Hi kind krafters!! 
 
A favourite hobby of mine is cooking! I love to create new meals and snacks and really experiment with my recipes. With learning about the Dartmouth North Community Centre, I have been inspired to cook more over the past few weeks and thought I might share some of my newly found recipes with you!!  

Instructions
 
1.     Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. I would recommend lining your baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper (if you use tin foil lightly spread the oil along the bottom to make sure the cauliflower doesn't get stuck.  
2.     Put the cauliflower florets into a bowl and pour the oil and lime juice over them. Shake it like a polaroid picture until the florets are nicely covered. The mix the spices in and shake again! 
3.     Place the cauliflower onto the baking sheet and cook them for 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 15.  
4.     While the cauliflower is baking, mix the ingredients for the curry mayo. Make sure to taste as you mix so that you know if you have enough spice – I went overboard the first time I made this recipe!! 
5.     Once the cauliflower is looking a little crispy, you're ready to serve!!!! 

Instructions
 
1.     Once all of the vegetables are chopped up, sauté them in a large pot at a medium-high heat. Add the vegetable stock and rice, and bring to a boil. Put a cover on the pot and cook until the potatoes and rice are soft.
2.     Put in the spices and maple syrup and let the soup continue to boil.
3.     If you have access to a blender, feel free to blend and make the soup into a bisque or leave it chunky and have it as a nice fall vegetable soup.
4.     After around 20-30 minutes of boiling, you should be ready to go. 

Instructions
 
1.     Cook vegetables in a large wok with the oil and garlic on a medium-high heat. Wait until they are close to tender before putting the noodles in another pot of boiling water.
2.     The noodles should take 5-7 minutes on a high heat. Once they are done, strain the noodles and add in a cracked egg. Add the noodles to the large wok and add the peanut butter, soy sauce, and spices.
3.     Cook for another 5 minutes and really mix all of the elements together before serving :)
 
All of these recipes are easy to prepare and don’t take long to cook. I like to find my fresh produce from local markets in HRM and try to make my own sauces instead of buying pre-packaged stuff. I find it so much fun to cook and a great creative outlet. Feel free to comment your favourite recipes so that I can give them a whirl at home!!!
 
Rhi xoxo

The Dartmouth North Community Food Centre (DNCFC) is a bustling hub of activity all week long, and a core element of many community members’ routines. Programs offered at the Food Centre include major meal programs, food skills workshops, a massive urban garden, drop-in programs, a walking group, community conversations, big events, and many more. Everything offered at the DNCFC is free, and folks are regularly encouraged to take a seat with their neighbours and share a meal. 

We are so grateful for kind krafts’ contribution to our organization, and had a great time sharing ideas with them over the craft session last Monday morning. The Food Centre hosts a crafting session each week on Mondays from 10:00am to 12:00pm, graciously facilitated by Cheryl MacDonald. Cheryl focuses on reusing and upcycling found materials in the artwork. 

It will be great to have the kind krafts team up at the Food Centre to help out in the farm, and we look forward to welcoming all that come. Trips by Transit will also be attending, as will many of our regular community volunteers. 

​Hello kind krafters!!
It's been a while since I last wrote a blog as I have been away in Newfoundland for the last three weeks touring with the National Youth Choir! I had an amazing trip (minus the snow in Gander) and I am sad to leave all of the music and new friends on "The Rock".
Firstly, I want to say how thankful I am to be able to participate in the National Youth Choir. This was my third year representing Nova Scotia and I'm always amazed at how each year is as good as the last. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my fellow choristers from across Canada as well as Jeff Joudrey, Gabrielle Gaudreault, and Phil Roberts. It is such an honour to be able to work with these talented musicians and to tour beautiful provinces for the purpose of sharing music. 

​The trip started in St. John's where we stayed at MUN for our rehearsal week. The conductor, Jeff Joudrey, jumped right into the music and everyone was so enthusiastic about our repertoire. One of my favourite things is having a first rehearsal with a new choir. Everyone learns their music at home and so you never know what to expect when the whole group finally comes together. After finishing the rehearsal, we all knew that this was going to be a fun year. Over the next week we polished all of the twenty pieces and then set out for our upcoming tour. 

The choir then travelled to Cornerbrook, Stephenville, Gander, Clarenville, Carbonear and finally St. John's. At each new location we met tons of new people and were able to explore the area. I'm so thankful for the enthusiastic audience in Cornerbrook, the INCREDIBLE dinner in Stephenville, my super awesome billets in Gander, being able to see my friend from Acadia in Clarenville, and the unreal hospitality shown to the choir in Carbonear. Our wonderful tour manager, Kristian, and her family gave us the true Newfoundland experience as all forty-five of us swarmed their home for dinner and a party. We also got screeched in, where community members watched us kiss the cod and dance a good Newfoundland jig. The choir couldn't be more grateful for what Kristian, Astro, and her family did for us during the tour – we LOVE you!!! 

