"Christ Centered Character Curriculum"

Today was long. It began with a meeting at St. John's, York Mills, with the working group developing this new curriculum I've been talking about. We met for about 3 hours and made tremendous progress in narrowing our focus. We even gave what we are doing a name--"Christ Centered Character Curriculum" (CCCC). We also decided on our "key" virtues to develop and several other aspects of what we are doing. We also drafted a logo! The group's enthusiasm is infectious, and I'm looking forward to our next meeting. It's nice to know we are on target with this developing work.

I didn't have long at Church before I had to go to my singing lesson with Hallie. Lately I've been working hard on the Exultet, which is a hymn the Deacon singing during the Easter Vigil liturgy. It's probably the most difficult piece in the standard Anglican priest repertoire. I say "standard" because Anglo-Catholic parishes can have other, more challenging pieces. But for most Canadian Anglican Priests, the setting of the Exultet in the musical appendix of the BAS Altar Book (aka The Missal) is about as hard as it gets.

I've been working hard on it, and I'm doing well. Hallie says my intervals and diction are excellent. She would like to hear better phrasing (I'm taking too many breaths). Also I can be a bit "pitchy" in the beginning section, which in my case is about settling into a home pitch rather than about knowing what intervals I'm trying to get. Good thing I have a few weeks to get it closer to perfect.

After my lesson I went on a grocery run and then got home and started cooking supper for some friends that were coming over. I made a relatively simple salmon dish. Here's the recipe...

Salmon With Lemon-Pepper Sauce
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel, divided
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
2 tablespoons chopped shallot
6 6-ounce salmon fillets
1 1/2 cups (lightly packed) watercress leaves and small sprigs
Fleur de sel
6 lemon wedges

Whisk yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel in small bowl. Season with salt and generous amount of pepper.

Whisk honey, 1 tablespoon olive oil, shallot, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel in 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Add salmon fillets and turn to coat. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning salmon fillets occasionally. Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line large baking sheet with foil and brush with olive oil. Transfer salmon fillets, with some marinade still clinging, to rimmed baking sheet. Roast until salmon is just opaque in center, about 14 minutes.

Place 1 salmon fillet on each of 6 plates. Drizzle with lemon-pepper sauce and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve, passing additional sauce alongside. (modified from this recipe on Epicurious)

I also sauteed some bok choi, roasted some asparagus, and prepared a nice salad. Our friends provided homemade cheesecake. It was a nice evening.

Now I'm ready for some sleep.

-t