We were hoping to host a supper club this Thursday to bring us all together with good food and conversation. We may not be able to gather together in person, but we can still enjoy good food and good conversation via video calls!
We’d suggest inviting a few friends to “join you” for dinner via Zoom to have a virtual diner party.
The beauty of lockdown is that you can invite friends “to dinner” whether you’re having a Pot Noodle or a five-course Michelin-worthy meal. But why not go all in and eat the same thing – you could even start the video call in the kitchen and cook together if you need the moral support!
Here are two suggested menus with dishes that also freeze well – so if you’re just cooking for one or two, you’ll have a few extra portions that can be pulled out the freezer whenever you feel like it. Of course, if you can get hold of a shoulder or leg of lamb by all means roast that, but these recipes use fairly readily available ingredients so should be a bit more achievable if you’re not near a big supermarket or aren’t going out.
BRITISH
You can use shop-bought breadcrumbs for this too, or if you have cornflakes, crush those and use them instead. If you can’t get hold of (or make) anything vaguely breadcrumb-like, you can just coat them in a second layer of flour. (And if you can’t get hold of flour, just fry them very carefully!)
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Fruit crumble (v)
This recipe uses Bramley apples but you can swap in any firm fruit such as regular apples, rhubarb or pears, frozen fruit and berries or tinned fruit such as peaches (just don’t add extra sugar if they’re tinned in fruit juice).
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SOUTH ASIAN
Indian potato cakes (vg)
Serve with mango chutney, ketchup or whatever you have in the fridge.
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Easy roti (vg)
If you have the time, inclination and flour!
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Throw in a bit of cinnamon, ginger, whatever you have to hand to spice it up a bit and serve with ice cream. (If you want to make this a completely vegan meal, swap the honey for maple syrup and serve with dairy-free ice cream.)
CONVERSATION STARTERS
At the official supper clubs we usually have a 5 minute talk before each course, to give a bit of food for thought and at these Easter ones we particularly focus on Easter – why it is significant for those of us who have a faith, and how some of the common themes that come out of the Easter story can be relevant for all of us.
Now, more than ever, many of us find ourselves with more time than usual to stop and think about these things, in a period of our lives than may seem incredibly unsettling, uncertain and unnerving.
Easter is a period when Christians remember the death of Jesus and celebrate his resurrection. He was described as the Prince of Peace. The definition of peace is: a state of harmony between people or groups, freedom from strife; absence of mental anxiety; a state of stillness, silence or serenity.
Do you think it’s possible to find peace in this period of our lives? If you have found moments of peace over the last few weeks, what have they looked like? How can you build on those to make peace a daily reality rather than a fleeting moment?
Living in lockdown with those we don’t usually spend quite so much time with can be challenging – emotions run high and things are said and done that wouldn’t normally come out.
Why is asking for forgiveness and forgiving others so hard? How could we make it easier?
Christians believe that the events of that first Easter weekend mean that every person on earth is now able to have a relationship with God, that He is ready and willing to forgive us for every time we’ve turned our back on Him. We just have to acknowledge Him and choose to turn towards Him in future.
Have you ever received grace from someone before (someone proactively doing something good to you when you’ve done nothing to deserve it)? How did it feel?
The bible says that Jesus will one day return to restore and renew this world, removing all death, pain and fear.
What would a renewed and repaired world look like? What would have to change for that to come about? What do you see in the world now that gives you hope?
We hope that you’ve had an enjoyable and though-provoking dinner party! If you or anyone you know would like to join us for church this weekend, on Easter Sunday, we have online services at 10am, 11am, 5pm, 7pm and 8pm. Visit christchurchlondon.online.church to tune in.