmail.com ou 514 768-6231.

LES ATELIERS DU JEUDI SOIR

On cherche encore la bonne formule pour ces ateliers, que l’on souhaite destinés à un public adulte. Grand Potager en a organisé quelques-uns à la suite d’Un plant de tomate, mais l’horaire, parfait en été, s’accommode mal des contraintes de l’hiver et de la vie active. Les ateliers que je vous avais annoncés pour ce mois de décembre n’auront donc finalement pas lieu – mais promis, on vous revient l’année prochaine avec de nouvelles propositions et une énergie renouvelée (une cuisinière a besoin de vacances).

YO LE JEUNE !

Les inscriptions pour la session d’hiver sont en cours.

Pour les 10-12 ans : Les recettes vite faites, tous les mardis d’école, 17 h à 18 h 15
Les places partent très vite. Très très vite. Il en reste quelques-unes : 8 cours à partir du 9 janvier, 40$
Pour les 13 ans et plus : TeenCuisine, tous les mercredis d’école, 17 h à 19 h

Les places partent très très lentement. Enrôler un adolescent est un parcours du combattant. Votre défi de parent : convaincre le vôtre de s’inscrire. Écrivez-moi pour un argumentaire détaillé.

Joyeux temps des fêtes !

Et pour une immersion dans l’esprit de Nowelle, venez au concert Christmas by Candlelight ce dimanche 17 décembre à 16 h à l’église du 1445, rue Clémenceau. Ça va être beau !

Léonore Pion
Cuisinière communautaire
Coordonnatrice des activités de cuisine, Mission du Sud-Ouest
leonore.pion@gmail.com 
Facebook: Les cuisines du Sud-Ouest

December news from SouthWest Kitchens

Nowelle, dear kitchen friends, Nowelle !

So busy preparing Christmas, I forgot to send out news from SouthWest Kitchens. Never too late, so they say…

SUPER EXTRAORDINARY RAFFLE! PRIZES FROM THE KITCHEN !

For those of you who want to REST and not cook during the holiday season, this is for you. To win, an amazing prize of home baked goods that will allow you (well, the lucky winner) to do less over Christmas. Let yourselves be tempted by : 

-       a competition moussaka for 15 guests
-       two beautiful pies, one chicken and another vegetarian
-       soup : beet, leek, celery, chicken and veg… We like soup at SouthWest Kitchens and we know how to make a good one !
-       lime marmalade and caramelized onions
-       homemade granola
-       and probably other delicacies, depending on my inspiration in the coming days.

Be ready to buy/reserve your tickets ! 1 for $1, 6 for $5. The raffle will take place during the next community meal, Wednesday Dec. 20th. The profits will go towards a new and much needed kitchen counter.

HOLIDAY COMMUNITY MEALS

Wednesday Dec. 20th: Welcome Wednesday Christmas special as we will be bringing you a festive buffet. Volunteer cooks, this is the time to be creative. Thanks to many generous donations, our pantry is now full again – I had a dream of canned tomatoes : the cans appeared ! We have more than enough wonderful ingredients to work with, so let’s make the most of it. The service will start at 12 :30, all are welcome. Reminder : during the meal, we will be raffling a special food basket from the kitchen.

Tuesday, Dec. 26th: it’s the Mission’s Turkey Dinner, that attracts approximately 200 people every year. The menu couldn’t be more traditional : turkey with stuffing, gravy, and all the usual trimmings. The meal is coordinated and prepared by Dorothy Brown and her army of volunteers. If you want to join the team of helpers, or reserve your spot for the meal, please contact Amy at southwestunited@gmail.com or 514 768-6231.

THURSDAY EVENING COOKING WORKSHOPS

We are still working on an appropriate formula for this cooking workshop. Grand Potager organized a few once Un plant de tomate’s season was over ; the evening schedule however doesn’t work so well in the cold season, and the participants seem to be short on time and energy. The workshops I had announced for December have been cancelled – but that doesn’t mean they won’t come back in the New Year : we will be back with new ideas and a renewed post-vacation energy !

YOUNGSTERS YO!

Registration is currently in process for the Winter session (8 workshops as of Jan. 9th, $40) :

10-12-yr-olds : Easy Peasy Recipes, every Tuesday, 5-6:15 pm
Be quick, the workshop is filling up very very quickly!

13+: TeenCuisine, every Wednesday, 5-7 pm
Parents who have a teenager, this is for you : try and convince yours to come ! Go, parents, go ! It is amazingly difficult to recruit a teenager, I need all the help I can get !

Have a great holiday season !

And if you want to be immersed in the spirit of Christmas, join us this Sunday, Dec. 17th at 4:00 pm at SouthWest United Church (1445, Clémenceau) for a Christmas concert.

Léonore Pion
Community cook
Kitchen coordinator, SouthWest Mission
leonore.pion@gmail.com 
Facebook: SouthWest Kitchens

Thank You AAA PeeWee Lions!

Mr. David Meloche, from the Lester B. Pearson School Board (Director of Schools, Region 3), arrived at the Mission on Tuesday with a large donation of non-perishable items for our food pantry. His son Lucas’ hockey team, the AAA PeeWee Lions (Lac St-Louis region) do a collection each November for a community organization and this year they decided to bless SouthWest. The kids left a simple letter in neighbours’ mailboxes asking them to put donations out on their front porches one Saturday morning and the players would collect them. 
Mr. Meloche is pictured with our faithful volunteer Frank who came in to help sort through the food, and Mary Anne Fyckes, spiritual life and community animator, who helped make the connection. Not pictured: Principal Luther and Miss Sarah Davey who helped unload everything from the car in the rain. Merci a tous!

Mini-market December 6th

Our mini-markets continue into the winter, albeit with shortened hours. Fresh fruits and vegetables are for sale at the Mission at low suggested costs from 10:30 AM to 3:30PM every second Wednesday. If you can't make it during those hours, consider sending a friend to pick up your order. Also orders placed with Sheila and Maurice ahead of time can be set aside and delivered to church on the following Sunday. Use the handy order form here.

Turkey, turkey, turkey!

Once again this Christmas, we at SouthWest will be putting the emphasis on Community. Community is the focus of everything we do throughout the year, so why would the holiday season be any different? Our annual December 26th turkey meal has been known by many names over the years. Sometimes we borrow the language of retail stores and jokingly call it our Boxing Day Blowout, though obviously our event is about as non-commercial as you can get. 

Like our Meli-Melo celebrations and our Welcome Wednesday lunches, the Community Turkey Dinner is for everyone, regardless of age, race, religion or station in life. Boxing Day dinner is free not because it's "for the poor" but because it's non-commercial. If a friend invites you over during the holidays, you don't have to pay them do you? This meal is for our friends, rich and poor, old and new.

Volunteers will cook and serve the food, and when their work is done they too will sit down and enjoy a good meal. Just like when you go to a friend's house for dinner, you may offer to help and the kitchen boss will decide if you are needed or if the space is already too crowded. Even if you don't have a specific job to do, you can be an ambassador for SouthWest by seeking out another guest who looks a bit lost and starting a conversation. 

At SouthWest we learned a long time ago that relationships blossom around a table laden with good food. Whether you've known us forever or we've yet to meet, please join us in community on December 26th. 

Community Turkey Dinner
Two sittings: 12:30 and 2 PM
RSVP: 514-768-6231