​Throughout the week, there were a few events involving community outreach which really stuck with me. In Cornerbrook, Gander, and Carbonear we were able to meet with the local choirs and work on one of our pieces with them. It was so much fun to watch how excited they were to be able to sing with us. It made me remember how inspiring it used to be for me to sing alongside my older peers when I was in junior choirs. I don't think we realize how influential small moments like that can be and so it was really awesome to be able to have that experience.
When we were in St. John's we had a mental health workshop with Dr. Jan Buley. At first the choir was barely awake and probably not in the best shape, but we quickly snapped out of it as Jan got to work. We did an emotional exercise which definitely brought the choir closer. It was so important for us to have this workshop and to have that time to be with each other in a non-musical setting. Later on that day, we met with the Stella's Circle Inclusion Choir and listened to them sing an original song for us. The Inclusion Choir is based in St. John's and most of the members have experienced homelessness or have gone through a period of struggle. Stella's Circle is a local organization that provide services to adults who face barriers that prevent them from fully participating in their community. These barriers include mental health challenges, addictions, trauma, poverty, homelessness, criminal justice involvement, low literacy, and long periods of unemployment. The organization has several ways for people to be involved including the choir. It was beautiful to hear the song they wrote and to have the opportunity to meet such lovely people. Visit http://stellascircle.ca/ to learn more about the organization and all of the ways they are helping their community. 

​Finally, we reached Podium (Canada's national choral conference and festival which is co-presented by Choral Canada and a provincial host every two years) and a snazzy new hotel in St. John's. On Sunday we had our final concert in the gorgeous basilica – the acoustics were out of this world!! It was bittersweet performing our final piece but we still had two workshops to go! The next day we were fortunate enough to be able to work with composer Ēriks Ešenvalds and sing two of his pieces, "Stars" and "Only in Sleep". What amazed me the most about this particular workshop, was how Ešenvalds got us to think. Instead of simply stating how he wanted us to sound (warmer tone, less vibrato, more open, etc.) he would make us discover it for ourselves by telling us to sound like "winter". It was so cool to see how effective that terminology was compared to telling us what he wanted more directly. He was a very lovely man and I'm so thankful to have been able to work with him. 

​I loved exploring the city and meeting so many locals who were always up for a chat. I got to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in years and talking with him made me so happy – thanks Tristan! I am now obsessed with the city's Jellybean Row Houses and have decided I will have a brightly coloured house when I'm older. It's a beautiful place and I wish that I had been able to see more of it during my stay. Now that I've been to Newfoundland I can't wait to go back! 

Rhi xoxo

Hello kind krafters!!
 
         I hope everyone has been having an awesome beginning of summer, if you are on vacation or working for the summer like myself!
 
         This summer I have the privilege to be working with children all summer! Between my summer employment and teaching my own music lessons, I am so lucky to be working with the little ones all summer.
 
         My summer job is working at “Family Services” as the “Kid Power Camp” Co-Coordinator and Instructor. “Family Services” provides assistance as well as counseling to families in need as well as children. 

​As the “Kid Power” instructor, I get to do crafts, improv activities and many outdoor and nature trails, games and relays! During these camps we enforce no bullying, self esteem building, being kind to the environment as well as others with the kids. Being able to use craft and the outdoors to teach and enforce these ideas with the kids is incredibly inspiring. I love feeling like I am using skills that Kind Krafts promotes everyday! Being able to do this with kids is just so much fun!

Along with keeping myself busy with with my awesome summer job, I am also teaching private music lessons! Being able to share my passion with young students who share this with me is my favorite thing I have been up to this summer. I am so lucky to have such great students to share music with. When I was younger, having lessons and being able to improve in music was such a big impact on the musician I am today as well as the person I am.

Wanting to be a teacher is a long term goal and dream of mine and having the opportunities this summer to be able to work with kids is so special. I want to be able to give my students opportunities to use the voices they have to better themselves and the community in anyway they feel passionate about.
         As much as I hope to inspire the kids I get the pleasure to work with, they inspire me as well! Children are full of bright thoughts and ideas and just really help to remind me to always spread kindness. Working with kids is the coolest.
 
 
Hope summer is awesome kind krafters!
Chat soon,
Amy Cameron.