According to Christian traditions Carnival is the start of lent, which is the 6 weeks leading to Easter. This weekend was carnival weekend. All the way from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Patras in Greece, carnival parades have taken over.
Having found ourselves in London once again this year, my friends and I decided to partake in celebrations. We agreed to have a lunchtime feast in accordance with the Greek tradition of Green Monday (also known as Clean Monday) which signifies the start of lent. The feast permits shellfish but no other fish, meat or dairy. We all agreed to make one to two dishes each.
Let me confess something here. Being in London this is of course a day which found us all at the office. I am referring to my colleagues and our lunch break! Just don't tell anyone..I woke up at 6am to prepare my contribution. Humus and squid with tomato sauce-I will only get up this early of food is involved, I assure you! By 10am our containers with our delicacies were neatly lined up. By lunchtime we were ready to eat. We had loaves of wonderful bread, the humus, olives, potatoes, vegetables and then of course the more substantial dishes. Beans, lentils, mushrooms, the squid and okra with tomatoes. I'm sure I have left something out. Anyway, you get the picture.. In case you were wondering, I will post some of the recipes.
Remember my post on teamwork? Well this was an example of some excellent teamwork. The food was fabulous to say the least. It created a common goal. In our case, having been successful in the food preparation, the next step was the consumption. I think we all filled up our plates at least three times!
Carnival was our excuse. It doesn't matter what yours is, find one! Whether it be at the office, a gathering at someones house or a picnic. Choose a theme and ask everyone to bring a dish. For the ones who can't cook, ask them to bring a bottle of wine. That helps as well! I promise you, it's so much fun. And as for teamwork and team building, it works. Time and time again.
No comments:
Post a Comment